CFO Gateway Partners Strategic Finance · M&A · Founders · PE-Backed · Healthcare · Family Offices

Strategic finance leadership for the ambitious.

Institutional discipline. Built for founders. Bottom line impact.

CFO Gateway Partners is the gateway to senior financial leadership for founder-led and growing businesses. Institutional discipline, embedded inside your team.

Start with a Performance Diagnostic See how we work →
01.
Why CFO Gateway

You came to build, to lead, to serve. Not to be the CFO of your own business.

But the financial side never stops asking for attention. Cash flow, capital allocation, banking, loans and covenants, M&A, reporting - each one a full-time job layered on top of the one you actually came to do.

Large institutions solve this with deep finance benches. Founder-led and growing businesses face the same complexity with a fraction of the resources, and need the discipline more, not less.

That's why CFO Gateway Partners exists. We bring institutional-caliber finance leadership directly inside the business, so founders, operators, and clinicians can stay focused on what matters most.

02.
The dream gap

Most founder-led businesses we work with arrive at the same set of unanswered questions:

That last one is the one that matters most.

The dream is the easy part.

Every owner has a destination behind the business - the sale that funds the next chapter, the growth that buys back your time, the practice that one day runs without you in every chair. And most of the time, the business you're running today isn't on the trajectory to deliver that dream.

CFO Gateway exists in that gap.

We build the financial model that shows where you're actually headed. We name what it would take to redirect. And we walk through the hard calls along the way - pricing, hiring, locations, capital structure, partnerships, exits.

The vision stays yours. The path is what we engineer with you, decision by decision.

03.
About

Built on institutional discipline. In service of owner-led businesses.

Sarmad Gilani, Founder of CFO Gateway Partners

Sarmad Gilani

CPA · MBA · Founder, CFO Gateway Partners

Sarmad has spent fifteen years on multiple sides of major M&A transactions - advising on more than ten billion dollars of institutional deals at Brookfield Asset Management and PwC Canada, and running integration as a PE-backed operator at Waterstone Human Capital. That arc - diligence to execution to integration - is the foundation of how he works with founder-led businesses today: getting the financial house in order well in advance of a transaction, and running the transaction itself when the time comes.

He founded CFO Gateway Partners to bring institutional-grade financial leadership to founder-led and growing businesses - the operators carrying the most risk and the most ambition, often with the least senior financial support inside the tent.

Sarmad is a CPA, holds an MBA in Financial Management, and was recognized with the Emerging CPA Leader Award in 2022.

04.
What we do

Three integrated practices. Each can stand alone. Most engagements begin with the diagnostic.

i
Practice One

Office of the CFO

Your personal CFO, embedded inside the team

Senior financial leadership for owners and founders running businesses too busy or complex for a bookkeeper or controller, and too lean for a full-time CFO. We take ownership of:

  • Cash, capital allocation, and working capital management
  • Banking, lending, and covenant management
  • Operational performance through a financial lens - pricing, mix, productivity, vendor spend
  • Monitoring and reporting across the business or portfolio
  • Board-grade reporting and KPI design
  • Growth, M&A, integration, and exit / transition preparation
ii
Practice Two

Performance & Diligence

The Performance Diagnostic

A time-focused diagnostic that surfaces where money is leaking, where reporting is broken, and where margin is sitting in plain sight. Coverage spans accounting systems and processes, accounts receivable aging, cash flow patterns, expense integrity, tax planning gaps, payroll setup, vendor concentration, and reporting cadence - and the operational drivers behind each.

Deliverable: a prioritized opportunity roadmap with quantified upside.

Complimentary · No obligation
iii
Practice Three

Managed Accounting

Outsourced Bookkeeping and Controllership

Clean, current books delivered through a vetted partner under CFO Gateway oversight, built on a modern stack with AI-augmented workflows for accuracy and speed. PIPEDA-compliant data handling and enterprise-grade security baked in by design.

For owners trying to manage their own books, or with bookkeeping they cannot fully trust, this replaces it with a premium-managed service at a comparable price point - fully integrated with the CFO and diagnostic work above.

05.
Who we serve

We partner with the ambitious - builders, not maintainers.

  • 01 Ambitious founders and owner-operators $2M–$50M revenue, committed to building something meaningful
  • 02 PE-backed portfolio companies Growth, integration, or transition mandates
  • 03 Dental and healthcare practice owners Single and multi-location practices with ambition to scale or transition
  • 04 Single and multi-family offices Outsourced finance leadership for the office and embedded CFO support across the portfolio. Operational, not investment-advisory.
When CFO Gateway adds the most value
  • When the work has outgrown your bookkeeper or controller.
  • When your team is solid on day-to-day execution but capacity has been swallowed by it.
  • When you're preparing for a transaction, transition, or step-change in scale.
  • When you want a senior finance partner inside the tent - not another vendor outside it.
06.
Why this is different

Four things you will not find in a typical CFO engagement.

i.

Institutional discipline at a mid-market scale

Most outsourced CFOs come up through bookkeeping and tax. We came up through institutional capital markets, private funds, M&A advisory, and PE-backed operating leadership. That's why we're not "fractional." We're your personal CFO, embedded inside the business, bringing the kind of institutional discipline most growing companies rarely access.

ii.

Healthcare in the foundation

A Bachelor of Health Sciences, formative finance and commercial roles across Baxter, Eli Lilly, and Sunnybrook, and deep ongoing exposure to clinical practices mean we speak the language of healthcare from the first conversation.

iii.

Modern, AI-augmented, and secure

Led and implemented AI and automation initiatives in the industry that have eliminated tens of thousands of hours of low-value finance work at the institutional level. We bring that toolkit and the same data security standards down to the mid-market.

iv.

Operator, not advisor

We sit inside your team, own the numbers, and stay engaged through implementation. The brief does not end when the report is delivered.

07.
Frequently asked

Questions.

i.

What does this cost?

Engagement pricing is scoped after the Performance Diagnostic, when we know the real shape of the work - the size of the business, the maturity of the finance function, and the priorities of the engagement. The diagnostic itself is complimentary for qualifying practices and businesses.

What we can say up front: CFO Gateway isn't priced to be the cheapest CFO service on the market. We're priced to deliver institutional discipline at a scale founder-led businesses can sustain - and to make every engagement clearly worth more to you than it costs.

ii.

How is this different from my accountant or bookkeeper?

Accountants tell you where the money went. We help you decide where it goes next.

Different role, different cadence. An accountant looks backward - they record what happened, file your taxes, confirm your numbers are accurate. A bookkeeper keeps the day-to-day clean. Both are essential.

A CFO looks forward, and works inside the business. What are the right prices? Which clients or services drive real margin? What does the next twelve months of cash look like? Are you ready for the next hire, the next location, the next round of capital? Where is value leaking that no one has noticed?

You need both kinds of work. CFO Gateway partners with the accountant and bookkeeper you already have, and runs the strategic, forward-looking finance function they're not built to deliver.

iii.

Do I need to fire my existing CPA?

No. We work alongside your existing CPA, not against them. Different role, different cadence - they handle compliance and filings, we run the financial engine of the business.

Where there are skill or capacity gaps in the wider finance function, CFO Gateway is equipped to add or replace resources as needed - bookkeeping, controllership, analyst support - through our Managed Accounting service.

iv.

What kinds of outcomes do you actually help founders achieve?

Most owners have a destination behind the business - the sale that funds the next chapter, the growth that buys back their time, the practice that one day runs without them in every chair. Most of the time, the business they're running today isn't on the trajectory to deliver that dream.

We exist to bridge that gap. The work spans modeling out where the business is actually headed, identifying where margin is leaking or sitting unrealized, naming the operating-model changes required to redirect, and walking through the hard calls along the way - pricing, hiring, locations, capital structure, partnerships, exits.

The vision stays yours. The path is what we engineer with you, decision by decision.

v.

What industries and types of clients do you work with?

Founder-led businesses are our specialty - the through-line across every engagement is a builder at the top who needs senior financial leadership without yet being able to justify a full-time CFO.

Specific client types include ambitious founders and owner-operators ($2M–$50M revenue), PE-backed portfolio companies, dental and healthcare practice owners, and single and multi-family offices. We focus on healthcare, professional services, and human capital today; the lens applies broadly.

vi.

Where are you based and do you work remotely?

CFO Gateway is remotely accessible across North America. We value personal connection and create it where it matters most - kickoff sessions, board engagements, transaction moments, decision-grade conversations. Most ongoing work runs over video and shared workspaces.

vii.

What if it's not a fit after the diagnostic?

Engaging further is your decision. The findings are yours to keep. If we're not the right partner for what comes next, we'll say so directly - and where we can, point you to someone who is.

08.
The Performance Diagnostic

Start with a complimentary diagnostic.

A structured assessment of your books, cash flow, and financial reporting - at no cost and no obligation for qualifying practices and businesses.

You'll leave with a clearer picture of how a buyer or lender sees the business, where future cash is actually heading, and which two or three changes would meaningfully move the needle on value.

  • i. Independent assessment of where your finances stand today
  • ii. Prioritized list of opportunities to improve profitability and reduce risk
  • iii. Quantified upside, typically 3–10% of annual revenue
  • iv. A clear view of what working together would look like, if there is a fit

Engaging further is your decision. The findings are yours to keep.

Request your diagnostic

Tell us a little about your practice or business. We respond within two business days.

Confidential. We respond within two business days.

09.
Contact

A short conversation is the fastest way to know if there's a fit.

Email sgilani@cfogateway.com
LinkedIn Sarmad Gilani