For fractional CFOs
Prove you're worth it in month one. Start with the benefits renewal.
Every client is quietly asking what they're paying you for. Benefits is one of the fastest places to answer that, and almost nobody looks there. You get a Plan Report on one client's plan to take straight to the CEO, and your client gets a broker who services the plan all year. It starts when the client signs the broker-of-record letter, any time of year, with your okay. I work behind you, and you keep the relationship.
Built for 50 to 500 employees.
Sound familiar?
A fractional CFO I talked with put the whole job in one line: “their job is to recover money.”
And they shared the question every fCFO should be able to answer fast:
“Is your client better off with you or without you?”
Here’s where that gets hard:
- You have to prove value, and fast. Revenue fixes take months. Your client wants to see something now.
- Nobody wants to be a glorified bookkeeper. Closing the books is the floor. The same fractional CFO called out the ones who are “just accountants with a better title”.
- Benefits is set it and forget it. In their words, it’s “so set it and forget it for the business owner that there’s just like a lack of awareness of what they actually have enrolled into”. The renewal comes in, it gets paid, kind of like the cable bill used to.
- It’s the most expensive question you’re not asking. “what’s the most expensive question you’re not asking?” For a lot of clients, it’s when anyone last looked at the benefits renewal.
- Saved money is the easiest profit. “it’s cheaper to save money than it is to make money in some cases.” And recovered money doesn’t have to fight through margin: “I call it profit recovery… that goes right to bottom line.”
Benefits isn’t in the usual fCFO playbook, and you don’t need to become a benefits person. That part is my job. Your job is to ask the question and bring the answer to the CEO.
How it works
Start with Step 1. Every step below is included when you switch brokers.
- Intro. You make the intro. Optional: run the Renewal Benchmark Check first.
- Sign the engagement and broker-of-record letters, and get my pay in writing. Any time of year; for the coming renewal, 150 days before renewal at the latest. Nothing is analyzed or quoted, and none of your documents or claims are used, until the engagement letter and broker-of-record letter are signed. My pay is in writing, in dollars and per employee, before anyone signs.
- Onboarding. The broker of record transfers in about a month. From then I service the plan: adds and terms, ID cards, billing, employee questions. The carrier sends me the plan documents, rates, invoices, enrollment list, claims (up to 24 months) and the renewal. The client sends only a payroll roster (no Social Security numbers), the last payroll deduction report, the contribution split, and who to work with.
- Plan Report. Written from the inside: what the plan costs per employee, who is on it, how it is funded, what the claims show where they exist, what is out of line against public benchmarks, and the strategy for the renewal. No quotes and no savings estimate yet.
- Renewal strategy and market. From about 90 days out, with the renewal in hand, I compare it to what the Plan Report expected and shop the market whether the renewal is high or in line. Firm quotes take 20 to 25 days. Options tested: fully insured, level funded, self funded. It ends with an owner-ready summary, a recommendation and the decision file.
- Decide and roll out.
- All year, every year. Servicing never stops between renewals.
The Plan Report and renewal strategy in detail
Plan Report (after onboarding)
What I need from you:
- From the client, only: a payroll roster (no Social Security numbers), the last payroll deduction report, the contribution split, and who to work with. Once I am broker of record, the carrier sends the plan documents, rates, invoices, enrollment list, claims (up to 24 months) and the renewal.
Files go through a secure link. No Social Security numbers. Your client signs the engagement and broker-of-record letters first, and we sign a business associate agreement before any claims detail on individuals comes in. Nothing is analyzed or quoted, and none of your documents or claims are used, until the engagement letter and broker-of-record letter are signed.
What you get back:
The Plan Report is written from the inside, from the carrier’s own data, and set against public benchmarks like KFF and federal surveys, CMS data, and state rate filings. It is not final pricing or an insurer’s offer.
- What the plan costs per employee
- Who is on it, and how it is funded
- What the claims show, where they exist
- What is out of line against public benchmarks
- The strategy for the renewal
There are no quotes and no savings estimate at this step.
If the Plan Report looks clean: the client is likely paying a fair rate. You tell the CEO you had their benefits stress tested and, from the inside, there’s likely nothing to see here. The market is still shopped at renewal, whether the renewal is high or in line. The CEO gets peace of mind, and you’ve shown real value for the month. As that fractional CFO put it, there’s “still value in the fact that we spent the time to reaffirm it.”
If something is out of line: you bring the finding to the CEO. Something like: We made Matt our broker, and he looked at the plan from the inside. Our family premium runs about 10% above the average for companies our size, and our renewal is about double the national trend. He’s taking it to market. (Example figures, not a client result.)
Either way, you’re the one who found it. That fractional CFO said a plain referral like “Spend money with Matt because he’ll help you with this.” is a harder sell, because the client thinks there’s a kickback. Compare that to “Hey guys, I found a resource and I want to go dig into this.” That reads as the CFO doing the job. You make the intro, and you stay the one the CEO turns to on the numbers.
Renewal strategy and market (from about 90 days out)
With the renewal in hand, I compare it to what the Plan Report expected and shop the market whether the renewal is high or in line. It is included, paid through the plan as placement commission, not billed to the client.
Documents behind the Plan Report and the renewal strategy:
| Document | Who sends it |
|---|---|
| Plan documents | The carrier |
| Rates and invoices | The carrier |
| Enrollment list | The carrier |
| Claims, up to 24 months | The carrier |
| The renewal | The carrier |
| Payroll roster, no Social Security numbers | The client |
| Last payroll deduction report | The client |
| Contribution split | The client |
| Who to work with | The client |
Files go through a secure link, never plain email. Email aloha@mattragudo.com with the client’s name and I’ll send you a private upload folder for that client. It’s shared only with the email addresses you give me, never “anyone with the link,” and I remove access once the work is delivered. I keep census files only as long as I need them to deliver the work and meet recordkeeping requirements. Then I securely delete them.
The owner signs the engagement and broker-of-record letters before any census or payroll data leaves the company. Nothing is analyzed or quoted, and none of your documents or claims are used, until the engagement letter and broker-of-record letter are signed.
Claims. 24 months (or whatever exists) of claims reports from the insurer, including a Texas chapter 1215 claims request if the plan is fully insured in Texas, or reports from the TPA if it’s level funded or self funded. We sign a business associate agreement before any claims detail on individuals comes in.
The census is the starting point, not everything. For some groups, insurers may need employee health questionnaires or a group application before they give final numbers.
What the client gets: an owner-ready summary, a recommendation and the decision file. Options tested: fully insured, level funded, self funded.
Timing: from 90 days out. Firm quotes take 20 to 25 days from submission.
See a sample renewal strategy and decision file
The Plan Report and the renewal strategy are advisory analysis of the plan's costs, not an accounting opinion.
After the findings
If the renewal is fair, I’ll say so, and the client keeps what they have. A clean result is still a win you bring to the CEO.
If the findings point to a change, I run the renewal and implement the plan with the client. I lay out the options side by side, test the renewal against the market, set up enrollment and administration, and handle employee questions, so HR isn’t chasing paperwork. After that, next year’s renewal becomes a planned review instead of a surprise.
You stay the advisor of record on finance. The budget, the numbers, and the conversation with the CEO stay with you. I handle the benefits work.
Start with one client
You get a Plan Report on one client’s plan to take to the CEO, and your client gets a broker who services the plan all year. It starts when the client signs the engagement letter and broker-of-record letter, any time of year; for the coming renewal, 150 days before renewal is the latest. I work behind you, and you keep the relationship.
In exchange, I’d like two things: your honest feedback on what would make this more valuable to you and simpler to build into your onboarding process, and your permission to use it as an anonymized case study. No client names, no company names, and your client says okay first.
The onboarding insert
The best time to switch brokers is the first three weeks of a new engagement, while you’re already collecting documents. Put the plan’s renewal date and who to work with on your request list, right next to merchant statements. Once the letters are signed, the carrier sends me the rest, claims included.
That’s how you can pay for yourself in month one.
Send your first client
Start with the form, with your client's okay first. Your client signs the engagement letter and broker-of-record letter any time of year; for the coming renewal, 150 days before renewal is the latest. From the client I need only a payroll roster (no Social Security numbers), the last payroll deduction report, the contribution split, and who to work with. The carrier sends the rest. Then you get a Plan Report: what the plan costs per employee, who is on it, how it is funded, what the claims show where they exist, what is out of line against public benchmarks, and the strategy for the renewal. No quotes and no savings estimate yet.
Email aloha@mattragudo.com or call (808) 358-1477.
Who's behind it
I started my own health insurance agency, grew it to 60 agents in about 3 years, and then sold it. I negotiated our insurer contracts and commissions and did the plan design, and we ended up with the largest book with one of the major insurers in our area. I also built partner programs with local TPAs and physician networks. After the exit, I spent 2 years on the M&A side, doing valuation and operational analysis for insurance agency roll-ups.
I also worked as a financial planner for more than 10 years, running full planning for business owners, including family businesses being handed to the next generation, where succession, the estate, and the business as the family’s main asset all had to line up. I’ve also worked as a claims and physician network liaison. So I look at a health plan the way an owner looks at the whole business, and I read a renewal the way you read a P&L.
I’m independent. I work for the client, not the insurance company. I’m based in the Austin area, Texas.
FAQ
Do I need to know anything about benefits to do this?
No. Get the client’s okay, and the client signs the engagement letter and broker-of-record letter. The carrier sends me the rest. I’ll explain what I find in plain English so you can take it to the CEO.
How long does it take?
The letters can be signed any time of year; for the coming renewal, 150 days before renewal is the latest. The broker of record transfers in about a month, and the Plan Report follows once the carrier’s data is in. The renewal strategy runs from about 90 days out. Firm quotes take 20 to 25 days from submission.
What happens after the Plan Report?
From about 90 days out, I run the renewal strategy and market, then the decision and rollout, from enrollment to employee questions. Servicing never stops between renewals. You stay the advisor of record on finance.
How do you get paid?
Onboarding, servicing, the Plan Report and the renewal strategy are included. They are paid through the plan as placement commission, not billed to your client. Until the first renewal with me, the carrier pays the commission already in the contract, shown in dollars before signing. From that renewal, it’s a flat $40 per employee per month at standard scope. Special projects, for example a self-funded structure, are priced in the engagement letter before signing, never added later. All of it is disclosed in writing, in dollars and per employee, before anyone signs. More on how I’m paid.
Will you contact my client directly?
Not unless you make the intro.
What if their current broker is doing a good job?
Then I’ll say so. A clean first look is still something for you to show the CEO.
What if the renewal is months away?
Good. Earlier is better. Not every plan year starts January 1, so ask when theirs renews. Looking before the official rate lands gives the client time to plan instead of react.
Which states do you cover?
Home base is the Austin area, Texas. Tell me the client’s state before you collect anything, and I’ll confirm I can help there.