FinCore, New York, NY (2026)

02/06/2026

This Black History Month, we want to intentionally celebrate Black leadership in spaces where it hasn’t always been visible.

Today, we are highlighting Richard Levychin, CPA, CGMA, a partner at the CPA firm Galleros Robinson.

Diverse leadership brings broader perspective, better decision-making, and firms that are more equipped to serve a wide range of clients and communities.

Galleros Robinson stands out for their commitment to:

• High-quality advisory and accounting work
• Trusted client relationships
• Leadership that reflects the evolving face of our profession

This is what thoughtful leadership looks like, and it deserves to be seen and celebrated.

On a personal note I applaud their commitment to diverse leadership. I’ve worked alongside their team on some truly complex client situations.

As a fractional CFO, I deeply value having a symbiotic relationship with an accounting firm that is focused on helping clients navigate nuanced tax and financial challenges.

And as someone my clients trust, it matters to me that I partner with other advisors who carry that same sense of responsibility and care.

It’s wonderful when an acounting and finance person can work together to achieve a desired client outcome and I look foward to my continued work with Galleros Robinson.

02/04/2026

Ten Years In: How Financial Leadership Has Quietly Changed

When I started this work ten years ago, most business owners came to me for one thing:
help understanding what already happened.

They wanted reports cleaned up.
Numbers explained.
Questions answered after the fact.

And at the time, that made sense. Many of these businesses were still finding their footing, growing organically, and doing what founders do best — building while figuring it out along the way.

But as those businesses grew, something else started to happen.

Decisions became heavier. Cash flow mattered more. Hiring carried real consequences. And suddenly, looking backward wasn’t enough to feel confident moving forward.

That’s when the role of financial leadership began to shift.

Today, the most meaningful CFO conversations aren’t about last quarter’s results. They’re about what those results mean for the next decision, the next hire, the next season of the business. They’re about understanding risk before it shows up, not explaining it afterward.

I see it most clearly with owners who never raised capital and never had formal financial infrastructure early on. They built successful companies through instinct, grit, and sales experience. But now they’re thinking about sustainability, succession, or exit — and the numbers need to support that next chapter.

The CFO’s role today is less about reporting history and more about shaping perspective. Translating numbers into clarity. Turning financial data into a story that supports long-term vision, not just short-term survival.

Financial leadership hasn’t become more complicated.
It’s become more intentional.

And after ten years of watching businesses evolve, I’ve learned this:
the right financial leadership doesn’t take control away from founders — it gives them more of it.

💬 If you think back a few years, how has the way you use your numbers changed as your business has grown?

02/03/2026

From a CFO’s seat, tax season is an “audit” of your bookkeeping discipline.

Clean books don’t mean “perfect” books, they mean your numbers are:

💰Current (not six months behind)
💰Categorized correctly (not living in “miscellaneous”)
💰Telling the same story your CPA is about to report

When your books are clean, a few things stop happening:

👉Your CPA doesn’t have to “hunt and guess,” which lowers fees
👉You’re not scrambling to explain transactions from last spring
👉You make decisions with confidence instead of crossed fingers

Good bookkeeping = a smooth tax season.

If tax season feels heavier every year, it’s an indication to level up your bookkeeping discipline.

💬 What part of tax season causes you the most stress: the bill, the prep work, or the waiting?

Let me know in the comments.

01/30/2026

A lot of business owners think if revenue is growing, the business must be healthy.

That’s not always true. Healthy business = Profitable + Cashflow Positive + Solvent

In a recent conversation, I spoke with two founders who were in thousands of retail doors. From the outside, it looked like success. Big distribution. Brand recognition. Momentum.

But when we talked about the numbers, a different story showed up.

Retail was expensive and margins were thin. Cash was tied up in inventory and quotas. The business was growing—but it wasn’t getting easier to run or more profitable to sustain.

After their fractional CFO showed them why growth started feeling heavy, they made a bold decision.

They walked away from retail—not because it failed, but because the math didn’t support the future they were trying to build.

🎧Listen to the full conversation with Thyme and Denielle, cousins and co-founders of UNICORN in every stall.

🔗Full interview on my LinkedIn - link in bio.

If your growth starts to feel heavy…
If every new dollar requires more effort, more cash, more stress… That’s a financial design problem.

And it’s solvable, once you’re courageous enough to look at your numbers and have a trusted financial expert guide you to a solution.

01/26/2026

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in 10 years of doing this work:

👉👉👉 Revenue growth doesn’t automatically reduce financial stress.

In the early days, most founders believe:
“If we just grow the top line, everything else will work itself out.”

But what often happens as a business matures is....”more money, more problems”.

👉More people to manage
👉More fixed costs
👉More decisions with real consequences
👉Less room for guesswork

Growth amplifies everything, including inefficiencies, blind spots, and unclear financial leadership.

So if your business is bigger and feels heavier than it used to, that’s not a failure.

It’s a sign that your business’s financial needs has increased and you now need
💰 a stronger finanical structure,
💰 more financial leadership and,
💰 5-10 metrics to track and measure success monthly.

Your business will suffer without it. But it doesn’t have to with the guidance and support of a fractional CFO.

💬 Let me know in the COMMENTS:

What challenged you most as your business grew? The money, the people, or the pressure?

01/23/2026

Shine a Light on Her: Cimin Ahmadi Cohen is the founder of Idea Peddler, based in Austin, TX, where she helps founders, executives, and operators turn strong ideas into clear strategy and practical action.

Idea Peddler exists for leaders who are moving fast but need sharper thinking, better alignment, or a fresh perspective to unlock growth, navigate change, or make high-stakes decisions with confidence.

Cimin works closely with clients to pressure-test ideas, clarify direction, and identify what actually moves the needle, not in theory, but in ex*****on.

Their approach blends strategic insight with real-world practicality. Whether supporting early-stage founders or established businesses at an inflection point, Idea Peddler focuses on clarity, momentum, and outcomes.

01/21/2026

CPA vs Bookkeeper vs CFO. What’s the difference?

A lot of founders tell me, “I already have a CPA… so why does this still feel unclear?”

Here’s the part no one explains:

🧾 Bookkeeper
Keeps the score.
Accurate, historical, day-to-day records.

📑 CPA
Compliance and taxes.
Reports what already happened and keeps you out of trouble.

📊 CFO
Strategy and foresight.
Helps you understand what’s coming next, what decisions matter, and how to prepare for them.

⚠️ These roles are all important, but they do very different jobs. ⚠️

As your business grows, the financial questions you’re asking change.
And when the questions change, the leadership required has to change too.

💬 Which role do you rely on most today, and which one do you feel is missing? Share it in the COMMENTS - I’d love to hear from you.

01/21/2026

CPA vs Bookkeeper vs CFO. What’s the difference?

A lot of founders tell me, “I already have a CPA… so why does this still feel unclear?”

Here’s the part no one explains:

🧾 Bookkeeper
Keeps the score.
Accurate, historical, day-to-day records.

📑 CPA
Compliance and taxes.
Reports what already happened and keeps you out of trouble.

📊 CFO
Strategy and foresight.
Helps you understand what’s coming next, what decisions matter, and how to prepare for them.

⚠️ These roles are all important, but they do very different jobs. ⚠️

As your business grows, the financial questions you’re asking change.
And when the questions change, the leadership required has to change too.

💬 Which role do you rely on most today, and which one do you feel is missing? Share it in the COMMENTS - I’d love to hear from you.

01/19/2026

Ten years ago (!!) I started a firm called Art & Money Matters LLC.

At the time, I was working with performance art creatives and founders who did not have sound financial leadership nor advice.

In fact, the creatives were performing functions that they were not trained or inclined to do - selling, delivering, managing cash, and trying to understand their numbers late at night when the house finally got quiet.

Business owners don’t struggle finanically because they are not smart or don’t know Math!

Business owners struggle and make mistakes financially because they don’t know the language of finance and have fear around what they don’t know.

They need confidence, clarity, and guidance which a someone with Finance expertise can bring.

Fast forward ten years, and the founders we work with today are running bigger, more complex businesses:

💡Larger teams

💡Higher stakes decisions

💡More risk

💡More opportunity

What they need now isn’t just understanding their numbers, they need financial leadership.

That’s why Art & Money LLC evolved into FinCore...because as businesses mature, the role finance plays has to mature too!

From survival → growth → sustainability → legacy.

💬 Curious: What’s changed most in your business over the last few years? The size, the complexity, or the decisions you’re making?
⚠️Share it in the COMMENTS⚠️

01/16/2026

Shine a Light on: Dr. Lesley Steele, DVM, is the CEO and Founder of Steele Veterinary Group, the largest independently owned network of veterinary hospitals in Atlantic Canada.

Based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, she has grown the organization from a single practice into a multi-hospital group known for high standards of veterinary care.

With more than two decades of experience as both a clinician and business owner, Dr. Steele focuses on building sustainable veterinary practices that support their teams, clients, and communities. Her leadership emphasizes ethical growth, operational excellence, and a people-first culture.

Dr. Steele is also passionate about mentoring and empowering veterinary professionals, particularly women pursuing leadership and ownership within the profession, and continues to advocate for the long-term success of independent veterinary medicine.

01/15/2026

Most business owners mistakenly assume that if a business is profitable, it’s sellable. That assumption alone can cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars when it comes time to exit.

Buyers don’t buy potential or effort; They buy clarity, confidence, and consistency, and when any of those are missing, they reduce the price or walk away altogether.

Before buyers get excited about your story, your brand, or your growth trajectory, they go straight to the numbers and ask:

Are the financials accurate and consistent month to month?

Do the margins make sense, and are they stable?

Is cash flow predictable?

Can the business run without the owner?

Do controls exist to reduce financial risk?

If the answer to any of these is “kind of,” buyers don’t debate it, they adjust the valuation downward.

As a fractional CFO, the most common value killers I see are:

Personal expenses mixed into the business

Inconsistent or poorly defined COGS

Financial statements that don’t tie together

Undocumented financial processes

Heavy owner dependency

Revenue concentration

Weak cash flow management

None of these mean you’ve built a bad business; they just mean the business isn’t yet packaged in a way buyers trust...

Buyers don’t pay premiums for explanations, they pay premiums for proof.

What many owners miss is that they’re not just selling numbers, they’re selling how the business runs, including how spending is approved, how pricing decisions are made, how cash is managed, and what happens if the owner steps away for an extended period of time.

If everything flows through the owner, the business feels risky even when it’s profitable, and reducing owner dependency is one of the fastest ways to *increase value.*

This work isn’t about selling tomorrow; it’s about creating options, because preparation creates leverage, and leverage leads to better outcomes.

👇 Comment “VALUE” if you want to start preparing your business the way buyers actually evaluate it.

01/14/2026

It’s not the Year of the Red Horse yet… but this girl is 🐎🔥
Focused, energized, and ready to go.

We officially kicked off 2026 with an incredible speaking experience at the Professional Photographers of America Imaging Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

I had the opportunity to speak with creative business owners about how to build a healthy relationship with their numbers and avoid the five financial mistakes that typically make or break small businesses.

The room was filled with people at all different stages of business.

One woman came up to me afterward and shared that she fully identifies as “just a creative.”

I could tell the financial side felt overwhelming, but she also recognized that she needs to be more intentional with her money if she wants to move forward. That awareness alone is powerful.

I also spoke with several business owners who are planning for an eventual exit.

They wanted to understand what makes a business more sellable and how to prepare financially to be truly ready when opportunity knocks.

This is why I do what I do.

I love working with clients who are ready for a different relationship with their numbers: Forward-thinking leaders who are always asking, “What’s next?” and who are committed to leveling up their businesses and their lives.

I’m on a mission to transform lives through financial clarity. At this engagement alone, I probably touched 75–100 lives.

That is something I’ll never take lightly.

Huge thank you to the Professional Photographers of America and the Imaging Conference for the opportunity.

Cheers to being on the road to 10 years in business—and just getting started. ✨

FinCore

02/06/2026

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