How Fractional CFO Services Use a Simple Framework to Increase Profit & Cash Flow

The Sentinel 5-5-5: A Simple Framework for Driving Cash Flow

Every business is unique. Every owner has different goals. But in certain respects, all businesses are the same.

That’s why the Sentinel Operating System™ works across industries, sizes, and stages. It gives you a structured way to cut through the noise, focus on what matters, and drive toward your vision—whether that means building a lifestyle business, creating a legacy, or preparing for exit.

At the center of it all is one truth: cash flow is what ultimately matters.

Cash flow is what allows you to keep operating, reinvest in growth, and weather uncertainty. It is also what buyers value most when it comes time to sell.

So the real question is: how do you maximize cash flow?

That’s where the Sentinel 5-5-5 comes in.

How Fractional CFO Services Use the Sentinel 5-5-5 to Increase Profit and Cash Flow

The Sentinel 5-5-5 Framework provides business owners with a proven structure used by fractional CFO services to identify what truly drives financial performance.

We focus on three primary categories: revenue, profit, and cash flow. Each category has five drivers that tell you where the business really stands and what levers to pull next.

Our analysis of these drivers focuses on answering key questions that uncover growth opportunities and hidden inefficiencies.

Revenue Drivers

• Are you doing enough of the right activities to grow the pipeline?

• Are you getting better at qualifying and closing your leads?

• Are you retaining the customers you’ve already won?

• Are you expanding revenue from existing customers?

• Are you diversifying revenue streams to reduce dependency on one channel or client?

Profit Drivers

• Which products, customers, or locations are truly profitable — and which are not?

• Are your margins improving as you grow?

• Are you generating an ROI on your advertising and marketing spend?

• Are you generating sustainable profit, not just top-line revenue?

• Is your growth creating operating leverage (profits growing faster than expenses)?

Cash Flow Drivers

• Is growth generating cash or consuming it?

• Are you growing too fast to sustain with your current resources?

• How much cash runway do you really have?

• Are you managing working capital — receivables, payables, and inventory — in a disciplined way?

• Do you have the flexibility to invest in opportunities without putting the business at risk?

Why the Sentinel 5-5-5 Framework Works

We don’t track these 15 metrics to overwhelm you — in fact, the opposite.

Each month, your fractional CFO uses the Sentinel Operating System™ to monitor these drivers and identify the three or four that truly matter right now.Those become the focus of your Monthly Action Plan — clear, simple, and measurable priorities that tie directly to improving profit and cash flow.

Because in any given month, it’s not all 15 that move the needle. There are only a few levers that matter most.

How the Sentinel Operating System™ Supports Every Business Stage

Early Stage: Building Cash Runway

Cash is survival. Your CFO partner helps ensure you’re generating enough to sustain operations and reinvest in growth.

Growth Stage: Scaling Profitably

Efficiency matters. Are you growing with leverage — or just adding revenue without real profit?

Maturity Stage: Creating Equity Value

Buyers reward predictability and profit. Your CFO helps you structure cash flow and systems that increase valuation and options for exit.

No matter the stage, the questions change — but the need for clarity and financial leadership never does.

The Sentinel Difference: Private-Equity Rigor for Small Business

In private equity, financial leadership was never optional — it was the engine of growth and equity value.

We built Sentinel to bring that same level of clarity, discipline, and accountability to business owners at every stage — through accessible, high-impact fractional CFO services.

Cash flow is what ultimately builds value, creates options, and secures your legacy.

The Sentinel 5-5-5 makes it practical to measure, improve, and grow.

That’s what we provide.

And that’s why we built Sentinel.