Case Study: How a Fractional CFO Turned Two Days of Financial Reporting Into One Hour for a Growing DTC Brand

Taylor Crane is the founder of Fractional Jobs, the talent network that matches fractional executives with the startups and SMBs looking to hire them. In this case study, Taylor sat down with Joe Mannello, CEO of Myos Corp, to learn how a fractional CFO changed the way his business operates.

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Joe Mannello is the CEO of Myos Corp, the medical nutrition company behind Fortetropin, a patented ingredient derived from fertilized egg yolk that supports muscle health in both humans and pets. With eight clinical studies, nine patents, and products sold direct-to-consumer across seven sales channels, Myos is a research-driven brand operating at the intersection of science and commerce.

Joe is a dealmaker by nature. He understands numbers and runs a data-driven operation. But as the company grew to 15 employees and began eyeing international expansion, the financial complexity started to outpace what his lean team could handle on its own.

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The Trigger

Joe wasn’t dealing with a financial crisis. He already had a controller managing the day-to-day and an outside accounting consultant who had been with the company for six years. But he didn’t have a strategic finance leader who could build the tools and frameworks to help him see the full picture across all seven sales channels.

“I’m very data driven,” Joe said. “Those numbers tell us a lot. They tell us the story. They tell us where we need to work on things, where we’re succeeding, where we may not be succeeding.”

With plans to expand into the UK and Europe and a growing need for deeper financial analysis, Joe knew he needed someone who could go beyond the books and use data-driven financial insights to help him make better decisions.

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Why Fractional, Not Full-Time?

“I didn’t want to hire a full-time CFO,” Joe said. “It would cost me a lot of money, and I’m not sure I would have gotten any more out of it that I needed.”

Myos Corp used outside consultants for accounting and across their direct-to-consumer operations, so Joe was already experienced with the idea of bringing in help that wasn’t a traditional full-time employee. A fractional CFO was a natural extension of that approach.

“If you can get good people like this without all the headaches that come with employing someone, I think the model’s a great model,” he said.

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Finding Jonathan Through Fractional Jobs

Joe came to Fractional Jobs and was presented with three candidates. He was impressed with the quality across the board.

“Fractional Jobs made it very easy to pick from a pretty solid group of individuals that I was really impressed with,” Joe said. “Just high-quality individuals. That made it a lot easier than going through the laborious hiring process.”

Jonathan Yarmeisch stood out for his understanding of direct-to-consumer business and his overall demeanor. “Gut feel,” Joe said. “Seemed like a pro, understood direct to consumer, understood what we do. Just showed us that he could really add value.”

Joe seriously considered one of the other candidates Fractional Jobs brought to him given the strength of their profile, but ended up going with Jonathan, and the match has exceeded all expectations. “He’s a pro,” Joe said. “I can’t say enough. I’m glad we went with him.”

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The First Big Win

The most impactful project Jonathan took on was building a financial model to analyze all seven of Myos Corp’s sales channels. Before Jonathan, pulling this kind of analysis together fell to the Controller and took roughly two days each cycle. Jonathan built a model that reduced the entire process to about one hour.

“What took our controller two days to do, this model he developed, it probably takes an hour now,” Joe said. “That was one of the biggest things he did for us as a very tech-forward financial operator.”

Every month, Jonathan reviews the model, analyzes each sales channel’s performance, and breaks down growth margins. The result is a clearer, faster, more actionable picture of which channels are working and which ones need attention.

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Going the Extra Mile

When Myos Corp began exploring expansion into the UK and Europe, Jonathan didn’t just answer the accounting questions that came his way. He went further, proactively reaching out to contacts in his network to help the company navigate regulatory issues.

“He not only gave his accounting insight, but he spoke to his network,” Joe said. “With regard to some of the regulatory issues, he just went the extra mile. He got us the answer from friends of his.”

That kind of initiative is what made the engagement grow over time rather than wind down. Joe and his team kept finding new ways to put Jonathan to work.

“We keep using him for different things,” Joe said. “Rather than shut it down, we decided we have enough stuff, and I’d rather pay him to make sure I’m doing it right and that the company’s doing it right.”

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Part of the Team

What surprised Joe most was how embedded Jonathan became in the culture of the company, despite working only about five hours a week.

“He cares about who we are and really feels like he’s part of the team,” Joe said. “Casey, our COO, and Ted, our controller, really, really have an affinity for Jonathan, and vice versa,” Joe said.

That kind of cultural fit is hard to guarantee with any hire, but for Myos Corp, it has been one of the defining features of the engagement.

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From Skeptic to Advocate

Despite his experience with consultants, Joe admitted he went into the fractional hiring process as a skeptic, but the experience has changed his mind.

“I was very skeptical,” he said. “And it exceeded my expectations.”

When asked what he’d say to another founder who was on the fence about hiring a fractional CFO, Joe said: “The good news is you don’t have to commit forever. You get a look, and if you don’t like it, you can move on,” he said. “But like I said, it has exceeded my expectations.”

He also pointed to the flexibility as a core advantage over traditional hiring. “If you hire someone full-time, it’s just much harder to adjust to your needs a few months in. You get to pick and choose when you hire fractional. If it doesn’t work out, boom, you can move on.”

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If this case study resonates with you, and you want to bring in a Fractional CFO like Jonathan, or any other kind of fractions leader, learn more about how Fractional Jobs can help connect you to the right person for the job. You’ll be working with Taylor directly.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Myos Corp?

A: Myos Corp is a medical nutrition company that develops and markets products built around Fortetropin, a patented ingredient that supports muscle health. The company sells direct-to-consumer across seven sales channels and has about 15 employees. They offer both human and pet product lines.

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Q: How did Myos Corp find the right Fractional CFO for their needs?

A: Myos Corp worked with Fractional Jobs, a white-glove search service for fractional hiring. Fractional Jobs presented Myos Corp with three high-quality candidates, one of whom was hired as a fractional CFO.

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Q: What does the fractional CFO do for Myos Corp?

A: Jonathan Yarmeisch handles monthly sales channel analysis using a custom financial model, reviews growth margins, supports international expansion planning, assists with regulatory and accounting questions, and serves as a strategic finance partner to the CEO and leadership team. The engagement runs about five hours per week.

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Q: What was the biggest result?

A: Jonathan built a financial model that analyzes all seven of Myos Corp’s sales channels. The model reduced what had been a two-day manual process for the controller down to about one hour each month.

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Q: Was the CEO skeptical about fractional hiring?

A: Yes. Joe Mannello described himself as “very skeptical” going in, but said the experience exceeded his expectations. He now recommends the model to other founders and would use Fractional Jobs again.

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Q: How did the fractional CFO integrate with the existing team?

A: Despite working only five hours a week and primarily remote, Jonathan developed strong relationships with the COO and controller. Joe said what surprised him most was how much Jonathan cared about the company and felt like part of the team.

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