Shares as fees. On the books.
Equity taken as payment shows on the invoice and in the record, at the value you agreed.
Industries · Fractional executives
Three clients. One record.
Each client pays a monthly fee for about ten hours a week. Ceed counts the hours per client and holds the one that would go over.
From the day a second client, or a second person, logs an hour.
Lumen Robotics · AprilHeld
43.5 of 40 h
Fri 24 Apr · 3.5 h · Board deck, marketing section · Elena V.
Held for approval. 3.5 h over the client’s budget.
ApproveDecline
$10,000
the monthly fee
40 h
the hours behind it
$250
the hour past it
$10
Ceed, this month
Priced on value. Sized in hours.
You priced the retainer on value and sized it on hours. When a client that needed ten a week needs twenty-five, the fee stays flat and the hours disappear into the month. Ceed keeps the count per client and puts the hour past the budget in front of you, before the month is gone.
Held. Not hidden.
The hour that would push a client over budget is saved, marked, and waits for a yes or no. Nothing is billed quietly. Nothing disappears.
- Logged
3.5 h · Lumen Robotics · Board deck
- Held
Over the 40 h budget. Waiting for your decision.
- Declined
Stays on the record. Off the invoice. Your call.
One set of hours. Everything follows.
A collective. One set of hours.
Two partners on one retainer are paid from the same entries the invoice used. No second sheet to reconcile.
One person. Nothing extra.
0.1% of what you invoice, no seats. A solo practice invoicing $30,000 a month pays $30.
Invoice · Lumen Robotics · April 2026Computed
Fractional CMO retainer · 40 h$10,000.00
Total$10,000.00
Computed from the agreement dated 6 Jan 2026. Nothing typed.
The 3.5 h declined on 24 Apr stay on the record and off this invoice.
From the field. In their words.
What fractional executives say in public about retainers, hours a week and scope creep. Linked and dated. Not our words.
Said on X.
I’ve worked as a Fractional CTO for several years.
In my experience, there have been 3 types of Fractional CTO work:
- Advisory CTO (2-5 hours per week)
- Quarter-time CTO (10-12 hours per week)
- Actual part-time CTO jobs (20-30 hours per week)
Fractional work taught me something corporate never did. When you only get 10 hours a week with a client, you stop doing busy work real fast. No status meetings about status meetings. No decks nobody reads. Just the stuff that moves pipeline.
I embed with your team, usually in your Slack. Unlimited requests within scope on a monthly retainer. I was Director of Product Design at Wealthsimple before this, and I lead every engagement myself rather than routing work to juniors, which is why I take a deliberately small number of companies at a time.
Said on YouTube.
Said elsewhere.
- YouTubeWhen and How to Hire a Fractional CMOThe Marketing Blender · the engagement’s scope and hours, from the buyer’s side
- ForumShow HN: Fractional jobs, part-time roles for engineersHacker News · August 2025 · 281 points · the hourly-rate arithmetic of a fractional career
- ArticleHow fractional leaders can stop scope creep before it stops themAlex Ruiz, Fractional Jobs · August 2025 · a second job nobody scoped
- ArticleHow to create a contract for a fractional work engagementTaylor Crane, Fractional Jobs · January 2026 · $10,000 a month for up to 10 hours a week, and the clause past 40
- ArticleHow fractional workers can manage late or non-payments from clientsCraig Finster, fractional CFO · January 2025
- ArticleFractionals UnitedThe community, on Slack · where fractional executives compare notes
Of what you invoice. That is the pricing page.
Invoice $10,000 this month for Lumen Robotics and Ceed costs $10. A month you invoice nothing costs nothing. No seats, no tiers, no minimum.
Questions. Answers.
I have three clients at ten hours a week. Does Ceed stop me at forty?
It holds the hour, never the work. The hour past the budget waits for your decision, on the record. You keep working if you choose to.
I took equity instead of cash from one client. Can the month still close?
Yes. Equity taken as fees is recorded against the invoice at the value you agreed, and the month closes with it in the books.
I am one person. Is there really no minimum?
None. A month you invoice nothing costs nothing. Invoice $30,000 and pay $30.
My collective splits one retainer three ways. Is everyone paid from the same hours?
Yes. A payout statement for each partner is computed from the same entries as the invoice.
Can my client see their own budget?
The client sees what the agreement puts on the invoice. The hours behind the fee are yours.
From the blog: Held. Not hidden. The agreement said 40 hours. The month said 47. Other firms Ceed is for: Accounting and fractional CFOs · Advisors · Coaches · all nineteen.