Clarity and Control Start Here.
80+ senior finance professionals across Irvine, Las Vegas, Nashville and Louisville. Helping leaders nationwide gain clarity and control. Founded 2017 by Brennan de Raad.
Built for the businesses that need it most.
Most growing businesses can't afford a full-time CFO. So they make do — a bookkeeper, an outside CPA, and the owner absorbing whatever falls through the cracks. The numbers get done. But no one is watching where the business is going.
Vessel Advisors was founded on the belief that this is the wrong way to run a business. The financial leadership large companies take for granted — a CFO who sees around corners, a controller who closes clean, a team that gives leadership the numbers and context to make real decisions — should be available to growing businesses too. Not a watered-down version. The real thing, right-sized for what the business needs.
We build finance functions that work, deploy the right people at the right level, and stay until the work is done. Our clients lead with confidence because they know where the business stands.
Our Story
Why we started — and why it still matters.
Vessel Advisors was founded by Brennan de Raad in 2017 after years inside growing businesses where he watched the same story play out repeatedly. Small and mid-sized companies were either paying too much for overqualified financial professionals who weren't right-sized for their situation, or making do with junior staff who couldn't give leadership what they needed. There was no good middle.
Brennan had lived it from the inside — the 60 and 70-hour weeks, the pressure of a business growing faster than its infrastructure, decisions made without full information because the information simply wasn't there. He understood what it cost.
So he built Vessel Advisors to be the answer he didn't have — a firm where fractional and interim CFOs and Controllers are the default engagement structure, where people are deployed by outcome, not title, and where the focus is on building the right finance function, not protecting a seat. 9 years later, that idea scales across the country with offices in Irvine, Las Vegas, Nashville, and Louisville.
The Differentiator
Depth. Expertise. Availability.
You're not working with a solo consultant. You're accessing a bench of 80+ US-based financial professionals — each one an experienced CFO, controller, or accountant — deployed where you need them, as long as you need them.
Chief Financial Officers
Strategy, cash flow modeling, M&A support, and board-level financial leadership for companies $5MM to $500MM+.
Controllers
Close automation, internal controls, financial reporting, and systems design that scale with the business.
Accounting Professionals
GL management, reconciliation, and operational accounting that keeps the numbers clean and audit-ready.
How Engagements Start
The Financial Discovery Assessment™.
We don't take engagements blind. Most relationship begins with a structured diagnostic — digging into the books, the processes, the team, the risk exposure, and the reporting. At the end you get a written findings report with quantified impact wherever we can put a dollar on it, plus a prioritized action plan.
Assessments identify significant value, many times more than the cost. Beyond the savings, the diagnostic uncovers hidden efficiencies and opportunities that unleash an organization's potential.
The Assessment stands alone. Many clients choose to continue working with us afterward because we've demonstrated that we know finance and how it can be the foundation for a healthy, successful business.
How We Show Up
Six values that guide everything.
Fanatical Attention to Consistency and Detail
We obsess over the small things so clients can see the big wins — consistently, audited, and value added (“Dollarized”).
Extreme Ownership
No matter the circumstances, we own the outcome — and the communication. We look in the mirror first.
Be Responsive
We are always quick and clear in our responses to clients and team members. We don't use jargon, and we over-communicate so the recipient feels heard and valued.
Learn, Adapt or Die
We stay curious and adapt deliberately, because in business, standing still is choosing to fall behind.
Be a Good Human
Character is our greatest asset. We aim to be the high point of our clients' day, leaving every individual and organization better than we found them.
Go the Extra Mile
We don't just finish tasks — we make sure the work is right, the client is supported, and the business moves forward.
Community
We give back where we live and work.
Vessel Advisors and our team members support organizations creating real impact in the communities where we operate.
Ready to build your finance function?
Every quarter of delay narrows the set of financial-leadership options available to the business. Our vetted bench deploys interim and fractional leadership on short timelines when the situation demands it — most engagements begin with a Financial Discovery Assessment that gives leadership a clear picture and a defensible plan.
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