Editor\u2019s note: Made in Tarrant is an occasional Q&A series on small businesses started in Tarrant County. Submit your business here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Matthew Ciardiello often describes himself as a fractional chief financial officer.<\/p>\n After all, he\u2019s working for multiple clients.<\/p>\n Since launching his company Anexus CFO in 2025, Ciardiello is putting his decades of business experience to work. His firm provides small companies with financial management as well as budgeting, accounting and general administrative duties.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not your typical CFO,\u201d Ciardiello said. \u201cI\u2019ve built and sold companies. I\u2019ve raised capital and deployed it. I\u2019ve sat in every seat on the cap table \u2014 founder, CFO, CEO, (private equity) investor and board member. I\u2019ve closed infrastructure financings and guided companies through bankruptcy.\u201d<\/p>\n Ciardiello, 44, said he serves clients as a strategic partner \u2014 \u201ccomfortable in the mess, calm in the storm, and laser-focused on building ensuring value for your business.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact information<\/p>\n Matthew Ciardiello<\/p>\n matt@anexuscfo.com<\/a><\/p>\n Office: 2833 Crockett St.<\/p>\n Phone: 817-975-3941<\/p>\n Websites: anexuscfo.com<\/a><\/p>\n linkedin.com\/in\/matthew-ciardiello\/<\/a><\/p>\n Ciardiello spoke with senior business reporter Eric E. Garcia. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n Eric Garcia: Tell me about your business. What kind of services do you offer?<\/p>\n Matthew Ciardiello: Most small businesses and early-stage companies can\u2019t justify having a full-time CFO or controller. That doesn\u2019t mean they need one. They just need one part of the time. Anexus CFO understands this and provides tailored services to each of our client businesses.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s providing ongoing strategic advice, preparing a budget, helping you raise equity or debt funding, preparing you to sell your business \u2014 or buy one \u2014 or doing your accounting and administrative work for you, we\u2019re here to help.<\/p>\n We\u2019re particularly skilled in difficult situations and can help your business out of its messes, such as recovering from a fraud, reorganizing your holdings, integrating a new acquisition, streamlining your operations, preparing for bankruptcy or shutting down a business.<\/p>\n Garcia: Tell me about your experience.<\/p>\n Ciardiello: From 20 years of sitting in many different business seats \u2014 including as an investment banker, private equity investor, public company CFO, private equity-backed CEO, board member and startup founder, I accumulated a lot of experience in organizing, funding, streamlining and growing businesses.<\/p>\n As a transitional step after exiting my last company, I took a part-time role helping a friend organize their technology startup. I really enjoyed the work and realized there was a large demand out there from small businesses and new companies for professional CFO help \u2014 on a part-time basis. That\u2019s when I decided to be a full-time part-time CFO.<\/p>\n Since starting in 2025, I\u2019ve hired a North Texas-based team of accountants and finance professionals. We are growing our local client base.<\/p>\n Garcia: What makes your company unique?<\/p>\n Ciardiello: Most fractional CFO firms limit their exposure to a company in two ways. Either they are looking for larger clients for whom they can provide a two- to three-day-per-week CFO that comes in and manages an existing accounting department or they provide essentially outsourced accounting services but not much else.<\/p>\n Anexus is set up to not limit ourselves. We want to service businesses of any size. We really like difficult or messy situations and want to help your business get organized and streamlined.<\/p>\n Garcia: What is the biggest lesson you\u2019ve learned since starting your own business?<\/p>\n Ciardiello: That the personal relationship matters intensely. Fractional CFO and related work is a trusted adviser relationship. We\u2019re asking clients to share with us the inner details of their businesses and, often, control over their financial functions. That is a big step to ask anyone to take.\u00a0<\/p>\n Maintaining a personal relationship with our clients based on respect and integrity is of utmost importance to Anexus and critical for our successful service.<\/p>\n Garcia: What is your favorite part of the job?<\/p>\n Ciardiello: I get to interact with a variety of businesses. There are literally millions of businesses out there \u2014 all doing different things and helping the world in different ways. As a curious person, I love delving into a new company operating in a new space to understand how they work and how their market operates.<\/p>\n We have clients in many different areas, from manufacturing to energy to project development to technology to branded consumer products, and many others.\u00a0<\/p>\n Garcia: How did you fund your company?<\/p>\n Ciardiello: I was able to fund my company out of my savings, with some targeted help from an Amex line of credit. Growing a professional services company is a balancing act \u2014 trying to grow the team to be able to service more clients and trying to grow the client base to hire more team members.<\/p>\n Usually, I spend my nights and weekends working on financing the gaps as we grow.<\/p>\n Garcia: What else would you like to share?<\/p>\n Ciardiello: Most business owners and entrepreneurs don\u2019t know that fractional CFO firms exist. We\u2019re here to help. Too often though we get involved the hard way \u2014 because there is a problem that exists and that prompted a business to look for a solution.<\/p>\n Avoid the problem to start with, and involve Anexus or another fractional CFO firm from the start in your business. Our services and fees are tailored to the scale of your business and your needs.<\/p>\n Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n