Fractional CFO Services Across the Chicago Metro
Madison West Partners is based in Chicago. We work with owner-operated and PE-backed businesses across Cook, DuPage, and Lake counties, in six industries: private practice, fire & life safety, commercial building trades, auto & fleet repair, wholesale & retail, and restaurants & hospitality.
The work runs on your systems and a set reporting schedule, not a desk in your building. So it doesn’t matter where in the metro you’re located — the work gets done the same way.
Cook, DuPage & Lake County
Cook County
The city and its inner suburbs are home to most of the businesses we work with — dental and med spa practices, fire and life safety companies, independent retail shops, and commercial trades running several crews out of one base. More businesses means more competition here, and that's exactly when trustworthy numbers stop being optional.
DuPage County
The west suburban corridor is where most of our commercial building trades and auto and fleet repair clients operate. These are businesses built around trucks, crews, and territory, not foot traffic. Knowing which crews and contracts actually make money matters more here than anywhere else we work.
Lake County
A mix of private practice groups and multi-location restaurant and hospitality operators along the North Shore and further inland. Businesses with more than one location are usually the first to outgrow a single set of books — and the first to feel it when locations stop comparing cleanly.
What Chicago-Area Owners Ask Us
Do you work with businesses outside Cook, DuPage, or Lake County?
Most of our current work is in those three counties, but the work itself doesn't depend on location — it runs on your systems and a set reporting schedule, not a desk in your building. If you're elsewhere in the Chicago area or northern Illinois, reach out and we'll tell you plainly whether it's a fit.
Is the engagement remote, on-site, or a mix?
Mostly remote, on purpose — the reporting and controls we build are meant to work without someone there in person. We come on-site when it's actually useful: walking a shop floor, sitting in on a dispatch morning, meeting a practice's front desk team. The Read will tell you upfront what that looks like for your business.
Do you work with multi-location businesses across the suburbs?
Yes — it's a big part of what we do. We build one system that pulls multiple locations, crews, or practices into a single set of books and one trustworthy report, instead of separate spreadsheets that don't line up.
How do I know if my business is in your service area?
If you're an owner-operated or PE-backed business in one of our six industries, anywhere in the Chicago area, it's worth a conversation. The Read is a fixed-fee diagnostic built to answer honestly whether we're a fit, before you commit to anything ongoing.
Six Industries We Work in Across the Metro
Private PracticeDental Clinics · Med Spas · Clinician-Owned Practice
Most dental and med spa practices are run by clinicians, not accountants — for good reason. But somewhere between the practice management software, the payment processor, and the bank feed, the numbers stop telling the truth. You know revenue is up. You don't know if margin is.
See How We Work in Private Practice →Fire & Life SafetyFire Protection · Sprinkler · Alarm · Extinguisher Companies
Fire protection, sprinkler, alarm, and extinguisher companies run on a business model that should be one of the most predictable in the trades: recurring inspections, code-required renewals, and contracted service. Most companies just can't see the numbers clearly enough to prove it.
See How We Work in Fire & Life Safety →Commercial Building TradesMechanical & HVAC-R Service · Overhead Doors & Docks
Mechanical, HVAC-R service, and overhead door and dock companies run on technicians, trucks, and service agreements. That's a lot of moving parts, producing a lot of data — but most of that data never turns into an actual decision.
See How We Work in Commercial Building Trades →Auto & Fleet RepairIndependent Shops · Fleet Maintenance
Every week an independent shop or fleet maintenance operation is buying parts, scheduling bays, and managing labor — a constant stream of activity that rarely gets turned into financial reporting anyone actually uses.
See How We Work in Auto & Fleet Repair →Wholesale & RetailIndependent Retail · Specialty Shops · Small Distributors
Independent shops and small distributors run on inventory, margin, and turn. There's real money in that model — if you can see which products and categories are actually earning the cash and shelf space they take up.
See How We Work in Wholesale & Retail →Restaurants & HospitalityFull-Service Restaurants · Multi-Location Groups
Full-service restaurants and growing hospitality groups run on some of the thinnest margins of any industry we work in — and some of the least reliable reporting. POS data, food and beverage cost, and labor scheduling all live in different systems, and they rarely add up to what actually hits the P&L.
See How We Work in Restaurants & Hospitality →We Take a Small Number of Engagements at a Time.
If you’re a Chicago-area owner or operating partner wondering whether your financial systems can hold up, it’s worth a conversation.