Directory / Marcus Hale
Marcus Hale
Managing Partner · Cornerstone Advisory
"A scoping framework that ended billing surprises across 200 engagements."
Origin Story + Framework Breakdown · 45:50
Interview coming soon
Marcus walks through the estimation system that made Cornerstone's fixed-fee model profitable.
The Cornerstone Scoping Framework
The Problem They Solved
Fixed-fee work was a coin flip. Half the engagements paid for the other half.
The Framework They Built
A three-tier scoping ladder with named assumptions and a written change-order trigger.
Key Systems & Processes
An estimation worksheet, a partner review gate, and a post-mortem on every engagement over budget.
Results & Outcomes
Gross margin rose from 34% to 51% and write-offs fell below 2% of billings.
Pull quotes
"A surprise invoice is a scoping failure wearing a costume."
"Write the assumptions down or you will argue about them later."
§ What Cornerstone Advisory does
Cornerstone Advisory provides finance and operations consulting to middle-market manufacturers and distributors on a fixed-fee basis.
Ideal client
Manufacturers and distributors between $10M and $150M in revenue.
Service area: Southeast United States
Visit Cornerstone Advisory Website →Offerings
Finance function build-outs
Operations diagnostics
Fractional CFO engagements
Systems selection advisory
