Nelson Tepfer

Co-Founder & CEO ProCFO Partners

Last Reviewed: September 18, 2026

Executive Summary

Nelson Tepfer is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ProCFO Partners, a nationwide firm providing fractional and interim chief financial officers to companies that need senior finance leadership but not a full-time hire. He built the firm with co-founder Haleh Fardi around a two-sided proposition that he has articulated directly: every company deserves an expert CFO, and every expert CFO deserves a platform on which to practise in a way that is meaningful to them. That second half matters to how the business is structured — ProCFO Partners is as much a platform for experienced finance executives as it is a services firm for clients. Tepfer came to it from more than 25 years of hands-on finance leadership as a CFO, interim CFO, COO and consultant across close to a dozen industries, from healthcare and manufacturing to logistics, transportation, real estate, digital marketing and professional services. The firm has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private US companies for three consecutive years.

Career Highlights

• Co-founder and CEO of ProCFO Partners, founded with Haleh Fardi.
• ProCFO Partners named to the Inc. 5000 for three consecutive years: No. 613 in 2024, No. 1,816 in 2025 and No. 3,319 in 2026.
• Named an Inc. Power Partner Award winner in 2024.
• More than 25 years of finance leadership as a CFO, interim CFO, COO and consultant.
• Operating experience spanning close to a dozen industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, real estate, digital marketing and legal and professional services.
• Hosts the firm’s podcast, including the ‘Create The Next’ series, and has been interviewed in Authority Magazine on the transition into chief executive leadership.

Professional Journey

Tepfer spent the first and longest phase of his career inside companies rather than advising them, serving variously as chief financial officer, interim chief financial officer, chief operating officer and consultant. The distinguishing feature of that period is breadth rather than depth in a single sector: his work covered close to a dozen industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, real estate, digital marketing, and legal and other professional services, across organizations of widely differing sizes. No source names the individual employers, so the sequence of those roles cannot be reconstructed, but the cumulative effect is clear enough — repeated exposure to the point in a company’s life where finance function needs outgrow the bookkeeper and fall short of a full-time CFO.

That gap is the business ProCFO Partners addresses. Tepfer founded it with Haleh Fardi to provide on-demand access to seasoned financial leadership, matching experienced CFOs to companies on a fractional or interim basis. The firm’s model gives client companies senior finance capability — financial reporting, analysis, KPI design, strategic planning — without the cost and commitment of a permanent executive hire, while giving the CFOs themselves a portfolio practice and a platform behind them.

The firm has grown quickly enough to reach the Inc. 5000 in three consecutive years, entering at No. 613 in 2024, then appearing at No. 1,816 in 2025 and No. 3,319 in 2026. Inc. separately named it a Power Partner Award winner in 2024, a recognition given to B2B firms on the basis of client feedback. Alongside running the firm, Tepfer has built a public-facing presence through the ProCFO Partners podcast, including the ‘Create The Next’ series, and through interviews on the experience of moving from finance executive to chief executive.

Education

NYU Stern School of Business

Master of Business Administration, Corporate Finance, Financial Instruments and Markets, and Accounting