Skip to content

    CFO Services

    A fractional CFO is a senior finance leader who works with a company part-time, giving it the judgement of a chief financial officer without the cost of a full-time hire.

    Capability · 1 service within this

    How we help with CFO Services

    Most companies need a CFO's judgement long before they need a CFO's salary.

    1. Work out what you actually need

      Some companies need a controller and think they need a CFO. We start by separating the work that needs senior judgement from the work that needs a process, so you are not paying partner rates for reconciliations.

    2. Put a named person in the seat

      One senior finance leader, in your meetings, with your board pack, at an agreed number of days a month. Not a rotating bench and not a report delivered from outside the business.

    3. Build the function underneath them

      A fractional CFO without a functioning close is a expensive firefighter. We install the monthly cadence, the controls and the reporting that let the role be about decisions.

    4. Hand over when it is time

      The engagement is designed to end. When the company can carry a full-time CFO, the systems, documentation and the hiring brief are already in place.

    Services within CFO Services

    Most companies need a CFO's judgement long before they need a CFO's salary.

    What CFO Services delivers

    • Virtual CFO

      A named senior finance lead who runs your finance function remotely: cadence, controls and judgement without a seat in your office.

      • Monthly close and MIS ownership
      • Cashflow and runway management
      • Board and investor reporting
      • Banking and lender relationships

    • Fractional CFO

      A CFO for the fraction of the week the business actually needs: from one day a month to two days a week, scaled as the company grows.

      • Finance strategy and capital planning
      • Fundraise preparation and diligence readiness
      • Pricing, margin and unit-economics decisions
      • Hiring and mentoring the in-house finance team

    • Outsourced CFO office

      The whole finance function run from our CFO Office: FP&A, controllership and compliance delivered as one accountable service.

      • FP&A and budgeting cycle
      • Controllership and books discipline
      • Statutory and tax compliance calendar
      • Audit readiness through the year

    How an engagement starts

    1. 01

      Diagnose

      Two weeks inside the numbers: books, cash, controls, and what the founders actually need decided.

    2. 02

      Right-size

      Virtual, fractional or fully outsourced, sized to the decisions ahead, not to a package.

    3. 03

      Install

      Cadence, MIS and controls set up so the function runs, not just reports.

    4. 04

      Scale

      The engagement shrinks or grows with the company, including hiring your full-time CFO when it is time.

    Why SRF for CFO Services

    • One senior lead, accountable. Not a rotating bench
    • The CFO Office behind them: FP&A, controllership and compliance capacity on tap
    • Built for founders raising or borrowing: diligence-ready numbers are the default, not a project

    Proof

    What this has actually done

    30+

    Startups where our founder has personally served as fractional CFO, building the finance function from the ground up.

    SRF Capital Studio firm profile, May 2026

    40+

    Enterprise CFO offices the firm currently manages.

    SRF Capital Studio firm profile, May 2026

    FAQ

    Questions founders ask about CFO Services

    What does a fractional CFO actually do?

    A fractional CFO owns the financial decisions a founder should not be making alone: the forecast, the runway calls, the pricing sign-off, the board pack and the investor conversation. They work a fixed number of days a month rather than full time, and they are accountable for outcomes rather than for hours.

    When does a company need one?

    Usually at the point where the founder is spending more than a day a week on finance, or where a board or an investor has started asking questions the current reporting cannot answer. In India that tends to land somewhere between five and fifty crore of revenue, though the trigger is the complexity rather than the number.

    How is this different from an outsourced accountant?

    An accountant records what happened. A fractional CFO decides what to do about it. The two are complementary and most companies need both, but hiring one expecting the other is the most common mistake we see.

    What does it cost compared with a full-time hire?

    A full-time CFO in India commands a senior salary plus equity. A fractional engagement is a fraction of that because you buy a fraction of the time. The comparison that matters is not cost per day, it is whether the decisions get made at all.

    Will they work with our existing finance team?

    Yes, and that is usually the point. The team keeps running the operations; the fractional CFO gives them a senior person to escalate to and gives the founder someone accountable for the numbers.

    What our research says about CFO Services

    Below roughly ₹20 crore of revenue, you can run your company on gut. Above it, that same gut quietly starts to lie to you.

    Sriram Chidambaram, in Below ₹20 crore, you can run on gut. Above it, gut starts to lie to you.

    In our experience most founders who say they need a CFO have adequate accounting and no FP&A.

    Sriram Chidambaram, in What is FP&A?

    Engage somebody if what you need is the argument rather than the arithmetic. An external party can tell a founder the plan is not achievable in a way an employee whose appraisal that founder signs usually cannot.

    Sriram Chidambaram, in What is FP&A?

    Guides and downloads on CFO Services

    E-books and masterclass material from the SRF library, free to download.

    The people behind CFO Services

    CFO Services is run by the studio team: one multidisciplinary team whose pods work in tandem, matched to the sector and the stage the company is in.

    Srikar Kedarisetty

    FinOps: CFO Office pod

    Led by Srikar Kedarisetty

    Lead, FinOps & Transformation. Manages cash flow and financial control.

    See the pod structure
    Studio TeamThe operators, investors and builders who run engagements end to end.Meet them

    What usually runs alongside this