Fractional CFO Services: Senior Finance Leadership On Retainer
Strategic finance leadership for growth-stage companies — without the full-time hire.
“We needed a CFO who understood our scale, our cross-border operations, and our investor expectations — without burning a full senior salary on it. Nirji's fractional CFO model gave us exactly that. Board reporting, fundraising prep, and treasury discipline — all in one engagement.”
Overview
Most growth-stage companies hit a point where the founder can no longer be the de facto CFO and the business is not yet ready to hire one full-time. Nirji embeds a senior Chartered Accountant (ICAI, India) into your leadership team — typically 2-5 days per week over 6 to 24 months — taking full ownership of financial planning, board reporting, treasury, capital structure, and investor communications. We do not just advise. We run the finance function for the engagement period and hand off cleanly when you are ready to hire full-time.
How We Deliver Results
Diagnostic (Weeks 1–2)
Finance function maturity assessment — reporting quality, controls, cash management, forecasting accuracy, and investor-readiness gaps.
Prioritise (Weeks 2–3)
Agree the top 3–5 priorities for the engagement with the founder and board, mapped to a 90-day plan with concrete deliverables.
Embed (Months 1–12+)
The fractional CFO operates as part of your leadership team — in board meetings, investor calls, and weekly leadership reviews. We build the cadence, the artifacts, and the team.
Transition (Final months)
When you are ready to hire a full-time CFO, we lead the recruiting process and ensure clean handover. Many engagements end with us hiring our own replacement.
Why Nirji
- Senior partner delivery — every engagement led by a Chartered Accountant (ICAI, India) with cross-border finance leadership experience
- Cross-border fluency across India and Singapore — our partners have lived this corridor
- Built for growth-stage reality — not corporate consultants doing finance on the side
- Outcome-driven engagement — scoped, tracked, and tied to defined deliverables, not billed hours
Who This Is For
- Series Seed to Series C companies post first institutional round
- Companies preparing for their next fundraise within 6–12 months
- Founders inheriting a weak or partial finance function
- Companies operating across India, Singapore, and Southeast Asia
- Family-office-owned businesses needing institutional finance discipline
How a Fractional CFO Accelerates Growth-Stage Companies
The decision to hire a fractional CFO often coincides with one of three trigger events: the founder is preparing for an institutional fundraise and realises the financial story is not investor-ready; the company has crossed a complexity threshold (multi-entity, multi-currency, multi-product) that the existing finance team cannot manage; or the company is pursuing or fielding M&A interest and needs senior financial judgement on the table.
In each case, hiring a full-time CFO is a 6–9 month process and costs SGD 30–50K per month all-in. A fractional CFO can be in seat within 4–6 weeks, deliver senior judgement immediately, and crucially, hand off cleanly to a permanent hire when the company is ready.
Nirji's fractional CFO practice is anchored by Chartered Accountants (ICAI, India) with working knowledge of Singapore corporate law, FRS accounting standards, and Indian regulatory frameworks (FEMA, RBI, DPIIT, GST, transfer pricing). For founders operating across the India–Singapore corridor, this combination eliminates the need to juggle multiple advisors.
Our fractional CFOs work alongside startup consulting, fundraising readiness, india corridor advisory, and financial due diligence engagements where relevant — providing continuity from finance function uplift through capital event preparation. Coordination with appointed auditors and tax agents sits inside the engagement; we do not perform statutory audit ourselves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a fractional CFO a regulated financial services role?
No. Fractional CFO is non-regulated business consulting on the finance function — board reporting, cash and capital planning, fundraise support, and operating discipline. Nirji is not licensed by MAS, does not provide regulated investment or securities advice, does not perform statutory audits, and does not act as a placement agent. Engagements are led by Chartered Accountants (ICAI, India) and senior finance operators.
How is a fractional CFO different from a CFO consultant?
A fractional CFO operates as part of your leadership team with real ownership and accountability — they sit in board meetings, investor calls, and run the finance function. A consultant delivers projects and reports. Different model, different outcomes.
Can a fractional CFO support a fundraise?
Yes — finance leadership during a fundraise is one of the most common reasons companies engage us. We prepare the financial narrative, model, KPI dashboard, and data room, and we lead the diligence response. We do not solicit investors, make introductions, or act as a placement agent — founders own all investor conversations.
Do you perform statutory audit or sign tax returns?
No. Statutory audit in Singapore requires Public Accountant registration with ACRA, which we do not hold, and we do not act as a tax agent. We coordinate with your appointed auditors, tax agents, and company secretaries, and we prepare audit-ready and filing-ready workpapers.
How do you price engagements?
Monthly retainer based on time commitment and scope, typically SGD 8,000–25,000 per month. We do not bill hours.
See how a Fractional CFO engagement is structured.
A representative engagement scenario showing scope, cadence, phases, and typical outcomes for Fractional CFO mandates — drawn from our Finance & Accounting Advisory practice.
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Read moreService Scope Note. Nirji Ventures provides finance and accounting advisory on a non-regulated, consulting basis. We do not perform statutory audits in Singapore, do not act as a licensed Singapore tax agent, and do not provide regulated investment or financial advisory services. Indian financial, tax, and regulatory work is delivered drawing on Chartered Accountant credentials from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). Singapore-based engagements are advisory and structuring in nature; clients requiring statutory audit, regulated investment advice, or licensed tax filing services are referred to appropriately licensed counterparties.