Fractional CFO

Fractional CFO

Fractional Position in CFO Services Environment

Fractional CFO Definition:

A Fractional CFO is a senior finance executive who provides CFO-level leadership to various businesses on a fractional, part-time or mandate-based basis, rather than as a full-time CFO for one business. The role gives each assigned business access to strategic financial oversight, cash flow discipline, forecasting, performance analysis, reporting and commercial decision support according to its agreed scope.

Remuneration: Market-related, depending on scope, time allocation and experience.

Relevant Qualifications:

• Chartered Accountant (South Africa) - CA(SA) required.
• CIMA or equivalent commercial finance qualification advantageous.
• Significant CFO, Financial Director or senior commercial finance experience advantageous.

Experience:

• Minimum 10+ years financial management, commercial finance or CFO-level experience.
• At least 3-5 years in a CFO, Financial Director, Head of Finance or senior finance leadership role.
• Experience in owner-managed businesses, SMEs, professional services firms, multi-entity groups or portfolio company environments.
• Strong management reporting, board reporting and investor reporting experience.
• Budgeting, forecasting, cash flow management and working capital management experience.
• Transaction support, due diligence, valuation, acquisition integration or funding experience advantageous.

Systems & Reporting Tools:

• Excel - financial modelling, cash flow forecasting, scenario planning and reporting schedules.
• Xero - accounting data review, financial analysis and management reporting inputs.
• Syft - financial analytics, dashboards and reporting packs.
• Power BI or similar dashboarding tools advantageous.
• Draftworx, SimplePay or similar accounting, payroll and compliance tools advantageous.

Personality Traits:

• Commercially minded and entrepreneurial, with the ability to convert financial information into practical business action.
• Pro-active and comfortable taking ownership of financial visibility, reporting quality and cash discipline.
• Strong problem-solving ability and willingness to challenge weak assumptions constructively.
• High attention to detail, with strong professional scepticism.
• Able to work across multiple businesses, management teams and finance teams at the same time.
• Comfortable working with imperfect data and improving the quality of reporting over time.
• Clear communicator who can explain financial issues to non-financial stakeholders.

Reporting Line:

• Reports to: Managing Director / Financial Director / Executive Leadership of the appointing entity.
• Works closely with:
• Business owners and managing directors
• Senior management and operational heads
• Finance managers and accounting teams
• External accountants, auditors, tax advisors and legal advisors
• Investors, lenders and board representatives where required

Role Purpose:

The Fractional CFO is responsible for delivering senior finance leadership and CFO-level support to assigned client or portfolio businesses. The role provides financial management, reporting, forecasting, performance analysis, cash flow oversight, working capital discipline, financial governance and commercial decision support.

This is not a bookkeeping or routine accounting processing role. The role is designed to improve financial visibility, profitability, cash conversion, budget discipline, investor-grade reporting and management decision-making across the businesses assigned to the Fractional CFO.

The Fractional CFO must ensure that financial reporting is accurate, timely, commercially useful and suitable for management, board, investor and lender decision-making.

Key Deliverables:

• Monthly CFO report.
• Monthly management accounts review and commentary.
• Board pack financial commentary.
• Investor pack financial commentary where required.
• Cash flow forecast and liquidity analysis.
• Budget and rolling forecast model.
• Debtors, creditors and cash conversion report.
• Financial risk register and escalation report.
• KPI dashboard and financial performance scorecard.
• Covenant reporting schedule where applicable.
• Profitability, margin and return metrics analysis.
• Working capital improvement plan.
• Monthly action list with accountable persons and deadlines.

Main Duties Include:

A. Financial Leadership & Commercial Decision Support

• Act as the senior finance resource for businesses that do not have a full-time CFO.
• Support business owners and management teams with financial decision-making.
• Translate financial information into commercial insight and practical action.
• Identify financial risks, margin pressure, working capital constraints and cash flow issues.
• Advise management on profitability, pricing, cost control, capacity planning and return on capital.
• Provide financial challenge to management assumptions where required.

B. Management Reporting & Financial Analysis

• Review and improve monthly management reporting packs.
• Analyse income statement, balance sheet and cash flow performance.
• Review budget versus actual results and prior year comparisons.
• Analyse EBITDA, trading margin, gross margin, net profit and return metrics.
• Prepare clear variance commentary and management explanations.
• Review business-unit level reporting where applicable.
• Ensure reporting outputs are accurate, consistent and decision-useful.

C. Board, Investor & Lender Reporting

• Prepare or contribute to monthly board pack commentary.
• Prepare or contribute to investor pack financial sections.
• Prepare executive summaries, key risks and matters requiring board attention.
• Report on ROCE, EBITDA return, cash conversion and other relevant investor measures.
• Prepare funding, debt service and covenant-related reporting where applicable.
• Track action items, financial risks and follow-up matters from prior reporting cycles.

D. Budgeting, Forecasting & Scenario Planning

• Lead or support annual budgeting processes.
• Prepare rolling forecasts and forecast updates.
• Prepare cash flow forecasts, profitability forecasts and working capital forecasts.
• Prepare scenario models and sensitivity analysis.
• Forecast funding requirements and covenant compliance where applicable.
• Ensure forecasts are commercially realistic and based on supportable assumptions.

E. Cash Flow & Working Capital Management

• Review and maintain cash flow forecasts.
• Monitor debtor collections, creditor pressure and cash conversion.
• Identify funding gaps, liquidity constraints and short-term cash risks.
• Review overdraft, debt and vendor funding exposure where applicable.
• Recommend cash preservation and working capital improvement measures.
• Escalate liquidity risks clearly and early to management.

F. Financial Controls & Governance

• Review accounting processes and month-end close procedures.
• Review reconciliations, approval processes and financial delegations of authority.
• Identify financial control weaknesses and reporting discipline failures.
• Support the implementation of consistent financial policies and procedures.
• Coordinate with accounting, tax, payroll, audit, legal and compliance service providers where applicable.
• Escalate material control failures and governance risks to management.

G. Profitability & Performance Improvement

• Analyse margins, pricing, cost structures and revenue quality.
• Review client, product, service line or business-unit profitability where applicable.
• Monitor staff capacity, productivity and operational efficiency from a financial perspective.
• Track EBITDA improvement initiatives and financial KPI performance.
• Recommend practical corrective action where financial performance is below target.
• Support management in converting financial analysis into measurable performance improvement.

H. Transaction, Acquisition & Investment Support

• Support fina