Transaction CFO
A defined scope and a defined outcome: get the business deal-ready, run the process, and land the raise, sale or joint venture.
Typically 6 weeks to 6 months
Engagements
What a fractional CFO does, and how you engage one.
Most engagements start with a single deal or a reporting problem and grow from there. Below is the full scope of the work, grouped by the moment you're in.
Every engagement is scoped to your business. Fees are agreed per client, not per line item.
How engagements are structured
Three ways to engage a CFO: project, retainer, or in the seat
CFO on retainer
One to three days a week, embedded with your leadership team: the forward-looking finance function, at a fraction of the cost.
Month to month · 30 days' notice either way
Interim or permanent CFO
The CFO seat filled properly: immediately during a vacancy or search, or permanently for a business heading into its next raise, acquisition or exit.
Interim from day one · permanent for the right business
When there's a deal
Deal support: raising, buying, selling or partnering
The specialty. Numbers that strengthen the process rather than stall it, the workstream run end to end, then delivery on the plan you sold. See Sandeep Bordia's deal record for what that has looked like.
Sale readiness and exit preparation
Get the business investor- and buyer-ready: audit-proof financials, a clean data room and a valuation that holds up under scrutiny.
- For
- Founders or boards planning an exit in the next 6–18 months
- You get
- Data room build, quality-of-earnings preparation, valuation model, management presentation
Due diligence, buy-side or sell-side
Owns the diligence workstream end to end, so the deal keeps moving instead of stalling on unanswered questions.
- For
- Businesses acquiring, divesting, or already under an LOI
- You get
- Diligence coordination, financial model, risk and issues log, negotiation support
Capital raise and structuring
Runs the raise start to finish: equity, convertible notes, or bank and acquisition debt, including the lender relationships.
- For
- Businesses funding growth, an acquisition or working capital
- You get
- Investor deck and model, term sheet negotiation, lender and covenant negotiation
Joint venture structuring and negotiation
Structures and negotiates ownership, funding and governance terms, then stays on for board oversight after signing.
- For
- Businesses entering a joint venture or strategic partnership
- You get
- JV model, term negotiation, governance framework, ongoing board representation
Post-deal integration
Delivers on the plan that was sold: consolidating reporting, systems and teams once the deal closes.
- For
- Businesses that have just closed an acquisition, divestment or JV
- You get
- Integration plan, consolidated group reporting, cap-table and shareholder administration
Cap table and shareholder management
Keeps the cap table, valuations and shareholder communications current and defensible, so the next round or exit isn't held up by admin.
- For
- Private companies and joint ventures with active cap tables
- You get
- Cap table maintenance, annual valuations, equity offers and shareholder trades
When you need a CFO in the seat
The forward-looking finance function
Ongoing work, usually one to three days a week.
Rolling cashflow and runway
A live 13-week rolling cashflow with scenario modelling, so runway is a known number rather than a guess.
- For
- Cash-constrained or investor-funded businesses tracking runway
- You get
- 13-week rolling cashflow model, scenario stress tests, weekly and monthly reporting
Budgeting, forecasting and KPIs
Annual budgets and rolling forecasts built around the handful of numbers that actually drive decisions.
- For
- Growth-stage businesses without a forward-looking finance function
- You get
- Budget model, rolling forecast cadence, KPI dashboard
Board and investor reporting
Monthly board packs and investor updates with real commentary: what happened, and what to do about it.
- For
- Boards and investor groups wanting decision-grade reporting
- You get
- Board pack template and cadence, investor updates, Audit & Risk Committee reporting
Banking and facility management
Manages the bank relationships, facility negotiations and covenant compliance that quietly decide what the business can do next.
- For
- Businesses with existing or upcoming debt facilities
- You get
- Facility negotiation, covenant tracking, bank relationship management
When the finance function needs building
From a bookkeeper to a finance team
Sandeep has built finance functions from one person to twenty across multiple countries.
Finance team, systems and ERP
Builds or scales the finance function, people and systems included, as the business outgrows ad hoc bookkeeping.
- For
- Businesses outgrowing a bookkeeper or a single accountant
- You get
- Team structure and hiring, ERP implementation, process automation
Statutory reporting, tax and audit
Runs the external audit, statutory reporting and tax coordination across entities and jurisdictions, so nothing surprises the board.
- For
- Multi-entity, multi-jurisdiction or joint-venture businesses
- You get
- Audit management, statutory accounts, tax coordination
Background
Sectors, markets and systems
Sectors
TechnologyMedia & digitalProfessional ServicesUtilitiesGovernmentHospitalityHealthReal Estate
Markets
AustraliaNew ZealandUnited StatesSouth AfricaKenya
Credentials & systems
FCPA (Fellow, CPA Australia) · MBA, UTS Sydney · BCom, JCU.
Has implemented Xero, NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, JDE and TechnologyOne, with reporting in Power BI, Tableau and TM1.
Questions
Choosing an engagement
Fractional, interim or transaction CFO — which do I need?
A transaction CFO is a project with a defined outcome: get deal-ready, run the process, and land the raise, sale or joint venture. A CFO on retainer is one to three days a week, ongoing. An interim or permanent CFO fills the seat outright, immediately during a vacancy or for the long term.
What does a fractional CFO cost?
Fees are agreed per client as a fixed monthly fee, not per line item and not per hour. There is no lock-in, and retainers run month to month with 30 days' notice either way.
When should we start exit readiness?
Six to eighteen months before a process. Buyers test 36 months of reconciled management accounts, bottom-up forecasts and a clean cap table, and that work is far cheaper before a process than during one.
Do you work outside Melbourne?
Yes. Fintech Consulting Services is based in Melbourne and works remotely or on-site. Engagements have spanned Australia, New Zealand, the United States, South Africa and Kenya.
Not sure which you need
Not sure which model fits? Start with a call.
Where the business is, what's coming in the next 6 months, and which of the three models fits. If you'd rather test yourself first, the deal-readiness checklist is ten questions a buyer's diligence team will ask you.