The fund expects its first report in 30 days.
‍Your finance lead just walked out.

What makes finance different in a private equity context

The first 100 days after closing

After the acquisition, the portfolio company has to become reporting-ready: a unified chart of accounts, a monthly close on a reliable date, reporting that meets the fund's requirements, and liquidity planning that also reflects the financing structure. If any one of these foundations is missing, the first reporting cycle costs trust that is hard to win back later.

Covenants and bank reporting

Debt-financed structures come with contractual metrics, reporting obligations and deadlines. These metrics have to run alongside regular reporting rather than being reconstructed shortly before the reporting date. A forward view on compliance over the coming quarters belongs in every monthly report.

Interim rather than a permanent hire during the transition

After a change of ownership, finance leaders leave far more often than average. A temporary appointment keeps the function operational, professionalises processes and creates the basis on which a permanent role can sensibly be advertised in the first place.

Typical starting points in portfolio companies

The monthly close arrives too late for decisions

If it only lands in the second half of the month, the holding is being steered with a six-week delay. A fixed closing date is usually the first measure.

The fund's reporting does not match internal reporting

Figures are produced twice, in different structures and with diverging results. Aligning them once saves days in every cycle.

The plan was built at acquisition and has not been updated since

That leaves no basis for any variance analysis. A rolling update turns business planning back into a steering instrument.

Self-check: does the holding need finance leadership on a temporary basis?

Six questions that open every intro call. If three of them stay unanswered, the holding's finance function cannot be steered today – however well the bookkeeping is run.

1. When is the next date on which the fund expects a set of figures – and what is still missing until then?

2. Is there a rolling liquidity forecast that lets covenant compliance be projected forward?

3. Who actually runs the finance function today – and for how much longer?

4. How many entities are consolidated, and in which system?

5. If the exit runs in eighteen months: who prepares the factbook, and from when?

6. What should be in place when the mandate ends – a person, a process or a trained successor?

The answers take thirty minutes. After that it is clear whether this calls for a role, a project or neither.

Frequently asked questions from investment firms

What does a private equity investor expect from the finance function in the first 100 days?

Three things: a monthly report on a fixed date with an EBITDA bridge, a cash bridge and working capital development; a rolling 13-week liquidity forecast; and integrated planning that lets covenant compliance be projected forward. System changes, team restructuring and process optimisation come afterwards.

How quickly can an interim CFO start in a portfolio company?

Ready to start within 24 hours. We propose suitable profiles from our own network; the assignment usually begins within a few days of the selection - even when the vacancy came up unexpectedly.

What scope do you work at in portfolio companies?

From two days a week to a full-time appointment, depending on the situation. Building a reporting function is no longer a full-time job after the first few weeks; in smaller portfolio companies a reduced scope is therefore often the economically right answer. The scope is adjusted during the mandate.

Do you also handle consolidation in buy-and-build strategies?

Yes. That covers defining the consolidation scope, reconciling intercompany balances, a unified chart of accounts with a mapping, and a shared closing calendar - plus a repeatable integration routine, so that the fifth add-on does not trigger the same work as the first.

Do you support exit preparation?

Yes. It makes sense to start twelve to eighteen months before the planned process, because the figures under review cover the three years before it. The work includes audit-ready monthly closes, substantiated earnings adjustments, preparing a factbook and setting up the data room.

What does an interim CFO cost for a portfolio company?

According to the DDIM market study, the average day rate in the German interim market for 2026 is around 1.317 Euro across all functions. CFO mandates with transaction and private equity experience sit above that; the market range typically extends to around 2.500 Euro. Alongside the rate, the agreed scope is what really drives total cost.

Why an interim CFO rather than going straight to a permanent hire?

Usually both together are the right answer. A permanent hire takes six to nine months including the notice period, plus recruiting fees of 25 to 30 per cent of an annual salary. During that time the holding runs without finance leadership – in exactly the phase in which the fund is looking most closely. An interim mandate keeps the function operational, creates the basis on which the permanent role can sensibly be advertised in the first place, and ends with the successor being brought up to speed.

What happens if the interim CFO drops out?

Roles are filled from a team spanning CFO, controlling and accounting level, not from a single person. If someone drops out, we propose a replacement within 24 hours. Independently of that, the brief includes documenting the reporting and closing process so that it works without the person running it – something a mandate can be measured against after 90 days.

Service agreement or employee leasing – how is a mandate set up contractually?

As a service agreement with a described scope of work, without being bound by instructions and without being integrated into the holding's organisation. Employee leasing is a different model with its own licensing requirement. Which features decide the distinction in practice is covered in a separate article; none of this replaces legal advice.

We already work with an interim provider. What is the difference?

A provider matches profiles against a role specification and charges a market-standard mark-up of 25 to 35 per cent on the placed person's day rate. With us the assessment comes first: what is missing in the holding's finance function, which role in which scope closes that – and only then the appointment. On our side there is a shareholder with twelve interim CFO mandates in portfolio companies of his own. Where the purchasing route runs through a framework agreement, the two can be combined.

References from portfolio companies

Since 2019 Sebastian Janus has taken on twelve interim CFO mandates, mostly in B2B software and SaaS companies with 30 to more than 500 employees. On the shareholder side these included Main Capital Partners, Verdane, Paragon Partners, AEM Capital, Insight Partners, eCapital and BayBG. The mandates covered transition and bridging, post-merger integration, Series A to C financing rounds, exit preparation and restructuring.

See all twelve mandates with brief, scope and outcome