Fractional CFO for SaaS.
Connect ARR, runway and board reporting.
Finance leadership for SaaS founders and CEOs, including after Series A or B: connect recurring revenue, cash planning and board reporting. A fractional CFO takes responsibility; operational support can be added to suit your team's needs.
What your SaaS team actually gets
This offer suits SaaS companies that need to build or strengthen finance leadership and investor reporting. We start by clarifying data sources, team capacity and the next important decision.
- Traceable revenue metrics: documented ARR/MRR definitions, an ARR bridge and a reconciliation to billing and accounting.
- Retention and unit economics: net revenue retention, cohorts and CAC payback with agreed calculation rules.
- Runway and scenarios: linking sales, hiring, cash collection and liquidity.
- Board reporting: plan-vs-actual variances, commented metrics and open decisions with named owners.
Which model fits?
A fractional CFO takes on agreed part-time finance leadership. Interim accounting supports vacancies, reconciliations and closing preparation. FP&A covers forecasting, scenarios and variance analysis. Operational services can also complement your existing CFO team; an interim CFO can fill a temporary leadership vacancy.
Operational support for your SaaS finance team:
Discuss your SaaS finance needs
Further reading: CFO support from Series A · Offer for VC investors and portfolio teams · Engagement references · Pricing and cost drivers.
Experience from 350 projects.
Connect ARR, cash and board reporting
Draw on our financial expertise and see how precise analysis and tailored solutions help your SaaS company achieve demonstrable success.
Our experts work closely with you to optimize your financial processes and secure sustainable results.
When does your SaaS company need support?
Our Know How
Our experience spans 350 projects, including interim mandates and consulting projects such as digitalising a finance department. This includes working with common finance tools, from accounting and controlling to reporting.
Up to 80% of your consulting costs as a grant – we handle the application
Depending on where your business is based, the grant is 80 percent (up to €2,800) or 50 percent (up to €1,750) of the eligible consulting costs. It is calculated on the assessment basis of at most €3,500, not on the total project cost. We check which rate applies to your location in advance – and we take care of the application.
- We check whether you are eligible
- We take care of your application
Here is an example
Where is it hurting in finance right now?
Our Partners & Collaborations
Carefully selected to create synergies that provide real added value to our customers. We work hand in hand with leading experts and organizations to ensure innovative solutions and exceptional service.
CFO as a Service process
Initial consultation and needs assessment
The process starts with an initial consultation, in which we understand and analyze the specific needs and goals of your SaaS company. Based on this information, we develop an individual financial service plan that is tailored exactly to the requirements and challenges of your company.
Implementation of financial systems and processes
After defining the scope of services, we implement the necessary financial systems and processes. This includes implementing accounting software, setting up accounting frameworks, and integrating financial management tools specifically designed to help young companies grow.
Ongoing support and optimization
We offer continuous support and regular financial reviews to ensure the financial health of your business. Through ongoing advice and adaptive financial strategies, we help you to respond effectively to changes in the market and in your company development and always make optimal financial decisions.
What is different about finance in a SaaS company
Revenue recognition on prepayments
If you bill annual licences up front, you have money in the bank that has not been earned yet. Spreading it over the contract term decides whether the profit and loss statement reflects the business correctly at all. In practice, deferred revenue is the most common reason why accounting and reporting drift apart at SaaS companies – and the first item an investor checks in due diligence.
The metrics that matter
ARR and MRR are the steering metrics, not statutory revenue. Added to these are the ARR bridge from new business, expansion, downgrade and churn, net revenue retention in the existing base, the payback period on acquisition costs and the ratio of growth to margin. These figures are not produced by the bookkeeping, but by linking contract data, the billing system and financial accounting. That link is exactly what is missing in most setups.
What we actually build
A chart of accounts that separates deferrals cleanly. A cohort view that shows how customer vintages develop over time. Reporting that puts ARR, cash and earnings side by side, because in SaaS these three figures regularly point in different directions. And a plan in which sales, hiring and liquidity add up.
Typical starting points at SaaS companies
The billing system and the accounting do not match
Invoices are created in the billing tool, the bookkeeping runs in DATEV, and at month end the two sets of figures differ. The cause is almost always upgrades, downgrades and pro-rata billing in the middle of a cycle. Reconciliation has to be rule-based, not manual.
ARR is reported but not derived
In many companies there is an ARR figure that nobody can reproduce from the system. In due diligence at the latest, it gets taken apart. A documented derivation from contract data is therefore not a formality, it protects the valuation.
Growth burns more cash than planned
Upfront spending on sales and customer success is incurred before the contracts bring in money. Without a model that links new business, hiring and cash, the funding requirement is routinely underestimated by months.
FAQ
How do you define ARR and MRR in a binding way?
ARR is not a number that falls out by itself. It needs a written definition: which recurring contract components count, how cancellations and discounts are treated, and what happens with usage-based fees. Only once the calculation can be reproduced from contract data can management and investors check the same derivation.
Why do the billing system and the accounts differ?
Typical causes are credit notes, upgrades, downgrades and different period allocations. The difference itself is normal – it becomes a problem when nobody can explain it. We document the causes and build a repeatable reconciliation with named owners.
How are ARR and liquidity connected?
Not directly – and that is the point. ARR shows contractually recurring revenue, not the bank balance. For liquidity planning we link cash receipts from monthly and annual contracts with payroll, sales and other outflows. Only then does it become clear how the funding need changes with delayed receipts or slower growth.
How is revenue recognised on annual upfront payments?
With contracts billed in advance, cash receipt and service delivery fall apart in time. Contract data, invoices and revenue recognition therefore have to be reconciled with each other. In the reporting, cash receipts, recurring contract values and booked revenue sit side by side – otherwise three different statements get mixed up.
Which metrics belong in board reporting?
Beyond ARR and the ARR bridge: net revenue retention, CAC payback and burn multiple – each with documented cohort and cost boundaries. Add plan-vs-actual variances with commentary and the open decisions with a named owner. Metrics without a definition lead to board discussions about the number instead of the business.
Fractional CFO, interim CFO or CFO as a Service – which fits when?
A fractional CFO takes on finance leadership part-time on a lasting basis. An interim CFO fills a temporary leadership vacancy. CFO as a Service adds operational capacity for controlling, closing coordination and reporting – also alongside an existing CFO. What you need, we clarify in the first call based on the next decision ahead of you.