Services · CFO & advisory
Virtual CFO and controller
Senior finance leadership for an agreed number of partner days each month: board reporting, cash forecasting and your relationships with banks and investors, without a full-time hire.
Senior judgement, in proportion to your needs
Most growing companies need a CFO's judgement well before they can justify employing one. A lender asks for covenant reporting, an investor asks for a board pack, and the owner wants to know how long the cash will last. Those questions need someone senior who is close to the numbers, not an adviser who sees them once a year.
A Pi partner acts as your chief financial officer for an agreed number of days each month. If the gap sits lower down, in a close that drifts or reconciliations nobody reviews, we act as your financial controller instead. If there is one project to deliver, such as a fundraise or an acquisition, we take it on as a specific-purpose CFO with a defined scope and end date.
What the role covers
Each engagement is scoped to the business. Most combine several of the following.
Board reporting
A monthly board or management pack with written commentary on results, cash and risks, presented in person or by video. We attend the meeting and follow up the actions it agrees.
Budgets and forecasts
The annual budget, a quarterly reforecast and a 13-week rolling cash-flow forecast, with margins and cost structure analysed by product, customer or channel. See budgeting and forecasting and cost analysis.
Cash and treasury
Working capital managed against the forecast: collections, supplier terms, payment runs and the structure of your bank accounts, together with your foreign exchange exposure if you trade in more than one currency.
Banks, lenders and investors
Facility negotiations, covenant calculations and lender reporting, regular investor updates, and the preparation that audits, financing rounds, grant applications and transactions demand.
Controller services
Ownership of the close and the numbers behind it: a close calendar, review of every balance sheet reconciliation, controls over payments and journals, and supervision of your finance team's work. See internal controls.
Specific-purpose CFO
One defined project, such as raising capital, buying a business, replacing an accounting system or seeing a business through a turnaround. The scope, deliverables and end date are agreed in writing at the start.
When a part-time CFO makes sense
When your finance needs have outgrown your finance team, but do not yet justify a full-time chief financial officer.
- Founder-led companies where the owner still acts as finance director
- Funded or fast-growing companies with lenders or investors to report to
- US subsidiaries of overseas groups that need senior finance leadership and dependable reporting to the parent
- Companies with a capable in-house team that lacks senior review
- Boards facing a fundraise, a refinancing, an acquisition or a change of system
How an engagement runs
The first weeks put the tools in place. After that, the work follows your board and reporting calendar.
Diagnostic
We review your management accounts, cash position and finance team, and the decisions you expect to face in the coming year.
Scope in writing
A written proposal sets out the partner days, deliverables and reporting calendar before any work begins.
Foundations
We build the cash forecast, agree the format of the board pack and set a close calendar with whoever keeps your books.
The monthly cycle
Close, review, board pack and forecast update, with additional partner days when a transaction or financing round requires them.
Key facts
- Commitment
- An agreed number of partner days each month, with additional days when you need them
- Your CFO
- A named Pi partner, supported by a dedicated accountant
- Systems
- We work in your own system: QuickBooks Online, Xero, Zoho Books, Odoo or SAP Business One
- Meetings
- Board and management meetings at your office, at ours, or by video
To have a dedicated finance professional work inside your own team instead, see build a dedicated team.
Questions
How many partner days will we need?
That depends on the number of entities, who you report to, the state of your records and whether a transaction is under way. We recommend a commitment after the diagnostic, and further days can be added for a financing round or an acquisition.
What is the difference between a CFO and a controller?
A controller makes sure the numbers are right and on time: the close, the reconciliations and the controls. A CFO uses those numbers to plan, fund and steer the business. Many companies need both in different proportions, and the balance shifts as they grow.
Can you work with our existing finance team?
Yes. Your CFO can direct and review the work of your in-house accountants, or oversee Pi's team if we also keep your books (see accounting outsourcing). Either way, the board receives one set of numbers with one person accountable for them.
Will you deal with our bank and investors?
Yes, alongside you. We prepare lender and investor reporting, calculate covenants, attend meetings and support you in negotiating facilities, so that the people funding your business hear a consistent account of it.
Speak with a partner
Every enquiry is read by a partner and answered within one business day. Meetings are held at our offices, at yours, or by video.