Fractional CFO

This is a remote position. Starting at approximately 4 to 5 hours per month, this remote fractional position provides expert financial oversight, model review, and strategic structuring advice for a growing SME. The primary focus is to review and stress-test financial models, diagnose current financial standing, and ensure full compliance across regulatory and tax obligations before key business decisions are executed. Working on an ad-hoc, project-commissioned basis, this role serves as a trusted oversight partner to company directors and works directly with the internal finance contact. The position offers high-level strategic involvement in reviewing loan book performance, refining pricing strategies, and evaluating funding structures without handling day-to-day bookkeeping. Key Responsibilities • Review and stress-test new or updated financial models, budgets, forecasts, and business cases prior to submission to prospective partners or management. • Check and correct model logic, formulas, and underlying assumptions including growth rates, cost escalation, margins, and tax treatment. • Conduct scenario and sensitivity testing (best, base, and worst case) for material decisions such as contract terms, capital purchases, or pricing changes. • Provide clear written or verbal opinions detailing risk areas, recommended fixes, and elements to challenge before models are finalised. • Perform monthly diagnostics on balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow to monitor liquidity, solvency, working capital, and profitability trends. • Track key metrics and ratios—including current ratio, gross margin, debtor days, debt-to-equity, and interest cover—against prior periods to identify early red flags. • Identify cost lines to renegotiate or cut, evaluate pricing strategies to improve margins, and optimize working capital collection cycles. • Advise on capital allocation, debt-versus-equity funding, facility consolidation, and contract payment terms to optimise tax efficiency and lower interest costs. • Review, edit, and finalise bi-annual funder reports covering claims book performance, arrears, book quality, and required credit calculations (including NROC). • Reconcile reported metrics against internal tracking systems and flag potential covenant risks early. • Oversee compliance and identify gaps across CIPC requirements (Companies Act 71 of 2008), SARS corporate/provisional tax, VAT, PAYE/UIF/SDL, financial reporting frameworks (IFRS for SMEs/full IFRS), B-BBEE, POPIA, COIDA, and relevant statutory obligations. • Conduct an initial assessment of the business's regulatory footprint within the first weeks of engagement. Requirements Essential Requirements • A recognised professional accounting qualification (CA(SA) preferred, or ACCA / CIMA. • Prior experience as a CFO, Financial Manager, or Financial Consultant to SMEs, ideally working in a fractional, portfolio, or part-time capacity. • Proven experience in preparing or reviewing funder and covenant reporting for loan or debtor books, including arrears, book performance, charge-off, and recovery metrics. • Strong regulatory fluency in South African tax (SARS) and Companies Act/CIPC requirements. • Ability to work autonomously on an ad-hoc, project-based model. • Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate technical financial details into plain language and clearly articulate risks. Desirable Requirements • Experience or familiarity with FSCA/FAIS, FICA, and the Debt Collectors Act. Required Software Skills • Sage • Microsoft Excel Benefits Part-time Independent contractor Originally posted on Himalayas