Indian SMEs and growth-stage businesses reach a point in their journey when they need senior finance leadership without the cost and commitment of a full-time CFO. A fractional CFO model gives the founder partner-level judgment on the calls that matter, a managed accounting and compliance team for the day-to-day execution, and a fee structure that scales with the business rather than carrying full-time cost on day one. Innobrant Financial Consultants runs fractional CFO engagements for Indian businesses across consumer goods, B2B services, technology, manufacturing and professional services, led by Director, CA Jashwanth Pasupuleti.
What a Fractional CFO Engagement Covers
Monthly close oversight: the close calendar, the accuracy of the trial balance, the M-1 reconciliations, the management reporting pack delivered to the founder and the board, and the year-end coordination with the statutory auditor.
Cash management: a rolling 13-week cash forecast, accounts receivable discipline, accounts payable management, working capital optimisation and the funding conversation with the firm’s bankers and investors.
Financial modelling: the operating plan for the next 12 to 24 months, the supporting revenue and cost assumptions, the scenarios that test the plan against changed conditions and the supporting commentary for the board.
Funding strategy: preparation for institutional funding rounds, including the financial pack, the investor presentation, the data room and the support through diligence. For businesses considering debt finance, the term sheet review and the covenant management.
Tax strategy: working with the tax preparer (or with Innobrant’s own tax team) on transfer pricing positions, GST optimisation, direct tax planning and any specific tax structuring questions the business faces.
Board reporting: the monthly management accounts pack, the quarterly board pack, the operating dashboard and the supporting commentary that lets the board engage on substance rather than on numbers.
How We Engage
The engagement begins with a 90-minute scoping conversation between the founder and Director, CA Jashwanth Pasupuleti. The conversation maps the current state of the finance function, the founder’s specific concerns and the priorities for the first 90 days. The output is a written engagement scoping memorandum.
The first 14 days are the diagnostic: a structured review of the close cycle, the cash position, the AR and AP, the tax compliance status, the audit position and the board reporting. The deliverable is a one-page diagnostic showing what is working and what is not, with no recommendations yet.
Days 15 to 45 are stabilisation: fixing the close, locking the reconciliations, building the 13-week cash forecast, setting the AP discipline and getting the tax compliance current. The deliverable is a stabilised finance function with reliable, timely numbers.
Days 46 to 90 are strategy: building the operating plan for the next 12 months, the revenue plan by segment, the margin map, the headcount plan, the capex plan, the funding plan and the KPI dashboard for the founder and the board.
From day 91 onward the engagement runs on a steady cadence: weekly check-in with the founder, monthly close review, monthly board pack, quarterly strategic review and ad-hoc partner involvement on the calls that come up.
When a Fractional CFO Is the Right Choice
Right choice: the business has annual revenue between INR 5 crore and INR 50 crore, is growing fast enough that the founder is making strategic decisions without clear financial analysis, has an existing in-house bookkeeper or accountant but no senior finance leader, and is either preparing for institutional funding or managing a complex operational scale-up.
Wrong choice: the business is below INR 5 crore in annual revenue (typically still needs only a bookkeeper plus an annual statutory audit), or above INR 100 crore (typically needs a full-time CFO with a finance team), or has unique requirements that need a specialised industry finance leader full-time.
Engagement Pricing
Engagements are scoped on a monthly fixed fee that reflects the engagement scope, the partner involvement and the day-to-day execution support included. The fee includes the partner-level engagement, the supporting financial consulting team and the standard cadence (weekly check-in, monthly close review, monthly board pack, quarterly strategic review).
We do not market on lower fees. We compete on partner involvement, CA supervision, year-over-year continuity and the breadth of finance leadership the engagement delivers.
Why Indian SMEs Hire Fractional CFOs in 2026
Four shifts have driven Indian SME demand for Fractional CFO support in the past three years. First, the funding environment has tightened. Series A and Series B rounds now require board-ready financials, defensible projections and a Fractional CFO who can speak the investor’s language; an in-house bookkeeper alone is not sufficient. Second, the regulatory environment has become more demanding. GST, transfer pricing for SMEs with cross-border flows, the Income Tax Act 2025 transition and the various sectoral regulations all need active management. Third, the operating environment has become more complex. Multi-state operations, multiple revenue streams, ESOP plans, debt covenants and the boardroom reporting requirements all add layers that need senior finance leadership.
Fourth, the supply of senior finance talent in the SME segment has improved. Experienced finance leaders who would historically have moved into in-house CFO roles are now available on Fractional engagements through firms like Innobrant. The Fractional model gives the founder access to that talent at a cost the SME can afford.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours per month is a fractional CFO engagement? Typically 20 to 40 partner-level hours per month plus the supporting financial consulting team’s execution work. Engagements scale up or down based on the founder’s needs and the cycle of the business.
Can a fractional CFO scale up to interim or full-time CFO? Yes. Some of our engagements scale up to interim CFO during specific transitions (funding round, acquisition, leadership change) and then scale back to the fractional model afterwards.Does the engagement include the statutory audit coordination? Yes. We coordinate with the statutory auditor, prepare the supporting schedules, manage the audit timeline and represent the business in the audit process.