CFO services give you the work of a chief financial officer - financial strategy, cash and capital, board reporting, and the judgment behind the decisions that matter - without carrying one on payroll. KayOne embeds senior finance people into founder-led companies in India between $2M and $50M in revenue. Not a report you have to interpret - someone who owns the number, tells you what it means, and says what to do about it.
CFO services give a company the work of a chief financial officer - financial strategy, cash and capital planning, board and investor reporting, forecasting, and the judgment behind big decisions - without hiring one full time. The work sits above accounting: your accountant records what happened, CFO services decide what you do next. Founder-led companies typically buy them on a fractional, virtual or outsourced basis, matching senior judgment to the few days a month the work actually needs.
Our engagements cover the whole finance function, not a deliverable: owning the numbers you make decisions on, building the model and the forecast, running the board and investor reporting rhythm, managing cash and runway, and being in the room when something large is decided.
What we do not do is bookkeeping, GST, income tax filing or audit. That is the compliance layer, your CA does it better and cheaper, and a good CFO relationship makes that layer stronger by setting the standard it reports to. If filing is what you actually need, we will say so on the first call.
Where the next rupee of capital should go, when to raise, what to fund from cash flow, and which bets the balance sheet can actually carry.
A forecast you trust, working-capital discipline, and early warning long before cash becomes the reason a decision gets made for you.
A monthly reporting rhythm that survives investor scrutiny, and a board pack that answers the questions before they are asked.
Budgets, scenarios and variance analysis built to be argued with - so the plan changes when reality does, not a quarter later.
Clean historicals, an investor-grade model, the data room, and someone beside you in the meetings who has been through diligence.
Margin by segment, customer and channel - separating growth that compounds from growth that only looks good on the top line.
The labels describe the same underlying work from different angles - delivery, source, and commitment. What changes the outcome is seniority and whether a firm stands behind the person.
| Fractional / part-time | Outsourced (via a firm) | Full-time in-house | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Senior CFO for part of a week | The function run by an external team | A CFO on your payroll |
| Best for | $2M-$50M, decisions outpacing capacity | Whole finance function needs an owner | Multi-entity, treasury, M&A, IPO prep |
| Typical India cost | Rs 75,000 - Rs 3,00,000 / month | Scoped to the function | Rs 1 crore+ / year fully loaded |
| Continuity | Depends on the firm's bench | Bench and cover built in | Single point of failure until you hire a No. 2 |
| Switch when | Complexity needs daily presence | Complexity needs daily presence | — |
The full stage-by-stage price breakdown is public in our India CFO pricing benchmark. For how the delivery models differ in practice, see virtual and fractional CFO services or what an outsourced CFO does. Where the need is a specific decision rather than an ongoing seat, that is CFO advisory work.
A structured conversation about the decisions in front of you. If CFO services are not what you need, we say so - it is a short call either way.
What the numbers can and cannot currently tell you, where the reporting breaks, and what has to be true before the next decision or raise.
Reporting you can trust, a forecast that reflects the business, and the controls that stop the same problem recurring every month.
Monthly close and management reporting, board packs, cash and runway reviews, and being on call for the decisions that cannot wait.
Fundraises, diligence, acquisitions and exits - the moments where having done it before is the difference between a good outcome and an expensive one.
The person in your first conversation is the person doing the work. Nothing is scoped by a partner and delivered by someone three years out of college.
Real raises, real diligence, real deals. Advice that has survived contact with an investor is different from advice that has not.
Bench and cover, so a holiday or an illness does not stop your month-end close. That continuity is the reason to use a firm rather than a freelancer.
Different businesses break in different places. These are the ones where we know where to look first.
ARR and revenue recognition, CAC payback and cohort quality, runway and burn - the metrics investors price you on, reported the way they expect.
Working-capital cycles, capacity and costing, and the gap between a profitable P&L and cash that never seems to arrive.
Project-level margin, retention and receivables, and revenue recognition across long contracts where the risk hides in the timing.
Utilisation, client concentration, and people-dependent earnings - where the numbers move with the team, not the machine.
Senior finance judgment, embedded in founder-led companies across India.
KayOne brings a true partnership approach to our organization, and the founders consider them as a part of the leadership team. We have totally entrusted our finance - not just accounting - woes to them.
KayOne helped us get organized and provided useful insights on funds flow and operational aspects. Their experience in finance and business strategy has been very helpful - they truly care about our success.
Kishore expertly guided us through the process of streamlining our finance function, which was a critical priority for us. Thanks to his deep understanding of financial operations, we were able to identify areas for improvement and implement processes that increased efficiency and accuracy.
The definition, what is included, and who actually needs them.
Read the guide →What CFO services cost by stage, published rather than quoted on a call.
Read the guide →What it means, when to hire one, and what it costs.
Read the guide →How the outsourced model works and when it beats hiring.
Read the guide →The signals that say it is time, and the ones that say it is not yet.
Read the guide →Twelve firms compared on scope, clients and pricing transparency. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.
Compare the firms →Three different jobs at three different altitudes. Which you need first.
Read the guide →A short, structured exchange. Tell us where the business is and what decision is in front of you. We will give you a straight answer on whether KayOne is the right fit - and if we are not, we will tell you that too.
See If We're a FitFree · Straight answer · No pitch
