Fractional CFO

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in South Africa.

📋 Description

• Evaluate and conduct stress tests on new or updated financial models, budgets, forecasts, and business cases prior to submission to potential partners or management.

• Review and rectify model logic, formulas, and foundational assumptions, including growth rates, cost escalation, margins, and tax treatment.

• Execute best-, base-, and worst-case scenario analyses and sensitivity testing for significant decisions such as contract terms, capital expenditures, or pricing modifications.

• Offer written or verbal assessments highlighting risk areas, suggested solutions, and aspects to scrutinize before finalizing models.

• Conduct monthly diagnostics on balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow to track liquidity, solvency, working capital, and profitability trends.

• Monitor current ratio, gross margin, debtor days, debt-to-equity, and interest coverage against previous periods to detect early warning signs.

• Identify costs for renegotiation or reduction, assess pricing strategies to enhance margins, and streamline working capital collection cycles.

• Provide guidance on capital allocation, debt versus equity funding, facility consolidation, and contract payment terms to maximize tax efficiency and reduce interest expenses.

• Review, edit, and finalize bi-annual funder reports that encompass claims book performance, arrears, book quality, and necessary credit calculations, including NROC.

• Reconcile reported metrics with internal tracking systems and proactively highlight potential covenant risks.

• Oversee compliance and identify gaps related to CIPC requirements, SARS corporate/provisional tax, VAT, PAYE/UIF/SDL, IFRS for SMEs/full IFRS, B-BBEE, POPIA, COIDA, and other statutory obligations.

• Conduct an initial evaluation of the business’s regulatory footprint within the first weeks of engagement.

• Provide expert financial oversight, model evaluations, and strategic structuring advice to company directors and the internal finance contact on an as-needed, project-commissioned basis.

⛳️ Requirements

• A recognized professional accounting qualification (CA(SA) preferred, or ACCA / CIMA).

• Previous experience as a CFO, Financial Manager, or Financial Consultant for SMEs, preferably in a fractional, portfolio, or part-time role.

• Demonstrated 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 knowledge of South African tax (SARS) and Companies Act/CIPC requirements.

• Capability to work independently on an as-needed, project-based model.

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to simplify technical financial details and clearly convey risks.

• Experience or familiarity with FSCA/FAIS, FICA, and the Debt Collectors Act.

• Proficiency in Sage.

• Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel.

🏝️ Benefits

• Part-time.

• Independent contractor.