n today’s environment—where growth depends on financial discipline, execution speed, and access to specialized expertise—SME leaders face new challenges. Hiring a fractional CFO or controller has become a major strategic advantage.
This model gives you access to the expertise of a seasoned financial leader, but on a part-time basis, aligned with your priorities—for example, one or two days per week. You get both the strategic depth of a CFO and the operational mastery of a controller, while keeping a lean cost structure and full flexibility.
Why is this model gaining traction among SMEs and transforming organizations? Because it offers three decisive benefits:
- Access to high-level expertise without the cost of a full-time executive salary
- Flexibility that evolves with your business needs from one quarter to the next
- Direct access to talents who’ve faced your challenges before—from building financial foundations at startup, steering growth and EBITDA, preparing for an IPO, post-acquisition integration, or restructuring
In short, you get the right caliber of expertise, at the right time, to get the right things done.
Fractional work isn’t one-off consulting—it’s an integrated leadership presence, calibrated to the true intensity of your business challenges.
Understanding Fractional: Strategic Presence, Calibrated Commitment
A fractional CFO works with you for a defined number of hours—on an ongoing basis or for a specific mandate. Their role goes far beyond ad hoc recommendations. They embed within your team, lead the finance function, participate in executive committees, and deliver tangible results: optimized capital structure, smooth banking relationships, solid financial models, leadership dashboards, budget discipline, governance, and internal controls.
A fractional controller, for their part, drives accounting and operational execution: month-end closings, reliability of financial statements, budgeting and forecasting, management reporting, accounting systems, and process improvement.
The major advantage of this model lies in its scalable intensity. During a transaction or systems upgrade, you can increase the pace. When the foundation is solid and operations stabilize, you can scale down. This elasticity prevents two pitfalls: over-resourcing a steady-state function or, conversely, under-resourcing during critical times.
The Value Sought and the Tangible Gains
The goal is clear: strategic value at the right cost. A fractional CFO brings clarity and structure. They analyze costs and margins, set pricing policies, assess growth scenarios, and advise on financing strategies. They also help prioritize investments and optimize cash flow, all the way to negotiating credit lines.
In short, they turn business ambitions into credible, actionable financial roadmaps. This ability to link strategy, finance, and operations—and to anchor it in concrete management rituals—is what distinguishes a fractional CFO from traditional accounting expertise.
The fractional controller complements this by ensuring data accuracy and process efficiency. They safeguard compliance and reliability: timely closings, reconciliations, accurate financial statements, sound budgets and forecasts, variance tracking, accounting policy documentation, management of receivables and payables, and optimized P2P and O2C cycles.
They raise the finance function’s maturity and establish a clean, usable, standards-compliant financial database—including IFRS for companies subject to it.
Key benefits include :
- More precise performance tracking
- Better-informed investment decisions
- Smoother communication with financial institutions
- Faster preparation for fundraising and audits
- A finance function that truly acts as a strategic partner
PFor Canadian organizations targeting capital markets, alignment with securities authority requirements is also crucial. A seasoned fractional CFO can prepare your IPO roadmap and structure your disclosure processes according to governance best practices, aligned with regulators such as the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).
When to Call on Fractional CFOs and Controllers: Startup, Growth, IPO, M&A, Restructuring
At startup, when founders are fully focused on acquiring their first clients, a fractional CFO lays the financial groundwork: chart of accounts, accounting system, initial budgets, cash-flow monitoring rituals, key metrics, and investor-ready financial information. They define data structures and internal controls that will prevent headaches during due diligence. Meanwhile, the fractional controller secures bookkeeping, establishes closings, and builds the financial reports that help leaders gain quick clarity.
During growth and EBITDA expansion, the fractional CFO strengthens financial planning and capital allocation, optimizes product or segment margins, oversees hiring and expansion scenarios, calibrates working-capital needs, and negotiates banking agreements. They work hand in hand with sales and operations to evolve the business model toward profitability and cash generation. The fractional controller automates financial reporting, improves P2P and O2C processes, streamlines monthly closings, ensures inventory reliability, and consolidates multi-entity data when required.
For companies preparing to go public, the bar rises: documentation, controls, reporting calendar, underwriter relations, prospectus preparation, policy compliance, timely and reliable quarterly results, and governance of financial information. A fractional CFO who has already navigated an IPO can help you anticipate milestones, structure your finance team, and select systems that will support your new reporting obligations.
In M&A contexts, the fractional CFO oversees financial due diligence, scenario modeling, financing structures, process integration, and post-deal consolidation. The fractional controller ensures alignment of accounting standards, harmonization of charts of accounts, and reliability of the data feeding the first combined close.
During restructuring or turnaround, the fractional CFO builds a detailed cash-flow plan, negotiates with lenders, and sets up a cost-reduction program with clear performance indicators. The fractional controller maintains reporting cadence and execution discipline—key to rebuilding stakeholder confidence.
Technology, Data and AI: Decision-Making Accelerators
Modern financial performance depends as much on systems as on data quality. Experienced fractional CFOs and controllers often bring valuable digital transformation, automation, and advanced analytics expertise. They know how to select and implement the right tools—ERP systems, FP&A solutions, data connectors—and design dashboards that matter to executive teams.
In practice, their contribution can include:
- Automating repetitive tasks like reconciliations or invoicing through specialized tools
- Structuring and centralizing data into financial warehouses
- Using machine learning for anomaly detection and cash-flow forecasting
- Exploring generative AI to accelerate analysis and reporting
Far from being a gimmick, these use cases deliver quick wins and improve decision quality. Without turning your business into a tech company, a tech-savvy fractional CFO can help you assess the right level of ambition and avoid common AI pitfalls. In some cases, mandates even pair a fractional CFO with an AI consultant to align business and data strategies end-to-end.
Fractional CFO vs. Fractional Controller: Complementary Roles
The fractional CFO carries the strategic and relational side of finance. They define the mid-term financial plan, arbitrate investment priorities, communicate with banks and investors, assess subsidies and tax credits, and lead financial governance. For instance, many Canadian firms leverage innovation and R&D programs—when properly managed, these can be integrated into their growth-financing strategy through SR&ED tax credits. The fractional CFO also upgrades forecasting quality and translates results into clear, actionable insights for executives and boards.
The fractional controller is the guardian of the accounting engine and financial reports. They ensure data accuracy, timely reporting, sound budgets, and well-documented processes. They implement or improve accounting systems, train teams, and establish controls to reduce error and fraud risk. In multi-entity environments, they formalize intercompany and consolidation procedures.
The two roles are complementary: one guides the trajectory and manages external relations, while the other secures the foundation and ensures data reliability.
Why This Model Fits SMEs and Growth Companies So Well
In Canada, SMEs form the backbone of the economy and operate in highly competitive markets (Source: Government of Canada). They must navigate increasing regulatory complexity, tech investment cycles, cash-flow trade-offs, talent shortages, and changing Bank of Canada financial conditions.
In this context, the fractional model provides access to expertise that’s hard to afford full-time, while maintaining variable costs. You pay for impact—not for a seat. And because business needs aren’t linear—raising capital, integrating an acquisition, implementing a new accounting platform, complying with IFRS, strengthening FP&A, accelerating the close, responding to an audit, or building an AI roadmap—fractional talent fits naturally. Once the peak is over, the workload eases. The model flexes with your rhythm.
How Kenova Structures and Secures Your Mandate and First 90 Days
Our professional services cover the full lifecycle of a fractional engagement—with a strong focus on talent selection and risk management.
We start by analyzing your needs to design an efficient resourcing strategy, including a full cost assessment. Then, we give you access to a pool of qualified and motivated candidates—fractional CFOs and controllers with verified, diverse backgrounds.
Kenova manages selection, evaluation, and presentation of top candidates, conducts employment and background checks, and—if needed—reviews and negotiates contract terms.
Depending on your preference, candidates can be paid through Kenova Payroll, your company’s payroll, or via an incorporated setup—whatever best fits your structure. This flexibility speeds up onboarding so value can be delivered quickly.
Cultural compatibility and fast impact are key. That’s why we present profiles who’ve already delivered results in similar contexts: industry, company size, growth dynamic, IPO readiness, multi-site operations, or compliance challenges. We assess both technical and behavioral skills—clarity, pedagogy, influencing leadership, prioritization, execution discipline—so your fractional hire brings momentum, not friction.
Within the first 90 days, expect:
- Fractional CFO: strengthened cash-flow plan, up-to-date financial model with scenarios, risk and opportunity mapping, engagement plan with financial partners
- Fractional Controller: on-time closings, explained variances, streamlined chart of accounts, stabilized critical processes, documented key controls, cleared reconciliation backlog
As foundations solidify, attention shifts to advanced analysis, KPI visualization, and automation—aligned with your digital and AI ambitions.
Governance and Compliance: Pillars Not to Overlook
La croissance durable exige plus que des résultats. Elle demande une discipline de gouvernance et de conformité que vos partenaires financiers et vos investisseurs attendent. Cela inclut l’alignement sur les référentiels comptables applicables, notamment les normes IFRS lorsque cela s’impose, le respect des obligations d’information financière et de contrôle interne, et la préparation adéquate en cas de projets de marchés publics, au Canada ou à l’international (Autorités canadiennes en valeurs mobilières).
Sustainable growth demands more than results—it requires governance and compliance discipline that investors and lenders expect. That includes adherence to accounting frameworks (notably IFRS when applicable), financial disclosure obligations, and internal controls.
For companies active in innovation and R&D, balancing private financing, grants, and tax credits becomes a key competitiveness factor. A seasoned fractional CFO knows how to integrate these levers into your financing plan in a compliant and well-documented way (SR&ED).
Strong relationships with CPAs and smooth collaboration with audit professionals strengthen the credibility of your financial reporting and market messaging.
Ultimately, creating value through fractional finance means orchestrating three horizons:
- Short term – secure financial reporting and cash flow
- Mid term – build decision-support tools for profitable growth
- Long term – establish governance and financial systems that stand the test of time, audits, and markets
A well-chosen fractional CFO and controller are accelerators at every stage.
Ready to Explore the Fractional Path?
If your organization is growing fast, preparing financing, planning an acquisition, strengthening processes, or simply aiming for more strategic finance, the fractional solution deserves your attention. It’s not about doing more with less—it’s about doing better with what truly matters.
We’d be happy to assess your context, clarify your goals, and propose a pragmatic engagement plan—supported by professionals who have already delivered in comparable environments. Contact us to discuss your fractional CFO or controller needs confidentially.
Our mission: connect you to the right talent, accelerate your impact, and secure your next steps.
