Fractional CFO for Payments Startups
Senior finance leadership for founders navigating fundraise, growth, and strategic pivots — without the full-time cost. We have scaled payments, lending, and fintech startups from $5M to $50M+.
Finance leadership for pivotal moments
We do our best work when the financial stakes are highest — preparing for a raise, deploying capital, or navigating a transition that requires operator-level judgment, not just accounting.
Prior to Series A
- Investor-ready financial model and data room
- Clean books with proper revenue recognition
- KPI narrative calibrated to your target investors
- Cap table, dilution, and use-of-funds modeled
Deploying Capital
- Headcount plan tied to ARR targets and payback
- GTM spend tracked against pipeline and conversion
- Monthly burn and runway visibility for the board
- Unit economics tracked and improved each quarter
Navigating a Transition
- Margin analysis and spend triage when growth slows
- Support through a pivot or leadership change
- Restructuring plan with clear financial milestones
- Exit-ready financials and investor narrative
From onboarding to strategic clarity — in 30 days
Every engagement starts with understanding where the business is today, where it's headed, and what matters most. Then we get to work.
We audit your financials, payments stack, and data infrastructure. We map your gross and net revenue, platform, payment, and passthrough fees, and payout schedule — and identify what's missing, broken, or not being tracked.
- Month-to-month drivers of GPV, collections, and revenue — explained
- Performance review against annual plan — key risks highlighted
- Monthly strategy session for senior leadership — deep dive into sales, client performance, hiring, pricing, and more
- Quarterly board and investor update, data room management
We build the financial infrastructure your business needs to operate with clarity — a KPI framework calibrated to how payments companies actually make money, a financial model tied to real drivers, and a reporting cadence your board can act on.
- KPI dashboard: GPV, take rate, gross and net revenue, payment volume, refund rate, chargeback rate
- Financial model: gross revenue waterfall, net revenue after fees, headcount plan, burn, and runway
- Investor narrative: the story your numbers tell — metrics at the right altitude to validate your strategic plan
- First monthly performance review with variance analysis and forward-looking commentary
A CFO's job is not to report — it's to drive decisions. Every month we translate your financials into actions for the leadership team, and we own the investor and board relationship alongside you.
- Monthly close narrative: what changed in payment volume, collections, and net revenue — and why
- Rolling forecast: updated with actuals, including payout timing, refunds, and forecasting adjustments
- Board deck: built on the same numbers, with a narrative investors can repeat — not just slides
- Investor relations: proactive updates, diligence Q&A, and data room management
- Strategic decisions: hiring, pricing, capital allocation, and fundraise timing — modeled before you commit
From $4,750 / month
Scoped to your stage and time commitment. No equity, no benefits, no recruiting. Adjust with 30 days' notice.
The best time to bring on your CFO was 3 months ago. The second best time — today.
It's never too early to bring on an experienced CFO, even part time. Your accountant tells you what happened. A CFO tells you what to do next.
Common Questions
When should a payments startup hire a fractional CFO?
When financial complexity outpaces what a bookkeeper or controller can handle — typically at $3M+ revenue or 6–12 months before a raise.
- Before a raise: model, KPI narrative, and diligence-ready data room
- Post-raise: tracking burn, payback, and unit economics as capital gets deployed
- During a transition: pivot, leadership change, or cash crunch requiring senior judgment
How is a fractional CFO different from a bookkeeper or controller?
A bookkeeper records. A controller reconciles. A CFO uses those numbers to drive the business forward.
- Bookkeeper and controller are backward-looking; a CFO is forward-looking and decision-driven
- A CFO owns the investor narrative, board reporting, and fundraising process — not just the numbers
- Bridges provides CFO and bookkeeping from one team — strategy and books always aligned
Why choose a fractional CFO over a full-time hire?
At seed to Series B, the best CFO work happens in concentrated bursts — around raises, growth pushes, and hard transitions. A full-time hire at $250K–$400K/year rarely makes sense at this stage.
- Fractional engagements scale up for fundraise sprints and down in quieter periods
- No equity, no benefits, no long notice period — operational in 2–4 weeks
- When you're ready for a full-time CFO, we help you hire one and hand off cleanly
Will you attend board meetings and prepare the board deck?
Yes — board prep and board meeting attendance are part of an ongoing engagement.
- Monthly close feeds directly into the board deck — same team, same numbers
- We prep the narrative, the variance explanations, and the forward-looking view
- Investor questions and diligence requests handled directly by the same person running your books
Make your next financial decision with confidence
Whether you're 6 months from a raise, deploying capital, or trying to understand why growth isn't converting to profit — a 15-minute call is enough to know if we're the right fit.