Fractional CFO Services for PE Portfolio Companies
We run the operating finance function inside PE portfolio companies. Cash discipline, margin depth, board-ready reporting, ERP integration — executed by CFOs and Controllers who have lived it before.
The value doesn't sit in the investment committee memo. It sits inside the portco's finance function.
A private equity sponsor's job is to build value inside portfolio companies. The finance function of the portco is where a lot of that value gets built — and where a lot of it gets lost. Capital structure and strategy are already covered. What's needed is someone to run the operating finance function of the underlying business at a level the portco itself often can't hire and the operating partners can't spend the time on.
Vessel Advisors places fractional CFOs and Controllers directly into PE portfolio companies. We run monthly close on your cadence. We produce the board and lender package in your format. We find margin in customer, product, and channel data the previous finance team wasn't producing. We select and implement the ERP that turns the operating function from a reporting bottleneck into a decision surface. And we do it with people who have been through it before — not learned it on your dime.
Every engagement is calibrated to the portco. A $12 million services roll-up doesn't need the same finance function as a $60 million industrial platform. You don't get a template. You get a finance team sized and staffed for what this business needs.
Where We Work Inside the Portco
Five areas where the value compounds.
Every one of these is a cluster page. Each is a real engagement pattern, not a service line brochure.
The First 90 Days Post-Close
Chart of accounts alignment. Monthly close cadence. Board reporting stood up in your format. The integration work that determines whether you have visibility from month one or from month six.
Finding Hidden Margin
Customer, product, and service-line contribution analysis at a level of detail the previous finance team wasn't producing. Usually where the fastest EBITDA growth in the hold period comes from.
Board-Ready Reporting Packages
Monthly MD&A, KPI dashboards, variance analysis, quarterly board deck. In your format, on your cadence. Reliable enough that the operating partner can trust the numbers before the call starts.
ERP Selection, Migration & Ops-Finance Integration
QuickBooks → NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or Acumatica migrations. Ops software (Salesforce, ServiceTitan, Procore, Fishbowl) wired into the ledger. The systems work that determines whether financial data is decision-useful.
Add-On Integration
When the portco starts acquiring, finance integration determines whether the roll-up is a real platform or a collection of businesses that share ownership. CoA alignment, close consolidation, KPI standardization, systems integration.
Exit-Ready Finance Function
Working capital normalization, pre-QoE prep, buyer-facing reporting, data room infrastructure. The finance work that determines whether the exit multiple holds when the buyer's diligence team arrives.
Where the Value Is Waiting.
Operational accounting depth. The portco's controller was hired to close the books. The controller usually doesn't have time or reach to do customer-level margin analysis, product-line contribution work, or SKU-level cost roll-ups. That is where the largest EBITDA gains live.
Reporting discipline. The board asks for one package; the portco delivers something adjacent to it. The gap eats time in every board meeting. A finance function that produces the requested package in the requested format on the requested cadence is worth a multiple in itself.
Systems. The portco is running on the accounting platform the founder picked when the business was smaller. Financial data lives in one system, operations data lives in three others, and the reporting layer is a spreadsheet the controller updates manually. Every hold period includes a systems project. The question is whether it's done well or badly.
Exit preparation. The finance function is optimized for the hold period, not for a buyer's diligence team. Working capital, quality of earnings, and buyer-facing reporting all get rushed in the last quarter and cost the seller value at close.
How We Engage.
Pre-close diligence support. You ask us to look at a target's finance function before signing. What's real, what's not, what will need to be rebuilt, and what the first hundred days look like.
Post-close deployment. Interim CFO or Controller on day one. Cadence stood up in the first 60 days. Board reporting in your format live by month three. Full team sized to the portco.
Ongoing fractional retention. Once the function is stable, the fractional CFO stays as senior judgment layer — monthly close review, board package, quarterly planning, lender relationships — without full-time overhead.
Portfolio-wide coverage. Multiple portcos, one reporting standard. You get predictability across the portfolio; each portco gets the specific finance function it needs.
When Exit Is the Next Step
Sell-Side Prep Is a Separate Discipline From Hold-Period Reporting.
Portco exits require QoE, working capital peg, data room, buyer-type preparation, and post-close mechanics. See Fractional CFO for Sell-Side M&A Prep.
How Can We Support You?
Pre-close diligence, post-close integration, mid-hold finance rebuild, or exit prep — we deploy quickly and stay as long as the portco needs the seat filled at that level.
Where We Help
Numbers the Board Trusts. A Company Ready for Exit.
We take on the finance work the portco's team and operating partners don't have the time or depth for. Board reporting in your format, on your cadence. Margin found by customer and product line. Systems that tie operations to the ledger. Books that hold up when the buyer's diligence team arrives.
How can we help?
What’s going on in your business and where would you like help?
An Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Company for two consecutive years.