From the day-to-day to the boardroom

A Fractional CFO is a senior finance leader who operates as a Chief Financial Officer for a company on a part-time, contracted basis rather than as a full-time employee. The engagement provides the company with Chief Financial Officer-level strategic input, financial leadership, and process oversight without the cost and commitment of a full-time hire. A Fractional CFO typically engages at a defined cadence — for example, a fixed number of days per week or month — and covers the strategic finance work the finance function requires:

• Financial planning and budgeting
• Cash flow management
• Internal financial controls
• Management information system (MIS) reporting
• Investor and board reporting
• Oversight of the accounting and compliance teams

A growth-stage company often benefits from a Fractional CFO when the founder or existing finance team has reached the limits of what can be managed in-house but the company is not yet ready to commit to a full-time Chief Financial Officer. Common triggers include:

• The company raising or having recently raised institutional capital and needing investor-grade reporting and controls
• Preparing for a fundraise, due diligence, or transaction
• An existing finance team heads-down on transactions and bookkeeping with no senior strategic oversight
• Investor or board reporting becoming more demanding
• The company scaling rapidly, with the finance function needing structure

An ongoing compliance and outsourcing engagement covers the recurring statutory, tax, secretarial, and labour compliances an Indian company is required to maintain. It is structured around a calendar of monthly, quarterly, and annual deliverables, with senior professional oversight and an operating team executing the filings and returns. A typical engagement covers the following work-streams:

1. Accounting and bookkeeping
   • Recurring accounting entries, ledger maintenance, and monthly close
   • Preparation of management financial statements
   • Run on the company's existing software stack (common platforms include Zoho Books and Tally), rather than requiring a software change
2. Direct tax compliance
   • Calculation and deposit of withholding tax (TDS), TDS return filings, and advance tax estimates
   • Statement of Financial Transaction (SFT) filings and the annual Income Tax Return
   • International tax compliance, including foreign-remittance certification on Form 15CA / 15CB (now Forms 145 and 146 under the Income-tax Rules, 2026, from April 1, 2026) and transfer pricing documentation, where applicable
3. GST compliance
   • Monthly or quarterly returns (GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B)
   • The annual return (GSTR-9) and reconciliation (GSTR-9C), where applicable
   • Refund claims and input tax credit reconciliation
4. RoC and secretarial compliance
   • Annual filings with the Registrar of Companies (AOC-4, MGT-7)
   • Director KYC (DIR-3 KYC), the return of deposits (DPT-3), share capital reconciliation (PAS-6), and MSME outstanding returns (MSME-1)
   • Routine secretarial work, including board meetings, minutes, and resolutions
5. Labour law compliance
   • Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees' State Insurance (ESI) returns
   • Professional Tax filings, Labour Welfare Fund contributions, and Shops and Establishment registration renewals
   • POSH and maternity benefits compliance
6. FEMA and RBI compliance
   • The annual Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA) Return for entities with foreign investment
   • FC-GPR filings on share allotment and other FEMA event-based reporting
7. Payroll processing
   • Recurring payroll preparation and payroll-linked statutory deductions
   • Generation of payslips and tax computation for employees

The engagement also covers representation during tax scrutiny and litigation before appellate forums where required.

Audit and assurance support refers to the preparatory and finalisation work that helps a company close its statutory, tax, secretarial, and internal audits, and its GST annual return and reconciliation, efficiently. The audit itself is conducted by an independent auditor. Audit and assurance support is provided alongside, working with the company's finance team to prepare for the (a) audit, (b) respond to the auditor's queries, and (c) close out findings. A typical engagement covers support across the following audit types:

• Statutory audit — Lead schedules, reconciliations, supporting documentation, query response, and assistance with finalisation.
• Tax audit — Preparation and finalisation of the tax audit report; historically Forms 3CA / 3CB and 3CD under Section 44AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961, consolidated into a single Form No. 26 under Section 63 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 from Tax Year 2026-27.
• GST annual return and reconciliation — GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C preparation, and reconciliation between books and returns (GSTR-9C is a self-certified reconciliation statement, following the withdrawal of the separate GST audit requirement).
• Secretarial audit — Support under Section 204 of the Companies Act, 2013, covering the records, minutes, and registers the audit verifies.
• Internal audit — Process and control walkthroughs and testing, with reporting to management on gaps identified and recommendations for remediation.

Beyond audit-type support, the engagement also covers:

• Internal Financial Controls (IFC / ICoFR) framework design and documentation, including risk and control matrices, control testing protocols, and remediation plans for identified gaps
• Audit readiness work — a pre-audit review of accounting policies, balance sheet items, revenue and expense recognition, and provisions, with the objective of identifying potential findings before the audit begins
• Post-audit support — addressing findings raised by the auditor, including process and control changes and supporting documentation for management responses

An engagement begins with an initial conversation between the company and CorpNinja, covering the company's current finance function, the specific gaps it is looking to address, and the scope and cadence that would best fit. Based on that conversation, CorpNinja drafts an engagement letter defining the scope, the deliverable cadence (monthly, quarterly, annual), and the commercial terms.

• Engagement model — A senior professional from CorpNinja owns the engagement. An operating team handles execution, with the senior professional providing oversight, review, and direct involvement on strategic or judgement-based matters.
• Transition from an existing consultant — Many companies move to CorpNinja from a previous consultant. The transition includes a handover review of historical books, documentation of accounting policies and processes, mapping of compliance calendars, and a parallel-run period where applicable, so no compliance is missed during the transition.
• Scope flexibility — Scope can be adjusted as the company's needs evolve. A company that begins with compliance and outsourcing may later add Fractional CFO advisory.