1. You’re Raising (or Just Raised) a Seed or Series A Round
The moment you bring on external capital, your financial reporting standards need to level up. Investors want structured financials, reliable forecasts, and clear capital allocation plans. A fractional or full-time CFO can:
2. You’re Scaling Beyond $1M–$5M ARR
If you’re past the early product-market fit stage and moving toward real scale, things get complex—fast. You’re dealing with:
At this stage, your bookkeeper alone won’t cut it. A finance lead ensures you’re measuring what matters and making financially sound decisions about growth, hiring, and expansion.
3. You’re Expanding Into Multiple Markets or Product Lines
Cross-border payments, different tax jurisdictions, entity structuring—these introduce regulatory and financial complexity. A strategic CFO helps you:
4. Finance Is Slowing You Down
When founders or COOs are spending too much time on invoicing, cash flow management, or budget tracking, it’s time to delegate. A finance team (even 1–2 hires under a fractional CFO) can free you up to focus on product and growth.
5. You’re Planning for Exit or M&A
Whether you’re aiming for acquisition or IPO, preparation starts early. Due diligence demands clean, auditable records and a tight financial story. A CFO ensures you’re not scrambling to retroactively “fix” years of messy books.
Building the Right Team Structure
Depending on your stage, your finance stack might look like:
Why Use a Fractional CFO First?
Hiring a full-time CFO too early can be a burn risk. A fractional CFO gives you:
At BlockOffice, we support SaaS founders with CFO services tailored to early-stage and growth-phase challenges—whether it’s modeling your next round, building finance ops from scratch, or navigating global expansion.
Thinking about hiring your first CFO or building out a finance team?
Let’s talk. BlockOffice has helped over 1,000 companies—from pre-seed startups to scaling SaaS firms—make smarter financial decisions, faster.