What Does a Fractional CFO Actually Do for Growing Companies?

When CEOs hear the term fractional CFO, many picture someone who just handles bookkeeping part-time. According to Hayat Amin, a two-time exited CFO with $6B+ in cumulative exits, that assumption misses the point entirely.

“A fractional CFO isn’t about doing less,” Hayat explains. “It’s about delivering strategic leadership without the full-time price tag.

The best fractional CFOs give growing companies exactly what they need—financial clarity, investor confidence, and growth systems—without unnecessary overhead.”

So, what does a fractional CFO actually do for growing companies? Here’s how Hayat breaks it down.

1. Extend Runways and Unlock Growth

Most founders worry about running out of cash. Hayat argues the real risk isn’t cash—it’s cash blindness. Without clarity on where money comes from and where it disappears, CEOs are stuck in reactive decision-making.

Fractional CFOs build systems that:

• Map profitability by customer segment

• Highlight areas draining resources

• Forecast with accuracy investors can trust

  
  

In one case, Hayat transformed a client’s 6-month cash runway into an 18-month growth plan by restructuring their financial visibility.

2. Make Businesses Investor-Ready

Investors don’t just fund ideas—they fund companies that can prove their financial story. A fractional CFO prepares growing companies for that moment.

Hayat’s approach includes:

• Building 3–5 year models to show scalability

• Stress-testing scenarios to prove resilience

• Creating investor dashboards and reporting systems

  
  

At Grantify, Hayat helped scale the company to £5M recurring revenue while capturing 65% of Innovate UK’s grants market, making it one of the UK’s fastest-growing platforms.

3. Drive Efficiency Without Bureaucracy

Unlike full-time hires tied up in reporting cycles and internal politics, fractional CFOs focus on what matters: speed, clarity, and outcomes.

Hayat uses AI to automate the manual work—reporting, dashboards, forecasting—so that leadership time is spent on strategy, not spreadsheets.

“The most dangerous worker isn’t human or AI. It’s human with AI,” Hayat says. “That’s the leverage fractional CFOs bring to growing companies.”

4. Prepare for Exit or M&A

For companies with their eyes on acquisition or exit, a fractional CFO is the architect of that process.

From due diligence to deal structure, Hayat has steered companies like Cake (acquired by American Express) and Tripbod (acquired by TripAdvisor) through smooth exits.

This includes:

• Building due diligence-ready financials

• Creating tax and corporate structures for sale

• Navigating negotiations with investors or acquirers

  
  

5. Replace Costly Full-Time Hires

A full-time CFO can cost £200k+ in the UK or $250k+ in the US—before recruitment fees, benefits, and bonuses. For growing companies, that cost is often prohibitive.

Fractional CFOs like Hayat provide the same level of strategic leadership—sometimes more—at a fraction of the cost, making them the logical choice for scaling companies that need expertise, not overhead.

Final Word from Hayat Amin

So, what does a fractional CFO actually do?

According to Hayat Amin, they don’t just keep the numbers straight. They turn financial chaos into clarity, extend runways, unlock funding, and design growth strategies that make companies investable and exit-ready.

“Fractional CFOs don’t just keep businesses alive. The right ones make them scale, fund, and exit,” Hayat explains.

For growing companies, that difference is existential.

Want to work with Hayat? Book a call above!