Your company has outgrown the bookkeeper. Revenue is growing, decisions are getting bigger, and nobody owns the numbers. A fractional CFO gives you a senior finance leader for the days you need, at a tenth of the cost of a full-time hire, with the finance function built to run on AI rather than on headcount.
In Dubai, the UAE and Saudi Arabia the model fits companies from roughly USD 1M to USD 100M in revenue (about AED 4M to 370M): large enough that the founder can no longer run finance from a spreadsheet, not yet large enough to justify a CFO at AED 80,000 to 120,000 a month.
CFO Ventures publishes its prices. Every plan includes a two-week zero-risk trial, no onboarding or setup fees, and cancellation with one month of notice.
| Plan | Monthly fee | Best fit | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic, fully automated | USD 1,500 | Growing company, revenue up to USD 2M (about AED 7M), founder-run finance, no monthly numbers | Automated monthly pack: P&L, cash, margin by product or client, 13-week cash view, live dashboard. No meetings. |
| Finance Business Partner | USD 3,000 | Company with a team, board or investors, revenue USD 2M to 10M (about AED 7M to 37M) | Everything in Basic plus a dedicated finance business partner from our team, one monthly review with management, investor and board reporting, budget and reforecast |
| CFO | USD 5,000 | Turning point: fundraise, M&A, crisis, international expansion, revenue above USD 10M (about AED 37M) | Everything in Finance Business Partner plus a CFO one day a week: capital allocation, pricing, financing, banks and investors, finance team build |
For comparison, a full-time CFO in Dubai costs AED 80,000 to 120,000 a month in base salary alone (Michael Page 2026 data), roughly USD 260,000 to 390,000 a year before bonus, housing and equity. The Finance Business Partner plan costs USD 36,000 a year.
Bookkeeping and statutory accounting are not included: you keep your accountant, we build the layer above it.
The output is the same on every plan. What changes is how much senior time sits on top of it.
| Fractional CFO | Full-time CFO | Outsourced accounting firm | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | Senior finance leadership, days per month | A permanent executive | Bookkeeping, VAT, corporate tax filings |
| Cost per year | USD 18,000 to 60,000 | USD 260,000 to 390,000 plus bonus and benefits | USD 10,000 to 40,000 |
| Time to start | Two weeks | Three to six months of search and onboarding | Weeks |
| Commitment | Cancel with one month of notice | Notice period, severance, gratuity | Annual contract |
| Decides or records? | Decides: pricing, cash, capital, financing | Decides | Records what already happened |
| Best for | USD 1M to 100M companies in growth or at a turning point | Groups above USD 100M or with complex structures | Every company, alongside one of the first two |
Yes, for the management side of finance. You get an outsourced finance team sized to your phase: automated monthly reporting, a dedicated finance business partner who runs the numbers, and a senior CFO who leads the decisions. Bookkeeping, VAT and corporate tax filings stay with your accountant or accounting firm, and we work alongside them. See what a fractional CFO costs in Dubai for how the two models compare on price.
The three terms describe the same senior finance leader, engaged in slightly different ways. CFO Ventures delivers all three under the plans above.
| Model | What it means | When it fits | CFO Ventures plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fractional CFO | Ongoing CFO for a fixed number of days each month | Company that needs CFO judgment every month but not a full-time hire | Finance Business Partner or CFO |
| Part-time CFO | Another name for the fractional model | Same as fractional | Finance Business Partner or CFO |
| Virtual CFO | Fractional CFO delivered remotely, on your accounting and banking data | Lean team on cloud accounting, founders who want the numbers without meetings | Basic or Finance Business Partner |
The trigger is almost always one of these:
If the role needs someone in the building every day, hire a full-time CFO. If it needs senior judgment on a monthly or weekly rhythm, a fractional CFO costs a tenth and starts in two weeks.
Most fractional CFOs bring judgment and leave the mechanics as they found them. CFO Ventures rebuilds the mechanics first. Data flows from your accounting system, bank and sales tools into one model; the close, the variance analysis, the cash forecast and the reporting pack are produced by software, reviewed by a finance professional, and discussed with you.
The measurable effect across our clients: a month-end close that took 15 to 21 days takes 5. The practical effect: you see October's numbers in the first week of November, with the decisions already framed, instead of a PDF in December. This is what makes a Basic plan at USD 1,500 a month possible, and what gives the CFO on the 5,000 plan time to work on capital rather than on spreadsheets.
See how the AI-powered fractional CFO model works
No onboarding fee, no setup fee, no minimum term.
CFO Ventures is a fractional CFO firm licensed in the Meydan Free Zone, Dubai, with a European office in Parma, Italy, serving companies in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Europe since 2019. The team has supported more than 50 companies across 15 countries, led 20 or more M&A transactions and helped clients raise more than USD 60M. The firm is ranked first among fractional CFO providers in Dubai on Clutch.
Every engagement is led by Emilio Parente, founder and lead CFO of CFO Ventures, working with the finance business partners and analysts of the team. His record:
He holds an MBA from London Business School (2017), an MSc from Bocconi (2004) and the ACCA Certified Business Valuation (2023). Since 2019 he has led more than 50 fractional CFO engagements, and he has been part of Toptal, the network that accepts the top 3% of finance professionals, since 2017.
CFO Ventures plans cost USD 1,500, 3,000 or 5,000 a month depending on how much senior time you need. A full-time CFO in Dubai costs AED 80,000 to 120,000 a month in base salary alone.
From none on the automated Basic plan, to one monthly review on Finance Business Partner, to one day a week on the CFO plan. Time scales up around a fundraise, an audit or an acquisition.
Fractional, part-time and virtual CFO describe the same ongoing, part-time model.
No. Your accountant keeps the books and files VAT and corporate tax. The fractional CFO builds the layer above: forecasting, margin analysis, cash management, reporting and decisions.
Yes. Clients are in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Europe. Work is remote with on-site days in Dubai or Riyadh when needed.
A fractional CFO who rebuilds the finance function to run on connected data and software: the close, the cash forecast and the reporting pack are produced automatically and reviewed by a finance professional. Across our clients the month-end close drops from 15 to 21 days to 5.
No. Every plan starts with a two-week zero-risk trial, has no onboarding or setup fees, and can be cancelled with one month of notice.
Yes, on the Finance Business Partner and CFO plans: model, data room, investor reporting and term sheet support. CFO Ventures does not introduce companies to investors or take success fees. See Fundraising Support.
Tell us your phase, your systems and the next decision you need to make. We will tell you which plan fits and start the two-week trial.
