Fractional CFO Services for Small-Midsize PE-Backed Platforms
Every acquisition has an integration ascent. We chart it.
We work at multiple altitudes: setting deal strategy, delivering closes that show what's really happening, and readying the platform for exit — without adding permanent finance headcount.
Approach
The route from target to platform.
An acquisition is a finance function under construction. We stay on the mountain from the first diligence call through the first steady-state close, and on to exit.
Diligence
Assess the target's financial position, quality of earnings, and integration risk before terms are set.
Day-One Readiness
Banking, systems, and controls in place before the deal closes — no gap between signing and operating.
Integration
Align the acquired company's finance function, chart of accounts, and reporting to the platform's standard.
Reporting & Governance
Ongoing fractional CFO support, board-ready reporting, and governance that carries into the next acquisition.
Exit Readiness
Sell-side quality of earnings, a defensible EBITDA bridge, and a clean data room, so the platform goes to market with numbers that hold up under a buyer's diligence.
Services
Nine disciplines, one finance function.
Each engagement is scoped to the deal — from a single diligence sprint to ongoing fractional CFO coverage across the platform.
Fractional CFO Coverage
A senior finance executive embedded part-time across one or several portfolio companies, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Retained
- Strategic financial leadership, with board representation as needed
- Flexible commitment, from a few days a month to near-full-time
- Coverage across several portfolio companies under one engagement
- Finance team mentorship and a clear path to a permanent CFO hire
Due Diligence
Financial, operational, and quality-of-earnings review before you sign. We surface what changes the deal terms — not just what confirms them.
Pre-close
- Quality of earnings and normalized EBITDA, line by line
- Working capital target and peg
- Revenue quality and customer concentration review
- Debt-like items and a red-flag memo for price and term negotiations
Purchase Accounting
Purchase price allocation, opening balance sheet, and ASC 805 compliance, finalized cleanly within the measurement period.
Close / Day 1
- Purchase price allocation at acquisition-date fair value
- Audit-ready opening balance sheet
- Goodwill and intangibles, coordinated with valuation specialists
- Earnouts, contingent consideration, and measurement-period true-ups
Integration
Bringing the acquired business, and the people who run it, into the platform's corporate family — aligning finance processes and systems while giving the team a clear seat in the new structure.
Post-close / 90 Days
- A milestone-based 100-day integration roadmap
- Finance team role mapping and a clear communication plan
- Chart of accounts, ERP, and reporting aligned to the platform standard
- Policies, controls, vendors, and banking harmonized
Reporting & Governance
Close cycles, controls, and board, sponsor, and lender reporting built to withstand audit scrutiny, with governance that scales as the platform adds companies.
Ongoing
- A faster, more reliable monthly close
- Consolidation across entities, currencies, and ERPs
- Board, sponsor, and lender packages with covenant calculations
- KPIs, budgets, and controls that extend to the next acquisition
Working Capital
Receivables, inventory, and payables managed as levers for cash, improving cash conversion and defending the peg at entry and exit.
Ongoing / pre-exit
- DSO, DIO, and DPO diagnostic by business unit
- Collections, inventory discipline, and supplier terms
- Working capital KPIs and a 13-week cash view in the monthly package
- Peg analysis at entry and exit
Treasury Management
Cash visibility, banking structure, and liquidity planning that hold up across the platform and every add-on it acquires.
Ongoing
- Rolling cash flow forecasting
- Banking structure, sweeps, and post-acquisition consolidation
- Covenant and liquidity monitoring
- Multi-entity cash management and FX
International Capabilities
Cross-border acquisitions, multi-jurisdiction integration, and multi-currency treasury and IFRS reporting for platforms operating outside the U.S.
Cross-border
- Cross-border diligence and deal structuring support
- IFRS and multi-GAAP reporting
- Multi-currency treasury and in-country advisor coordination
- French-speaking leadership for French, Swiss, and Belgian teams
Exit Readiness
Sell-side QoE, add-back support, and data room preparation, so buyers' diligence confirms the valuation instead of eroding it.
Pre-exit / 6–12 months
- Sell-side quality of earnings with documented add-backs
- Data room built before launch
- Management presentation and carve-out financials
- Working capital peg and TSA planning
About
Built for sponsors who buy more than once.
"A platform company doesn't need a bigger finance team for every deal — it needs the right finance leadership at the right moment."
Teton CFO Services works with private equity sponsors and the management teams of their portfolio companies as those companies buy and integrate new acquisitions. We operate as a fractional CFO for the platform — present for diligence, present at close, and present through the integration that determines whether the deal delivers the return the model assumed.
Our work spans the full cycle of a buy-and-build strategy: evaluating targets before commitment, standing up purchase accounting and reporting at close, and building the treasury, accounting, and governance infrastructure that lets a platform absorb its next acquisition — and the one after that — and, when the time comes, preparing the platform for a sale that holds its value. That includes acquisitions outside the U.S.: cross-border diligence, multi-jurisdiction integration, and IFRS and multi-currency treasury support for platforms building an international footprint.
Neil has spent nearly two decades as a finance leader inside private equity–backed industrial technology and manufacturing companies, reporting directly to CEOs, sponsors, and boards. As CFO of a global analytical instrumentation platform, he built the finance function through nine add-on acquisitions and a single global ERP, through to its sale at $117M in revenue. Earlier, as corporate controller of a multi-platform industrial manufacturer, he helped grow the business from $80M to $225M in revenue ahead of its sale.
He has lived and worked in France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, is fluent in French, and holds an MBA in International Finance.
Contact
Bring us in before the next close.
Tell us about the sponsor, the platform, and where the deal stands — we'll follow up to scope the engagement.
- Firm
- Teton CFO Services
- nhekking@tetoncfoservices.com
- Phone
- (513) 515-8590
- Engagements
- Diligence sprints · fractional CFO retainers · integration projects
Email is the quickest way to start the conversation. A few lines on the deal stage and target size is plenty.