Fractional CFO for SMEs in Thailand and Southeast Asia
A fractional CFO is an experienced chief financial officer who works inside your company for a set number of days each month rather than full time. SmeCFO provides fractional CFOs from Bangkok to companies in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, from USD 3,000 a month, month to month with 30 days notice, and the first step is a free health check.
- Advisory retainer
- from USD 3,000 / month
- CFO + Controller
- from USD 9,000 / month
- Intensive
- from USD 18,000 / month
- Notice
- 30 days, either side
- Start
- Usually 2 weeks
- Languages
- English, French, Thai
- First step
- Free health check
What a fractional CFO does, and what stays where it is
The scope is the same as a full-time CFO would carry. What changes is the number of days, and therefore the cost. Most of our clients have outgrown what their accounting firm can tell them and are not yet big enough to justify a permanent CFO.
What the role covers
Monthly management accounts you can decide on, a rolling 13 week cash forecast, margin by customer and by product, internal controls, the relationship with your bank, tax oversight, and board or investor reporting. A close calendar that holds, and a management pack of eight to twelve pages, not sixty.
What stays with your accountant
Your bookkeeper records transactions and your auditor gives an opinion once a year. Your accounting firm keeps doing the bookkeeping and the filings. The fractional CFO sets the standard for what they produce and by when, and turns it into decisions.
Who does the work
Engagements are led by Jérôme Le Louer, Managing Partner, based in Bangkok for over twenty years and working in Thai, English and French. In the standard engagement an embedded Financial Controller works on site alongside your existing team, in Thai. See how we staff an engagement.
Fractional, part-time, interim, virtual or project CFO
| Model | Shape | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Fractional CFO, also called part-time CFO | A set number of days each month, ongoing, month to month | A company that needs senior finance judgement but not five days a week of it |
| Interim CFO | Full-time cover for a vacant seat, usually three to nine months | A vacancy or a turnaround, until a permanent hire arrives |
| Virtual CFO | Steady remote guidance | A company with sound books that needs a regular senior sounding board |
| Project CFO | One defined deliverable | A fundraise, an M&A process or a system go-live |
Many engagements move between them: interim to stabilise the function, then fractional to hold it. See how we work.
What a fractional CFO costs
| Engagement | Shape | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Advisory retainer | CFO only, from 2 days per month | from USD 3,000 per month |
| Finance team, standard | CFO four to five days a month plus a Financial Controller on site three to four days a week | from USD 9,000 per month |
| Finance team, intensive | CFO around ten days a month plus a Controller three days a week, then steps down to USD 12,000 | from USD 18,000 per month |
| For comparison: full-time CFO, Bangkok | Salary alone, before bonus, benefits and employer contributions | THB 250,000 to 500,000 per month |
Fees are published and agreed in writing before any work starts. The pricing page sets out the full schedule, including the fixed fee accounts restatement package at USD 12,000 and the subsidiary finance review from USD 9,500.
Signs your company needs one
The numbers arrive too late
Management accounts come out too late to act on, or the owner is making finance decisions alone.
Profitable, but cash is always tight
Nobody can say which products or customers actually make money, or how much cash is really available.
Someone is about to look closely
A bank, an investor or a buyer is preparing to review the numbers, or a BOI promotion, an ERP change or a second entity has made the books more complicated than the team was built for.
When it is not the answer
If the problem is bookkeeping rather than judgement, you need a better accountant, and we will tell you so.
How it starts and how it ends
Free health check
A written diagnosis of your reporting, cash, working capital, controls, compliance and systems, with a ranked list of what to fix and what it is worth. Two to three weeks, no charge, no obligation. What the health check covers.
Start
Usually within two weeks of agreeing scope. A signed confidentiality agreement covers the engagement before we see anything.
Terms
Month to month, with 30 days notice on either side. We would rather you leave easily than stay reluctantly.
The end, by design
We build processes your own people can run, document them, hire and coach the permanent finance lead, then step back to a lighter advisory role or out entirely.
The full scope of work · Clients and references · All questions
Countries we cover
From Bangkok: Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, and regional groups with entities in several of them. Each country page covers what is specific to that market.
Fractional CFO questions
What is a fractional CFO?
A fractional CFO is an experienced chief financial officer who works inside your company for a set number of days each month rather than full time. The scope is the same as a full-time CFO would carry: reporting, cash, forecasting, controls, banking, tax oversight and board or investor communication. What changes is the number of days, and therefore the cost.
How much does a fractional CFO cost in Thailand?
At SmeCFO, a CFO-only advisory retainer starts from USD 3,000 a month, the standard two-person team of a CFO plus an on-site Financial Controller from USD 9,000 a month, and an intensive engagement from USD 18,000 a month, stepping down as the work stabilises. A full-time CFO in Bangkok generally costs THB 250,000 to 500,000 a month in salary alone, before bonus, benefits and employer contributions. The first step, the financial health check, is free.
Is a part-time CFO the same as a fractional CFO?
Yes. Both describe a senior CFO working a set number of days a month on an ongoing basis. An interim CFO is different: full-time cover for a vacant seat over a defined period, usually three to nine months, while you recruit a permanent hire.
How many days a month does a fractional CFO work?
A CFO for four to five days a month plus a Financial Controller three days a week is the standard shape. Around ten CFO days a month is normal while reporting is being rebuilt, systems are changing or a transaction is under way. Both step down as the function stabilises. Some companies need the CFO alone, from two days a month.
What is the minimum commitment?
None beyond notice. Fractional engagements run month to month with 30 days notice on either side. Work usually starts within two weeks of agreeing scope.
Will a fractional CFO replace our accountant?
No. Your bookkeeper records transactions and your auditor gives an opinion once a year. The fractional CFO uses those numbers to decide what happens next, sets the standard for what your accounting firm delivers and by when, and works alongside your existing team rather than replacing it.
Which countries does SmeCFO cover?
Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, from a base in Bangkok. In Bangkok most engagements include time in your office. Outside Thailand the rhythm is usually remote with periodic visits, agreed at the start.
Written by Jérôme Le Louer, Managing Partner at SmeCFO. Reviewed 4 November 2026.