CFO services for fintech and payments companies.
A fintech's income statement mixes subscription fees, transaction fees, interchange share, float, and sometimes credit risk — each with its own recognition, margin, and regulatory treatment. We bring finance leadership that separates them cleanly and reports them to investors, banking partners, and regulators without translation.
The finance problems that define this segment.
Gross vs. net revenue is the first question.
Whether transaction volume is reported gross with processing cost below, or net of interchange and network fees, changes revenue by multiples and must be defensible under revenue recognition rules.
Transaction revenue is not recurring revenue.
Investors value subscription and transaction revenue differently; blending them as "ARR" (annual recurring revenue) overstates the recurring base.
Reserves and settlement timing create balance-sheet complexity.
Merchant reserves, chargebacks, refunds, and settlement float produce liabilities and restricted cash that must be tracked and reported.
Bank-partner and network reporting is non-negotiable.
Sponsor banks and card networks require periodic reporting, compliance attestations, and capital or reserve maintenance; failures risk the relationship.
Credit risk may sit on the balance sheet.
Lending products or advances carry loss reserves, aging, and funding cost that a software company's finance function has rarely managed.
Unit economics vary by merchant cohort.
Take rate, processing cost, fraud loss, and support cost differ by merchant size and vertical; a blended margin hides unprofitable segments.
Regulatory cost scales with geography and product.
Money transmission licensing, anti-money-laundering programs, and consumer protection obligations add cost and timing to expansion.
How we run finance here.
- Revenue architecture — subscription, transaction, interchange, float, and lending income recognized and reported separately, gross/net determined with the auditors.
- Merchant-cohort economics — take rate, processing cost, fraud and chargeback loss, support cost, contribution by cohort.
- Reserve and settlement accounting — merchant reserves, chargeback reserves, restricted cash, and settlement timing reconciled daily or weekly.
- Bank-partner and network reporting owned, with compliance calendar and capital requirements modeled.
- Loss reserving for any credit exposure; funding cost and facility covenants managed.
- Investor pack separating recurring and transaction revenue, with payment volume, take rate, and net revenue retention by cohort.
- Licensing and compliance cost by jurisdiction modeled before expansion.
- Treasury — float yield, cash segregation, counterparty exposure.
Key metrics we build and report.
| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Total payment volume and net take rate | Scale and monetization |
| Subscription ARR vs. transaction revenue | Revenue quality |
| Gross margin by revenue type and merchant cohort | Where the model earns |
| Fraud and chargeback loss rate | Risk cost |
| Merchant retention and volume retention | Churn in two dimensions |
| Reserve balances and restricted cash | Balance-sheet obligations |
| Credit loss rate and reserve coverage (if lending) | Credit risk |
| Float balance and yield | Treasury income |
| Compliance and licensing cost by jurisdiction | Expansion cost |
| Customer acquisition cost (CAC) payback by merchant segment | Growth efficiency |
Worked example.
An embedded-payments platform for vertical software, $18M gross revenue, $6.2M net revenue, $2.1M subscription ARR.
The plan: revenue architecture restated with auditors; small-merchant pricing and underwriting revisited; reserve methodology and weekly reconciliation; compliance calendar with owner; treasury program for float.
Where we’ve done this.
Payment facilitators and embedded-finance platforms; lending and advance products inside software; treasury and billing tools; sponsor-backed fintech platforms. Pattern-level only.
Gross or net revenue?
It depends on principal-versus-agent analysis under revenue recognition standards; we work it through with your auditors and make sure investor materials match the books.
Can you manage bank-partner reporting?
Yes — the calendar, the reports, and the capital and reserve requirements behind them.
We are adding a lending product. What changes?
Loss reserving, funding facility management, covenant reporting, and a separate margin view; we build all four before launch.
Do you handle money transmission licensing?
We model the cost and timing by jurisdiction and coordinate with regulatory counsel, who handle the applications.
Further reading.
The Monthly Management Report for a Behavioral Health Group: What Belongs In It
The metrics, statements, and commentary a behavioral health practice's monthly report should contain, with a sample page-one — and the order that makes it useful to owners and boards.
Read article → InsightInternal Controls in a Growing Behavioral Health Practice: Where the Money Leaks and How to Stop It
The control weaknesses common in behavioral health groups — cash handling, billing adjustments, payroll, vendor payments, and refunds — with a worked example of what a single gap can cost and a practical control framework for a practice with a small office team.
Read article → InsightLender Readiness: How a Behavioral Health Group Gets — and Keeps — a Line of Credit
What banks look for when lending to a behavioral health practice, how to size a line of credit against the receivables cycle, covenant traps, and a worked sizing example.
Read article →Insights for this vertical.
SaaS-specific insights are being published.
Tell us about the company.
One conversation about where the numbers stand and what the next stage needs from finance. We will tell you where we can help, where you need someone else, and what it would cost.
The information on this page is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute accounting, tax, legal, or investment advice. Revenue recognition, sales tax, and investor reporting matters for software companies depend on contract terms, jurisdiction, and the specific facts of the business. Figures in examples are illustrative. See our full Legal Disclaimer.