A finance lead, on a part-time basis
Virtual CFO and advisory
A virtual CFO for a Saudi Arabia company brings part-time senior finance judgement to a Riyadh, Jeddah or Dammam business: cash forecasting, budgeting, KPI tracking, investor or lender reporting and support through a raise, a bank facility or a sale, built inside your own QuickBooks Online, Xero or Zoho Books file, contracted through Northlane Solutions Inc..
13-week cash forecast
Illustrative client · August 2026
SAR
- Cash today
- SAR 244,220
- Lowest week ahead
- 239,800
- Largest outflow
- Payroll, 46,300
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Finance leadership without a full-time hire
A Saudi startup, family business or MISA-licensed foreign subsidiary usually reaches a point where the owner tracking cash on a spreadsheet stops working, well before the payroll can carry a full-time finance director. Virtual CFO work fills that gap: part-time senior judgement layered on top of books already closed and reconciled, whether in QuickBooks Online, Xero or Zoho Books.
What this covers in practice
The scope ranges from a standing monthly review with a fractional CFO to a single deliverable such as a 13-week cash forecast ahead of a slow Hajj or Ramadan trading period, a budget tied to a Saudisation or GOSI cost increase, or an investor update ahead of a board meeting. A MISA-licensed foreign subsidiary often starts here first, needing a local finance lead who can translate Saudi numbers back to a head office reporting on a different calendar or standard.
Built around the Zakat, VAT and GOSI calendar
A resident capital company here reports Zakat at 2.5% of the Zakat base on the Saudi and GCC ownership share, corporate income tax at 20% on any non-Saudi share, and files both within 120 days of year end. VAT sits at 15%, filed monthly above SAR 40 million in annual taxable supplies and quarterly below it. None of this work is filing those returns; a forecast or budget plans cash for the deadline and the GOSI and WPS payroll cost each month, and the return itself is prepared by our team and filed by the taxpayer or a licensed tax agent.
Where the work is done, and what it is not
Every model and report goes through senior review before it reaches you. This is forward-looking planning and analysis, not bookkeeping, not a Zakat or tax return, and not an audit. Statutory audit stays with a SOCPA-licensed auditor; we build the schedules an auditor or a bank will ask to see, not the opinion itself.
Built on your own numbers
Every forecast and report is built from your actual QuickBooks Online, Xero or Zoho Books data, not a template borrowed from another market. If your books are not yet current, we scope a catch-up first, priced separately and confirmed in writing before ongoing virtual CFO work begins.
All services
Virtual CFO and advisory: every service
- Fractional CFOA senior finance lead who works your numbers on a part-time basis: monthly reviews, board and investor prep, and a second opinion before a big decision.
- 13-week cash flow forecastA rolling week-by-week cash forecast that shows what is coming in, what is going out, and where the next 13 weeks get tight.
- BudgetingAn annual budget built from your real numbers, broken out by month and department, that becomes the baseline every later report is measured against.
- FP&AOngoing financial planning and analysis: budget-to-actual tracking, margin and cost analysis, and the monthly pack that explains why the numbers moved.
- Fundraising financial modelsA financial model built for a raise: historical actuals, a growth-driven forecast, and the assumptions an investor will want to pressure-test.
- Investor reportingA recurring investor update built from your actual numbers: the metrics investors expect, delivered on a schedule you can rely on.
- Pricing and unit economicsA clear read on what each customer, order or unit actually costs and earns, so pricing decisions are based on margin rather than a guess.
- KPI designA short list of the numbers that actually run your business, defined once and tracked consistently, instead of a dashboard nobody opens.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Virtual CFO and advisory
Does a virtual CFO file our Zakat or corporate tax return in Saudi Arabia?
No. We prepare the underlying figures and models a return needs. Filing itself is done by the taxpayer or a ZATCA-licensed tax agent, and representation before ZATCA runs through that licensed agent, never through us directly.
Can a virtual CFO work with a MISA-licensed foreign subsidiary?
Yes. A foreign-owned entity holding a MISA investment licence still needs local cash, budget and board reporting that a head office abroad can read on its own reporting calendar, and that is common work for this service.
What software do you use for Saudi Arabia virtual CFO work?
QuickBooks Online, Xero and Zoho Books are the most common files we build reporting on top of. If you run something else, tell us at onboarding and we confirm support before anything is signed.
Who reviews the numbers before they reach us?
A named team builds each model, and every deliverable is reviewed by a senior reviewer and a corporate CFO before it reaches you, so a forecast or board pack has had a second set of eyes on it.
How does GOSI and Saudisation factor into virtual CFO planning?
GOSI runs at 21.5% combined for a Saudi employee across pension and unemployment branches, against 2% employer-only for a non-Saudi hire, and wages must clear through Mudad under the Wage Protection Program. A budget or headcount plan for a Saudi business has to carry both the cost difference and the payroll timing, not just a flat salary line.
How do we get started with virtual CFO work in Saudi Arabia?
We start with a short review of your current records, software access and Commercial Registration status, then confirm scope and timing in writing before ongoing work begins on an agreed schedule.
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.