River Edge Advisors provides outsourced accounting and fractional CFO services for seed to Series B startups: monthly bookkeeping and close, accrual-basis financials, burn and runway reporting, board and investor packages, fundraising support and audit readiness, led by a CPA and delivered by a team of 75+.
Built for the stage you're at
Most founders don't need a CFO on day one. They need books that are right, closed on time, and set up so the next stage doesn't require a rebuild. Then, somewhere between a seed round and a Series B, the questions change: how long the money lasts, what the next hire does to runway, what the board wants to see, and whether the numbers will hold up when a lead investor's diligence team starts asking for detail.
We work with venture-backed and angel-funded companies that have raised money, have real spend, and don't yet have (or don't yet want) a full-time finance team. That usually means:
- Seed-stage companies moving from a founder-run spreadsheet to proper accrual books, a clean chart of accounts and a monthly close.
- Series A companies that need board reporting, a real operating budget, a hiring plan tied to runway, and someone who can sit across from investors and walk through the model.
- Series B companies preparing for an audit, building out a controller function, or bridging the gap before a full-time CFO hire.
- Founders after a raise who suddenly have investors, a board and reporting obligations, and need the finance side to keep up with the money they just took in.
SaaS, marketplaces, fintech, health tech and hardware all have their own wrinkles. We set up the books around how your company actually makes money, not around a generic template.
Where startup books usually break
The pattern is familiar. In the early days, a founder or an operations lead keeps the books on a cash basis, the bank feed does most of the categorizing, and nobody minds as long as the bank balance looks healthy. Then the company raises a round and the expectations jump overnight.
Cash-basis books in an accrual world
Investors and auditors expect accrual accounting. Annual contracts billed upfront need to be recognized over the term. Prepaid software, deposits and accrued payroll need to be on the balance sheet. When the books are on a cash basis, revenue swings with invoicing, burn looks better or worse than it really is, and the board deck doesn't match the financials.
Burn and runway that nobody trusts
A runway number is only as good as the books under it. If last month's expenses aren't fully recorded until mid-month, or payroll and contractor costs land in the wrong categories, the runway figure in the board deck is a guess. Founders end up making hiring decisions on numbers that are six weeks old.
Diligence that turns into a cleanup project
The next round, a venture debt facility or an acquisition offer all start the same way: someone asks for monthly financials, a revenue breakdown, deferred revenue schedules and a reconciled balance sheet. If those don't exist, the first weeks of a raise turn into catch-up bookkeeping instead of conversations with investors.
The founder becomes the finance department
Every hour a founder spends chasing receipts, approving bills or rebuilding a model is an hour not spent on product, customers or hiring. Early-stage companies feel this most, because the founder is usually also the head of sales.
Accounting and CFO work, one team
River Edge runs the whole finance function for you, from the daily bookkeeping to the board meeting. You get one team that knows your numbers end to end instead of a bookkeeper, a part-time controller and an occasional consultant who each see part of the picture.
Monthly bookkeeping and close
Transactions recorded and reconciled every month, bank and card accounts tied out, accruals and prepaids booked, and a close calendar with a fixed delivery date. We work in QuickBooks Online, Xero and NetSuite, and in the expense, card and payroll platforms you already use.
Accrual financials and revenue recognition
Monthly P&L, balance sheet and cash flow statement on an accrual basis. For subscription and contract businesses, deferred revenue schedules and revenue recognized over the service period, so revenue, ARR and the financials tell the same story.
Burn, runway and cash forecasting
Gross and net burn every month, runway at current spend, and a rolling cash forecast that shows what each new hire, vendor commitment or delayed collection does to the date you run out of money. The forecast gets updated after every close, not once a quarter.
Board and investor reporting
A monthly or quarterly package your board will actually read: financials, KPIs, budget versus actual with explanations, cash and runway, and the decisions coming up. We can prepare investor updates in the same format so the numbers stay consistent across every audience.
Budgeting and operating plans
An annual operating plan built bottom-up from headcount, revenue drivers and major spend, then tracked against actuals every month. When the plan changes, the model changes with it.
Fundraising and diligence support
Historical financials cleaned up and tied out, a data room finance section organized before the first investor asks, and a fractional CFO who can walk a diligence team through the numbers and the model.
Audit readiness
When an investor, lender or acquirer asks for audited financials, we prepare the schedules, reconciliations and support the audit firm will request, and we coordinate with them through fieldwork. We don't perform the audit; we make sure the books are ready for one.
Payables, receivables and payroll coordination
Vendor bills processed and paid on schedule, customer invoicing and collections tracked, and payroll coordinated with your provider so that every pay run lands correctly in the books.
A CFO when you need one, not before
A full-time CFO is an expensive hire for a company that needs strategic finance a few days a month. A fractional CFO gives you that judgment on the schedule you need it. In practice, our fractional CFO work for startups tends to center on a handful of recurring moments:
- Before a raise: building the model, pressure-testing the assumptions, and preparing the numbers investors will ask for.
- At board meetings: presenting financials, explaining variances and helping the board focus on the decisions rather than the data.
- When the plan changes: re-forecasting after a slower quarter, a big customer win or a change in hiring plans, and showing exactly what it does to runway.
- At key hires: helping you decide when a full-time finance hire makes sense, and setting that person up with a clean system when they arrive.
- For pricing and unit economics: contribution margin by product or customer segment, payback periods and what changes in pricing would do to the plan.
Because the same team runs your monthly accounting, the CFO isn't starting from scratch each time. The forecast is built on books we close ourselves.
What this looks like in practice
The work is easiest to judge by outcomes. Here is one engagement from our case studies that shows what a fully outsourced finance function can do for a company that doesn't want to build one internally.
SPV accounting and reporting, without an internal finance team
A client needed accounting and reporting for an SPV (a special purpose vehicle). We handled the accounting and reporting for the SPV, and the client did not need to hire an internal finance team.
See all case studies →Startups are in the same position the SPV client was: they need complete, reliable accounting and reporting, and they'd rather spend their hiring budget on engineers and sellers than on a finance department. With River Edge, the books, the close and the reporting get handled, and your first internal finance hire can wait until it truly makes sense.
Three steps, no rebuild required
Most startups come to us mid-stream, with books that are partly right and a raise or board meeting on the calendar. We don't need you to clean anything up first.
- Free review of last month's books. Send us last month's financials (or give us read-only access). We walk you through what stands out: revenue timing, missing accruals, balance-sheet accounts that don't tie, and anything a diligence team would question.
- Cleanup and setup. If the history needs work, we catch up and correct it, restructure the chart of accounts around your business model, and set the close calendar.
- Monthly rhythm. Books closed on a fixed date, a reporting package to the founders and board, and fractional CFO time for planning and fundraising as you need it.
If you're weighing what a finance team would cost you in-house, our finance team cost calculator adds up the fully loaded cost of each role. For a checklist of what your monthly close should include, download the free monthly close checklist.
Questions owners ask
When does a startup need a fractional CFO instead of just a bookkeeper?
Usually around the time you raise institutional money or form a board. Once investors expect monthly reporting, a runway forecast and a budget, someone needs to own the model and the conversation, not just the transactions. Many seed-stage companies start with accounting and close only, then add fractional CFO time as they approach a Series A.
Do you work with our existing accounting software and tools?
Yes. We work in QuickBooks Online, Xero and NetSuite, and alongside the card, expense, billing and payroll platforms you already use. If your current setup is holding you back, we'll tell you why and what we'd change, but we don't require a migration to start.
Can you help us get ready for an audit or due diligence?
Yes. We prepare reconciled financials, deferred revenue schedules, supporting schedules and the finance section of a data room, and we work with your audit firm during fieldwork. We don't perform audits ourselves.
Our books are on a cash basis. Is that a problem?
It's common at the earliest stage, but investors and auditors expect accrual-basis financials. We convert the books to accrual, book deferred revenue, prepaids and accruals, and restate prior months where needed so the trend lines are consistent.
Will we work with the same people every month?
Yes. You get a dedicated team led by a CPA, so the people closing your books are the same people preparing your board package and answering your questions.
How do we get started?
Request a free review of last month's books using the form on this page. We'll walk you through what stands out and what we'd fix first, with no obligation.
Find out what your investors would see
Send us last month's books. We'll walk you through what stands out: what doesn't tie, what a diligence team would ask about, and what we'd fix first.
- → Tell us about your business and the questions you want to answer.
- → We discuss what we see: where cash is going, what doesn't tie, what we'd fix first.
- → A follow-up conversation to walk through it. No obligation either way.