Growth breaks finance functions.
GrowthCFO builds the one that keeps up.

I'm a senior CFO who works inside your business one to two days a week, on growth, margins, funding and what it'll be worth when you sell it. I take five clients at a time, which is how the work stays deep.

Free, 30-minute call. No obligation.

Fractional CFO leadership · Cape Town, South Africa

Cash balance, R'000Illustrative 13-week cash forecast. Today is W04; later weeks are dashed. W06 is the low point at (1,240), above the illustrative facility limit of (1,500).Cash balance, R'0001,500500(500)(1,500)Facility limit (1,500)W01W02W03W04W05W06W07W08W09W10W11W12W13Today · W04Low point W06 · R(1,240)k Cash balance, R'000Illustrative 13-week cash forecast. Today is W04; later weeks are dashed. W06 is the low point at (1,240), above the illustrative facility limit of (1,500). Exact values appear in the linked table.Cash balance, R'0001,500500(500)(1,500)Facility limit (1,500)W01W02W03W04W05W06W07W08W09W10W11W12W13Today · W04Low point W06 · R(1,240)k
Illustrative example, not client data
€40M → €100M
revenue scaled as CFO of a European multinational
3×
turnover growth of a Cape Town retail & wholesale business
36 branches
national chain rescued and bought; my share later sold
40 → 10 days
month-end close, cut as CFO of a German multinational

The difference

Your bookkeeper keeps their job. So does your accountant. I'm the level above them.

I sell one thing: a senior operator, embedded in your business, working on growth, margins, cash, funding, and what the business will be worth when you sell it.

Bookkeeping, payroll and tax stay with the people who already do them well, and where you're missing that layer I'll refer you to firms I trust. My work starts where theirs ends, at the decisions.

What that looks like:

  • A CFO who has owned, scaled, rescued and sold businesses, sitting inside yours
  • Margin, pricing and cash decisions made commercially, fast
  • Funding, banking and credit lines negotiated for you
  • A finance engine designed to keep up with your growth

What GrowthCFO does

Three areas of focus.

01

Growth & Scale CFO

For businesses growing faster than their finance function.

The core engagement. I join your business one to two days a week as your CFO and own the numbers that decide whether growth pays: cash flow, margins, pricing, funding. When the bank wants comfort or a supplier wants new terms, I'm the one in the room. And you get a sounding board for the decisions you'd otherwise make alone.

02

The Finance Engine

Visibility you can run the business on.

If month-end takes three weeks, you're steering with last month's numbers. I design the engine that fixes it: ERP and BI architecture, a fast clean close, reporting your managers open on Monday morning, and controls that protect the business without slowing it down. As CFO of a German multinational I cut the month-end close from 40 days to 10. Today I build these engines with current-generation AI tooling. Your team runs it; I bring the design and direction.

03

Exit & Sale Readiness

Built to be bought.

Buyers pay for profitability they believe and processes that run without the owner. I prepare your business for sale, months or years ahead: profitability clean-up, owner-independence, due-diligence-ready numbers, and support through the deal itself. I've personally bought, restructured and exited a 36-branch business.

Who it's for

Established businesses with something at stake.

Both of us should be sure it's the right fit before we start.

This is for you if

  • You run an established, founder-led or owner-managed business, well past startup stage, with real revenue and a team
  • Growth, funding or an eventual exit is on the table in the next few years
  • You want your finance function to produce decisions and outcomes
  • You're in retail, wholesale or e-commerce, where my expertise runs deepest, or any business with stock, stores or scale

If what you need is bookkeeping, accounting, payroll or tax compliance, there are excellent firms for that and I'll gladly point you to one. I also stay out of gambling, micro-lending and tobacco.

Track record

Scaled, rescued, bought, sold.

Scale · Germany

€40M to €100M as CFO

CFO of a German multinational supplying Lidl, Carrefour and Metro. Scaled revenue from €40M to €100M; cut month-end close from 40 days to 10; built a single global banking partnership with an FX hedging policy that generated over €300K in dealing profit; secured factoring in the tens of millions of euros; led a €10M cross-border acquisition.

Month-end close, daysBefore: 40 days. After: 10 days. The reduction is 30 days, from the German multinational engagement. Bars share a zero origin.Month-end close, daysBeforeAfter401030 days faster

Month-end close as CFO of a German multinational

Rescue → ownership → exit · Cape Town

I bought the business I rescued.

Joined a 36-branch national repair and retail chain as CFO and rebuilt its finance engine: ERP integrated with point-of-sale, real-time BI, R10M in credit facilities. The founder then stepped away and the business went into Business Rescue. I led it through, bought it in a management buyout, and ran it as Co-CEO before selling my share to my partners. This is the experience behind the Exit & Sale Readiness service.

Growth · retail & wholesale

Tripled a family retailer's turnover

Co-CEO and CFO of a Cape Town retail business in its growth phase. Built the budgeting, inventory and operational processes from the ground up, launched e-commerce and expanded wholesale, tripling turnover.

National scale · retail

CFO of South Africa's Apple Premium Retail Partner

CFO of iStore, a multi-billion-rand national retailer. Launched credit products that improved affordability and drove acquisition; restructured the insurance book into a cell captive; reworked the national leasing portfolio; directed investment in robotic warehouse automation.

Book a strategy call

Free, 30-minute call. No obligation.

Ariel Kolin, founder of GrowthCFO
CA (Israel)CPA (USA)MBA, Accounting & Finance

The operator behind GrowthCFO

Ariel Kolin

I founded GrowthCFO and lead it myself. I've been a CFO for more than twenty years, across NASDAQ-listed companies, private multinationals and my own businesses, and I've been based in Cape Town since 2011.

I trained inside listed-company environments where the standards are unforgiving (SEC filings, SOX controls across seven international subsidiaries, IFRS and US GAAP), then spent the next decade applying that rigor to growing businesses: scaling a German multinational from €40M to €100M, tripling a Cape Town retailer, and serving as CFO of iStore, South Africa's Apple Premium Retail Partner.

In between, I put my own capital and name on the line: rebuilding the finance engine of a 36-branch national chain as CFO, taking it through Business Rescue, then buying it in a management buyout and running it as Co-CEO before selling my share to my partners.

“I've sat on every side of the table: listed-company controller, multinational CFO, business owner, turnaround principal. That range lets me read a business quickly and act on it commercially.”

How an engagement works

Start small and decide with evidence.

1

A strategy call

A direct, no-obligation conversation about where growth is straining your business, and a straight answer on whether I'm the right kind of help.

2

A focused diagnostic

A short, structured review of your numbers, cash and finance engine. You get a clear picture of where the business stands and a prioritised plan, useful whether or not we continue.

3

Embedded CFO retainer

One to two days a week inside your business as your CFO, owning the plan, the numbers and the outcomes alongside you.

Free CFO tools

Know where your cash will be in 13 weeks.

The 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast is the model I use inside client engagements: opening balance to closing balance, formula-driven, with a SARS line and rand formatting built in. Leave a few details about your business and it's yours.

Cash flow, R'000W03W04W05W06W07
SARS (VAT / PAYE / tax)(200)(200)(200)(200)(200)
Net cash flow(280)(450)(850)(640)340
Closing balance700250(600)(1,240)(900)

Illustrative example, not client data

Get in touch

Start with a conversation.

Tell me briefly about your business and what's in front of it: growth, funding, systems or a sale. You'll get a personal reply from me, usually within one business day.

Based in Cape Town · working across South Africa and internationally