Singapore · Situation
Raising capital in Singapore
Fundraising fails on preparation far more often than on the business. The model does not reconcile to the accounts, the cohort data does not exist, the cap table has an old convertible nobody modelled, and the founder spends the diligence period building things they should have had a year ago.
This is the single most common trigger for a first fractional CFO. The mandate has a defined start and a defined end, and the person who runs it should have sat on the other side of the table.
What this calls for
- A financial model that reconciles to the statutory accounts
- Historic cohort, retention and unit economics data
- A clean cap table with all instruments modelled through to exit
- A data room built before diligence starts, not during it
- Someone who can hold the diligence conversation without the founder in the room
What is specific to Singapore
- A foreign-owned SME frequently cannot obtain an Employment Pass for a full-time foreign executive because of COMPASS. Contracted leadership is the only legal route to that expertise.
- Employer CPF is capped at S$17,340, so the saving is not statutory-cost avoidance but pure salary avoidance — a S$300,000 package against a S$120,000 retainer.
- Regional headquarters structures need CFO-grade capability across several ASEAN entities long before any one of them justifies a full-time hire.
- Titles are audited here, not decorative. MOM cross-checks job title, salary and company profile on every EP application, and MAS-regulated entities need named, approved appointment-holders. A nominal "fractional CFO" can simply be rejected as not credible for the role.
The Singapore numbers
Fractional, per monthLight advisory S$600–1,500/month; SME growth mandates S$1,500–4,000; startup and fundraising work S$3,000–8,000; embedded one to two days a week S$5,000–15,000+ (USD 3,900–11,700). A typical retainer buys 15–30 senior hours a month.
Full-time, all-inBase S$180,000–300,000 for a mid-market CFO or COO; all-in with CPF, bonus and insurance, S$210,000–390,000. With recruitment fees the true first-year cost runs S$294,000–501,000 — roughly USD 165,000–305,000.
SeveranceNo statutory severance. Retrenchment benefit is a tripartite norm rather than law — two weeks to one month of salary per year of service, with unionised firms typically at one month. Statutory notice runs to four weeks at five years’ service.