Graph Advisors. Fractional CFO for venture funds
Turn your fund into a firm.
A CFO and Controller who run the back office of your venture fund: capital calls, NAV, audit, LP reporting, K-1s, and every provider around them.
So you can get back to investing.
What we run
The entire back office, operating smoothly.
Capital calls and distributions
Notices, wires, allocations and the follow up with LPs, on a calendar you can see.
NAV and fund accounting oversight
We review what the administrator produces before it reaches you or your auditor.
LP reporting
IRR, TVPI and DPI on cadence, with the narrative, and a single answer when an LP asks a question.
Audit, tax and K-1 coordination
One owner for the audit, the tax firm and the K-1 timeline, so year end is a schedule and not a scramble.
Management company finance
Budgets, cash forecasts and expense tracking for the fund and the management company, across vehicles.
Fund II, III and diligence
Data rooms, track records and the operating story for your next raise, built from numbers that already tie.
Who we work with
GPs who got back to investing.
"Working with Graph Advisors is the best decision I've ever made. Crucible Capital would be much more chaotic without their meticulous support. Cannot recommend highly enough."
"They built an efficient process to gather updates from our portfolio companies, making reporting and the annual audit simpler. They brought clarity to complexity and freed us up to focus on what truly matters."
Who owns the finance function
Lots of providers, not enough owners.
Each service provider tries to do more with less, adding funds beyond capacity, each fighting for time and attention. Graph Advisors provides the financial foundation for VC firms that need a fractional CFO to handle the back office, run operations, and organize the service providers.
| Provider | What they do | What they do not do |
|---|---|---|
| Fund administrator | Keeps the schedule of investments, books the transactions and calculates NAV | Strategy. They work from what they are sent, often to an inbox where you do not know who is behind it |
| Audit firm | Tests the numbers once a year | An annual review, without the context of twelve months of activity |
| Tax firm | K-1s and filings | The GP's strategy, or their personal affairs |
| Legal | Fund documents, compliance and strategy | Legal only. Does not watch the money |
| Bank | Holds and moves the cash | Instructions in, wires out |
Where you are
Built for the stage your fund is at.
Set the foundation
Your first close, first capital call and first LP report. We map the entities, choose the administrator, bank, auditor and tax firm, set the reporting calendar, and build the habits LPs will judge you on for the life of the fund. You raise and invest; the back office is handled from day one.
From fund to firm
The spreadsheets and favors that got Fund I through will not survive two more vehicles. We professionalize finance ahead of the raise: a clean track record, a data room, management company budgets, and a reporting cadence that reads as institutional to the LPs you are courting.
The CFO you wish you had when you started
Multiple vehicles, SPVs and a small team that already knows the work. A CFO and Controller who step into the complexity, tighten what is loose, and give the partners one person to call.
How we work
Get to work fast. Built to last.
Intro
We meet to understand your fund, your team, your providers, and where the back office is taking time away from what you want to be doing.
The first two months
We agree on what we take on, from a defined slice of the back office to all of it, and your CFO and Controller get to work.
After two months
You have a map of entities, providers, accounts and approvers. A reporting cadence with the capital activity, audit and tax calendar. A prioritized list of items with owners. An agreed way of communicating.
Ongoing
Our goal is year long engagements with your CFO and Controller team, meeting every week, aligned to the monthly, quarterly and yearly cadence of the fund.
Pricing
Fractional CFO retainer pricing.
A CFO and a Controller, on a monthly retainer. Not billed by the hour, and scaled to the scope of your fund.
A fixed monthly retainer, agreed with you before we start. Scope is set in writing and never changes without notice. We do not bill by the hour.
What you get
- Capital calls and distributions
- NAV and fund accounting oversight
- LP reporting
- Audit, tax and K-1 coordination
- Management company finance
- Fund II, III and diligence
Detailed pricing based on scope
- Vehicles and SPVsHow many funds and SPVs we run for you
- LPs and reportingLP count, reporting cadence, audit and K-1s
- Management companyPayroll, budgets and expense tracking
Every retainer includes
The same two person team model at every fund size.
- A CFO and a Controller, both full time at Graph
- Not billed by the hour
- The first two months to align on scope
- A weekly meeting on the fund's monthly, quarterly and yearly cadence
- Long term work with clients scaling AUM without scaling the team
Who you work with
A boutique firm, by design.
After running funds, operating companies and building software, we are now dedicated to this practice. It is a departure from hyperscale venture, and it is what makes the difference last. We aim to work with GPs we like and trust, the kind we would spend time with outside of work.
Finance, operations and strategy across early stage startups, venture funds and accelerators, including Union Square Ventures, Foursquare, Expa and On Deck. Fractional COO and CFO for VC firms and portfolio companies.
Engineering depth and operational leadership from venture backed software companies and from working inside VC firms. Leads financial systems design and automation.
In a world of hyperscale, we provide the operational leverage and process design that lets GPs get back to what they do best. Your LPs pay fees for you to find and invest in the best companies, not to run the administrative work of the management company.
Questions
Questions you may have before reaching out.
Why not hire a full time CFO?
Finding someone, managing them, incentivizing them with carry, and paying a market rate means you need to find, recruit, hire, onboard, and manage a person on your team. A two person team from Graph Advisors gives you a fractional CFO and Controller who provide senior support across finance and operations without the risk of a bad hire. We have done it before, many times, and bring that knowledge to each engagement. Retainer contracts, backup coverage from a team you know, and experts across platforms, service providers, and the latest systems in use.
How are we different from individual fractional CFOs?
Everyone at Graph is full time. There is no "I only work five hours a week." Every engagement is staffed with two people, a CFO and a Controller, so the work does not stop if someone is out sick. We bring the experience and judgment that comes from working with incredible clients. Part time CFOs from large firms are often transitioning to their next chapter, and may decide to move on in a week, a month, or next quarter. Everyone we work with is compensated well, shares in the firm's success, and is excited to be doing this work.
Do you replace our fund administrator?
No. We run them. The administrator keeps the books. We own the finance function around it: timing, quality, reporting and the answers your LPs and auditors need.
What does a fractional CFO cost?
Retainers start between $5K and $10K a month and scale with scope. We do not bill by the hour. After a first call we send a one-pager on how Graph prices, then a written scope.
Do you work with PE firms and family offices?
Yes. Venture funds are most of our work, and the same team runs finance for PE firms and family offices with similar structures.
How does Graph Advisors use AI?
We use AI as leverage for clients. We connect to service providers through MCP or API connections where possible, and pair model expertise with our templates and knowledge. We combine that with best in class human service: a human point of contact for banks, LPs, retirement associations, and endowments, while staying on top of the latest trends. For firms that want AI built directly into how they work, our sister company Railblocks provides forward deployed engineers to VC and PE firms.
What if we want to use AI for all that we do as a firm?
Great news, we do exactly that through our sister company Railblocks. A team of two, including a forward deployed engineer, embeds inside your firm to focus on outcomes, not software. See FirmOS by Railblocks.
Looking to use the latest AI tools for your firm? That is Railblocks.
Our forward deployed engineers work directly with partners through our sister company, Railblocks.com. We embed with your team and build systems your firm owns. You can work with Graph Advisors, Railblocks, or both.
Book a call
What parts of the back office are taking up your time?
Talk directly with one of our co-founders, not a sales process. We will tell you directly if we are a fit.