01 · Finance & AI
Finance and technology, combined
One person to run the function with full accountability and to make it evolve.
Valmetrics
Financial leadership for your SME, in the age of AI.
A fractional CFO who masters both finance and technology. I run your finance function from day one, then evolve it with AI, while keeping your data under control. Fully part of your team, with the title, an email address in your company’s name and a regular presence on site, for a fixed monthly fee.
Key strengths
02 · Integration
Fully integrated into your team
Regular presence on site, close to your teams and highly responsive.
03 · Flexibility
Flexible, with no employment contract
Initial 3-month commitment, then cancellable at the end of any month.
The approach
A CFO inside the team, not a consultant on the side.
Fractional work and AI change the cost and the way of working, not the role or the accountability. Day to day, the same integration as an in-house CFO, without the cost of a full-time hire.
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01
The CFO title
I sign as your company’s Chief Financial Officer with your banks, your investors, your fiduciary firm and your statutory auditor.
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02
Your address, your tools
An email address on your domain, and access to your accounting, your ERP and your collaboration tools. Your data stays with you.
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03
The meetings that matter
Executive committees, strategy and organisation sessions, board meetings.
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04
Your finance team
I work with accounting and financial control every day: I support them, set the priorities and bring their work to management.
The financial architecture
One foundation, three floors, a single finance function.
Each level rests on the one below. Without reliable accounts, no credible forecasts. Without controlled liquidity, no room to manoeuvre. Without a sharp reading of performance, no defensible strategic decisions. In many SMEs, the foundation is in place and cash is managed day to day, but nobody takes care of the top two floors.
Foundation · Compliance & reliability
Reliable accounts, obligations met.
The precondition for everything else. Bookkeeping stays in-house or with your fiduciary firm: I set its framework (chart of accounts, procedures and closing calendar), oversee it and answer for compliance.
- Oversight of periodic closings and annual accounts under the Swiss Code of Obligations
- Interface with the fiduciary firm, the statutory auditor and the tax authorities
- Internal control system proportionate to the size of the company
01
Floor 1 · Balance & financing
Steer liquidity, secure financing.
Keep sources and uses of funds in balance, and anticipate financing needs before they become a constraint.
- Annual budget and short- and medium-term cash flow plan
- Working capital optimisation: receivables, inventory, payables
- Financing structure fitted to your needs, and negotiation with financial partners
02
Floor 2 · Performance
Measure growth and profitability.
Give management a precise reading of results, of what drives them and of what can improve them.
- Growth and margin analysis by activity or business unit
- Management dashboard and key performance indicators
- Variance, sensitivity and break-even analysis
03
Floor 3 · Strategy & value creation
Management’s business partner.
Beyond the numbers, the CFO is the strategic counterpart of the CEO and the board: challenging the options, translating strategy into a financial trajectory and making sure every major decision creates value.
- Support for management and the board of directors in strategic thinking
- Strategy translated into a financial plan, with a quantified assessment of investment or diversification projects
- Measurement of the economic and financial value created for shareholders
The modern CFO
AI produces the numbers. The CFO stands behind them.
The traditional CFO spends most of their time producing the numbers. The modern CFO has them produced by reliable tools, checks them and uses them to inform decisions. The shift happens in three stages, at your company’s pace, and the function is covered at every step.
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01From day one
Run the function
I take on the CFO role with your current tools and organisation. Nothing waits for AI: cash, closings and banking relationships are handled right away.
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02The following months
Build the architecture
Mapping of flows and data, choice of tools with your technical teams, then gradual automation, checked at every step.
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03Once AI is in place
Focus on what matters
AI takes over production. The CFO devotes their time to three roles.
- Strategic direction, alongside management and the board of directors
- Architecture and orchestration of the finance function’s tools, with the CTO and technical teams
- Relationships with teams, banks, investors and service providers
AccountabilityWhatever the tool, I validate the numbers and answer for them to management, the board, the banks and the statutory auditor.
The model
All the benefits of a modern CFO. None of the constraints of a hire.
| Criterion | In-house CFO | Valmetrics CFO |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost | CHF 200,000 to 300,000 | Four times less |
| Social charges | Paid by the company | None, engagement invoiced by Valmetrics |
| Basis of work | Hours spent in the office | Role shaped to your needs, optimised presence |
| Commitment | Employment contract, notice, dismissal | 3 months, then cancellable monthly |
| Set-up | Long and uncertain recruitment | Operational from the first meeting |
| Profile | Often accounting and operations | Finance and technology |
| Tools | The company’s own | Yours, plus confidential AI |
| AI transition | To be organised separately, with vendors | Included in the engagement |
| Responsiveness | Often unpredictable | Same-day response guaranteed |
Interim CFO
Would you rather hire a full-time CFO?
I run the function in the meantime, for the same fee and with the same presence, and I help you find the right person.
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01
Secure the urgent
Cash, closings, banking relationships: the function never stays vacant.
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02
Hire the right profile
Job definition, technical interviews and an independent view on candidates.
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03
Hand over
A structured and documented function, handed over to the new CFO without disruption.
Profile
Patrice Bendjouya
Economist and finance professional, French and Swiss, based in Nyon (Vaud). Twenty-five years in corporate finance and investment: investment banking in Paris and London, growth capital in Switzerland, economic development in Geneva. Buy-side (investors) and sell-side (companies) experience: this dual perspective is what I bring to your management team.
I also build tools: financial models, analytics applications and AI-driven automation. So I know both what management expects from the numbers and how to produce them.
Managing partner of Valmetrics Sàrl. Recent engagements for the State of Geneva on the planning and pricing of network infrastructure.
- 25 years
- in finance
- 500+
- SMEs supported
- 350+
- Valuations
- 100+
- Transactions
Experience
- Close Brothers
- Investment banking · Paris, London
- Rothschild & Cie
- Investment banking
- SFF Financial Services
- Growth capital · Switzerland
- Office de promotion des industries
- Geneva foundation
- Innosuisse & platinn
- Finance expert / coach
Education
- HEC Paris
- Master, international finance
- Sorbonne
- Master, industrial economics
- Dauphine
- Maîtrise, banking economics
Sectors
Information technology · Industry · Public infrastructure · Energy · Business services · Healthcare
Terms
The engagement, in plain terms.
FromCHF 5,000 excl. VAT / month
Fee set after the scoping meeting, based on the size of the company and the expected scope. A fixed amount, known in advance. Initial 3-month commitment, then cancellable at the end of any month.
Exceptional transactions (fundraising, acquisition, sale, succession) are covered by a separate engagement.
Book a meeting- Governance
- I report to the CEO and the board of directors.
- Time
- No timesheets: we measure results, not hours.
- Location
- Mostly on site, and remote when it is more efficient, across French-speaking Switzerland.
- Communication
- Email, phone, Teams or Slack. Same-day response. In English or French.
- Technology
- Analysis and modelling tools provided. For tools specific to your company, two options to agree on: you fund them and own them, or I provide them and retain ownership.
- End of engagement
- At the end of any month after the first 3, by simple email. Your data is returned to you, then deleted from our systems.
Frequently asked questions
Do you do the bookkeeping?
No. Bookkeeping stays in-house or with your fiduciary firm. My role is to oversee it, coordinate it with the rest of the finance function and make sure it serves management.
We already have a finance team. Is this useful?
Often, yes. Your team keeps operational finance. I bring the upper floors (financing, performance, strategy), and I organise and coordinate the team and represent it to management and the board.
We would rather hire a full-time CFO. Can you help?
Yes. I cover the function until your CFO arrives, for the same fee and with the same presence: urgent matters are handled and nothing is left pending. I also help you hire, from defining the role to assessing candidates, and then prepare the handover. And if the fractional model turns out to be enough, nothing forces you to change.
How much time do you spend in the company?
As much as the role requires. Closing, budget or financing periods are more intense, others are quieter. The fee stays the same.
Do we need to be using AI already?
No. I run the function with your current tools from day one. AI comes afterwards, step by step, wherever it brings a real gain.
Will AI replace our accounting team?
It mainly removes data entry and repetitive tasks, which frees up time for analysis and advice. Organisational choices remain yours, and I help you prepare them with your teams.
How is AI used, and what happens to our data?
Each type of data is classified by sensitivity: non-confidential, internal or strictly confidential. Tools and access follow this classification. I only use professional tools whose terms exclude training models on your data. The most sensitive data stays in your systems or on infrastructure hosted in Switzerland, and a confidentiality clause is written into the engagement.
From what company size does this model make sense?
From 10 employees for a company or a group, and earlier for a start-up that has raised funds. A Chief Financial Officer, and not just a head of accounting, usually becomes essential from around 50 employees: the fractional model lets you benefit from one much earlier, without bearing the cost.
What happens if we want to stop?
After the initial 3-month commitment, the engagement ends whenever you decide, at the end of the month, by simple email. You get back your data, along with the documents and dashboards produced. Tools remain with whoever funded them, as agreed at the start.