Finance-first. People-aware. Process-anchored.
Artha Viveka works with SME founders at inflection points — when a listing, a transaction, or a leadership transition demands that the business become something it has never had to be before. Every engagement begins with a diagnostic, not a proposal. Every deliverable is designed to function after we leave.
A scored answer to the question your merchant banker will never ask — are you actually ready to list, or just eligible?
Most SME founders preparing for NSE Emerge or BSE SME listing focus on eligibility — the SEBI checkboxes a merchant banker will hand them. Eligibility is a threshold. Readiness is a different question entirely. The CRI™ Diagnostic gives founders a precise, scored picture of where they stand across eight dimensions of capital readiness — and a prioritised roadmap for what needs to change before the listing process begins.
Revenue ₹30–100 crore, 3+ consecutive years of positive EBITDA
Considering NSE Emerge or BSE SME listing within 12–24 months
Merchant banker not yet engaged
Data room setup. 36-category document inventory. Preliminary gap scan. Document availability is itself a readiness signal — if documents cannot be produced, that is information, not delay.
Seven diagnostic modules in parallel: financial forensics, governance architecture, capital structure, business scalability, promoter interview (two structured 2-hour sessions), legal and litigation review, and market positioning. The promoter interview is the single most important input in the entire diagnostic.
CRI™ score computed. Readiness Report drafted and debriefed with the founder. The report is an operating document for the next 12–24 months — not a compliance checklist. Three monthly check-in calls post-report are included.
Data room setup. 36-category document inventory. Preliminary gap scan. Document availability is itself a readiness signal — if documents cannot be produced, that is information, not delay.
Seven diagnostic modules in parallel: financial forensics, governance architecture, capital structure, business scalability, promoter interview (two structured 2-hour sessions), legal and litigation review, and market positioning. The promoter interview is the single most important input in the entire diagnostic.
CRI™ score computed. Readiness Report drafted and debriefed with the founder. The report is an operating document for the next 12–24 months — not a compliance checklist. Three monthly check-in calls post-report are included.
Know exactly what a buyer will find before they look — and fix the problems before they find them.
Most M&A advisors arrive after the LOI. By then, the leverage is gone. Artha Viveka enters before the Information Memorandum — in the gap where most deal value is created or destroyed. The M&A Preparation Advisory covers financial and culture preparation, active deal management, and post-close integration, with Artha Viveka as the founder's strategic representative throughout.
Sell-side diagnostic: financial diligence (3-year quality-of-earnings review, EBITDA normalisation, related-party transaction mapping), governance review, culture diligence (founder svabhāva alignment, second-tier leadership depth, key-man dependency mapping), valuation baseline, and data room readiness. Output: data room 80% populated, valuation range established, culture risk map documented.
Information Memorandum structure and review. Data room management. Buy-side diligence coordination across financial, legal, tax, and HR advisors. Valuation defence with evidence-backed counter-analysis. Management presentation coaching. Culture alignment assessment between buyer and seller leadership teams. Negotiation support — term sheet and SPA review alongside legal counsel.
Post-close integration advisory: Day 1 readiness, leadership transition mapping, HR integration, SIPOC-based process alignment for merged workflows, governance installation, and 100-day progress review. The highest M&A failure rate is not in the deal — it is in the 90 days after signing.
Sell-side diagnostic: financial diligence (3-year quality-of-earnings review, EBITDA normalisation, related-party transaction mapping), governance review, culture diligence (founder svabhāva alignment, second-tier leadership depth, key-man dependency mapping), valuation baseline, and data room readiness. Output: data room 80% populated, valuation range established, culture risk map documented.
Information Memorandum structure and review. Data room management. Buy-side diligence coordination across financial, legal, tax, and HR advisors. Valuation defence with evidence-backed counter-analysis. Management presentation coaching. Culture alignment assessment between buyer and seller leadership teams. Negotiation support — term sheet and SPA review alongside legal counsel.
Post-close integration advisory: Day 1 readiness, leadership transition mapping, HR integration, SIPOC-based process alignment for merged workflows, governance installation, and 100-day progress review. The highest M&A failure rate is not in the deal — it is in the 90 days after signing.
For foreign companies entering India, by setting up or by acquiring.
Make ownership visible. Close human lag. Build a company that runs without you in every room.
Companies scaling from ₹30 to ₹100 crore don't break because of revenue. They break because processes that were held together by the founder's daily presence can no longer scale with the organisation. SEBI and investors expect documented decision authority. Post-M&A mergers create invisible architecture — two sets of undocumented processes colliding. SIPOC makes ownership, accountability, and process flow visible before human lag becomes a crisis.
Human lag: the dangerous gap between when workflows change and when people adapt to them.
Structured facilitated session with the Process Owner and key stakeholders. Who owns this process? Who is the customer of each step? What does done look like, and what quality metric defines it? Scope is anchored before any mapping begins.
Working backwards from the final output, each sub-process step is mapped with its owner (SPO), supplier (SPS), and customer (SPC). Quality metrics are defined by the receiver — never the giver. Inputs and outputs are nouns. Process steps are verbs. Decision points are added. Level 2 cost-time analysis surfaces value leakage where in scope.
A standing alignment session with all process owners and their suppliers present, full chart visible simultaneously. Each owner articulates their input requirement to their supplier — in the room, in real time. Human lag closes when people stop seeing only their task and start seeing the system.
Structured facilitated session with the Process Owner and key stakeholders. Who owns this process? Who is the customer of each step? What does done look like, and what quality metric defines it? Scope is anchored before any mapping begins.
Working backwards from the final output, each sub-process step is mapped with its owner (SPO), supplier (SPS), and customer (SPC). Quality metrics are defined by the receiver — never the giver. Inputs and outputs are nouns. Process steps are verbs. Decision points are added. Level 2 cost-time analysis surfaces value leakage where in scope.
A standing alignment session with all process owners and their suppliers present, full chart visible simultaneously. Each owner articulates their input requirement to their supplier — in the room, in real time. Human lag closes when people stop seeing only their task and start seeing the system.
Note: When incorporated into a CRI™ Diagnostic or M&A Preparation retainer, the SIPOC module is included at no separate fee.
Map the full business ecology. Build scenarios. Align before the market forces you to.
A founder who is still the primary strategic thinker at ₹80 crore is both the business's greatest asset and its ceiling. The Business Aligner maps the business as a living system through four interconnected perspectives, builds scenarios for the next 18–24 months, and translates the dialogue into aligned goals and first steps. Artha Viveka adds a fifth lens: People Risk and the svabhāva diagnostic — the assessment of whether the founder's inherent nature is aligned with the transition the business now requires.
Shareholder intent, leadership vision, financial outcomes, investor expectations.
Customer needs, competitive dynamics, market trends, evolving demands.
Processes, platforms, operational capabilities, systems efficiency.
Values, motivations, leadership depth, culture, people dynamics.
Zone 4: current internal reality across all four Voices. Zone 1: external trends, competitive threats, regulatory shifts. The gap between Zone 1 and Zone 4 is where strategy lives. Most strategic conversations skip straight to goals without establishing what is true.
Three scenarios: stretch (decisive alignment), realistic (current momentum), stress (key trends accelerate, organisation unready). Purpose is not prediction — it is a coherent mental model for making decisions under uncertainty.
Zone 2 initiatives with owners and milestones (18–24 month horizon). Zone 3 first steps (90-day pilots). Shared leadership goals across all four Voices. Decision rights review. Quarterly live map protocol assigned.
Zone 4: current internal reality across all four Voices. Zone 1: external trends, competitive threats, regulatory shifts. The gap between Zone 1 and Zone 4 is where strategy lives. Most strategic conversations skip straight to goals without establishing what is true.
Three scenarios: stretch (decisive alignment), realistic (current momentum), stress (key trends accelerate, organisation unready). Purpose is not prediction — it is a coherent mental model for making decisions under uncertainty.
Zone 2 initiatives with owners and milestones (18–24 month horizon). Zone 3 first steps (90-day pilots). Shared leadership goals across all four Voices. Decision rights review. Quarterly live map protocol assigned.
The Business Aligner is the intellectual property of TAO Consulting Pvt. Ltd. Artha Viveka applies it in client advisory contexts under licence from TAO Consulting.
Build the finance function your next capital event demands — and then hand it over.
The finance function is built reactively in most SMEs — when a bank demands it, when an investor requires it, or when a listing forces it. Companies that build it proactively — 12–18 months before a capital event — consistently get better terms, faster approvals, and higher valuations. Most founders promote their senior accountant to CFO when a capital event forces the question. That person is built for compliance, not capital markets. The gap costs founders 3–6 months and, often, deal terms.
Clean books. Timely close. Accurate statutory compliance.
Benchmark: books closed in 7 working days.
MIS, variance commentary, cash flow forecast, debt covenant tracking, board-ready reporting.
Benchmark: board pack issued within 10 days of month-end.
Scenario modelling, capital allocation analysis, investor and banker communication, pre-transaction diligence readiness.
Benchmark: CFO answers "what would happen if", not just "what happened".
Finance function health check across five dimensions: close speed, reporting accuracy, analytical depth, compliance readiness, capital market readiness. Close process review. MIS audit. Cash flow discipline review. Debt and covenant review. Related party transaction register. Internal team capability assessment. Output: health scorecard (scored 0–5), gap priority list, build plan for Phase 2.
Monthly close redesign targeting 7-day close. MIS architecture producing monthly management accounts, variance commentary, and KPI dashboard. Board reporting pack. Rolling 12-month cash flow model. Debt and covenant dashboard. RPT register — documented, arm's-length justified. Financial restatement oversight where required. LODR compliance calendar. Investor-facing financial narratives. Internal controls documentation.
Finance operations manual — every system, process, and report documented. Internal team capability programme. CFO role specification if a permanent hire is the next step. Compliance calendar handover. Capital event readiness confirmation letter. Two post-handover check-in sessions at 30 and 90 days. The engagement ends when the function operates at institutional grade without external support.
Finance function health check across five dimensions: close speed, reporting accuracy, analytical depth, compliance readiness, capital market readiness. Close process review. MIS audit. Cash flow discipline review. Debt and covenant review. Related party transaction register. Internal team capability assessment. Output: health scorecard (scored 0–5), gap priority list, build plan for Phase 2.
Monthly close redesign targeting 7-day close. MIS architecture producing monthly management accounts, variance commentary, and KPI dashboard. Board reporting pack. Rolling 12-month cash flow model. Debt and covenant dashboard. RPT register — documented, arm's-length justified. Financial restatement oversight where required. LODR compliance calendar. Investor-facing financial narratives. Internal controls documentation.
Finance operations manual — every system, process, and report documented. Internal team capability programme. CFO role specification if a permanent hire is the next step. Compliance calendar handover. Capital event readiness confirmation letter. Two post-handover check-in sessions at 30 and 90 days. The engagement ends when the function operates at institutional grade without external support.
SEBI LODR compliance requires quarterly results within 45 days and board-grade reporting on schedule. The CRI™ diagnostic surfaces this gap. The fractional CFO closes it before the DRHP is filed.
Typical scope: 6–12 months pre-filing.
PE diligence — reporting speed, forecast accuracy, management commentary, covenant compliance — is not met by most SME finance functions. Engagement in the 12 months pre-raise changes investor perception and deal terms.
Typical scope: 3–6 months pre-term sheet.
Listed companies face continuous disclosure obligations and quarterly result timelines that most post-listing finance functions are not equipped for.
Typical scope: 12–24 months post-listing.
Every Artha Viveka engagement begins with a diagnostic. If you are a founder with ₹30–300 crore in revenue and a capital event on the horizon, the first step is a 15-minute Fit Call to confirm whether the engagement makes sense for both parties.