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Permanent CFO · hiring brief

CFO for Hire

CFO for Hire: name the finance event driving the hire (a raise, a sale, a covenant or a reporting gap), choose the engagement it needs, then test candidates on your own numbers.

Brief us on this role →See CFO roles

Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 1 November 2026 · 5 sources linked below

  • 3–5on every shortlist
  • 5stages of vetting
  • IR35set out on every brief
CFO for Hire: a finance leader reviewing a board pack with a finance manager (illustration)

On the board · last 90 days

Which roles are on the board now?

Permanent CFO roles first, then the seat in any engagement and the wider function when the board runs short.

Roles

See every role on the board →

Every fractional role in the UK is on the fractional jobs board.

In the press

The brief

CFO for Hire: what must the role own?

Name what has made the seat urgent: a fundraise, a sale process, lender pressure or reporting the board no longer trusts.

  • 01The finance eventName what has made the seat urgent: a fundraise, a sale process, lender pressure or reporting the board no longer trusts.
  • 02DecisionsList the cash, forecasting, funding and control decisions the CFO owns, and which return to the CEO or board.
  • 03TeamSay who runs the monthly close and the ledger, so the CFO is not hired to do bookkeeping.
  • 04EngagementSet days a week, an end date or a permanent seat before discussing pay or day rates.

Role reference: ICAEW on the CFO role in strategy. ICAEW describes the CFO’s role in shaping strategy as well as reporting on it, which is the remit a CFO for hire must be given rather than a reporting-only brief.

For hire

CFO for hire: which engagement fits?

Searches for a CFO for hire or a CFO hire cover four routes into the finance seat.

Fractional: the same CFO on agreed days each week, for as long as the business needs senior finance judgement but not five days of it. Interim: full-time cover for a defined assignment, such as a sale process or a CFO departure, with an end date and a handover.

Part-time employed: fewer hours on the payroll, long term. Permanent: the full seat, usually once a business has the scale, lenders or investors that need an owner every day.

Whichever route you choose, the brief is the same: the finance event, the decisions the CFO owns and the evidence you will ask every candidate for.

The working pattern

What changes when the CFO is permanent?

A CFO for hire can join on any engagement. The finance event decides which: part of each week for an ongoing remit, full-time cover for a fixed assignment, or a permanent executive for years.

The illustrative brief: a scale-up preparing a Series B. A finance manager closes the books each month, but investors have asked for a forecast model, a data room and a CFO in the room for the raise.

The appointment owns: The CFO for hire builds the model, leads the data room and attends investor meetings, two days a week until close.

Another owner retains: The CEO leads the raise; the board approves terms; the finance manager keeps the close.

The case is illustrative; it does not describe a Fractional Quest placement.

From brief to start

How do you hire a CFO for hire, step by step?

CFO for Hire, in practice: the first three steps are ours; the last four are what has to be true before the first day. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date.

  1. Day 0
    01
    The 15-minute call
    What the CFO must own, the working pattern, the start date and the budget.
    You and us
  2. Week 1
    02
    Scope agreed in writing
    The outcome the seat exists for, the days, and how the engagement will run for IR35.
    Us
  3. Weeks 1–3
    03
    Search, references, shortlist
    We approach people who aren’t looking, verify tenure, take references ourselves and return three to five.
    Us
  4. Week 4
    04
    Mandate
    Write the finance event, the decisions, the days or term, and the review date.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Access
    Provide management accounts, the forecast, bank and lender terms, and the cap table.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Board
    Agree how the CFO reports to the board and whether they attend meetings.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    First output
    Ask for a written view of the thirteen-week cash position in the first fortnight.
    You

Your figures

What does part of a senior week cost?

Rate × days × weeks, against a loaded full-time package. Move the sliders; the numbers redraw.

  • CFO band £700–£1,400 (FD Capital 2026)
Year-one cost, fractional
£96,600
2 days a week · 46 weeks · day fees, before tax · our arithmetic
Fractional executive£96,600
Full-time CFO, loaded£202,225£919 a day over 220 days · our arithmetic
Fractional costs less in year one by£105,625

Our arithmetic. £176,500 Robert Half 2026 median salary + employer NI at 15% above £5,000 (HMRC) = £202,225. Excludes pension, bonus and any search fee.

Assessment

How should you assess each candidate?

CFO for Hire on evidence: put the same work in front of each candidate before comparing answers.

  1. Comparable decision
    Ask for a raise, sale or refinancing they ran at a business of your size, and what they personally owned.
  2. Authority
    Test a decision the brief keeps for the board, such as accepting a term sheet.
  3. Team
    Ask how they made a finance manager or controller more capable rather than doing the work themselves.
  4. Handover
    Ask what the finance function could do on its own after their last assignment ended.

Acas recommends a consistent, fair selection process: choosing who to interview.

Vetting

What happens before anyone reaches your shortlist?

Five stages before a candidate reaches a shortlist of three to five.

  1. Pedigree screen
    Tenure
    We verify prior tenure in the seat, at the scale and stage you need. No consultant presenting as an executive.
  2. Mandate fit
    Fit
    Fit to your stage, sector and the problem the seat exists to solve, not a CV keyword.
  3. Reference deep-dive
    Verify
    We take references ourselves, from recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.
  4. Shortlist
    Shortlist
    Three to five candidates, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
  5. Kick-off
    Start
    Scope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.

The full process is on how we vet.

The right pattern

Does this hiring pattern fit the work?

Test the amount of the week, the expected end and the continuity needed before writing the contract.

Questions

CFO for Hire: questions, answered

Not always. A CFO for hire can be fractional (part of each week), interim (full-time for an assignment), part-time employed or permanent. Interim is one of the four routes.

Read next

Related hiring and role pages

Sources

Where does every reference on this page come from?

  • icaew.com
  • HMRC
  • legislation.gov.uk
  1. 1
    ICAEW on the CFO role in strategy icaew.com
  2. 2
    Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 HMRC
    Employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year.
  3. 3
    Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRC
    Status depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
  4. 4
    Check employment status for tax (CEST) HMRC
    HMRC’s own status check for each engagement.
  5. 5
    Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.uk
    The law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.

For hiring managers

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  1. A shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position
  2. Fractional, interim, part-time, temporary or permanent — and non-executive directors
  3. Every candidate through our five-stage vetting
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