CFO recruiters · CFO recruitment firms · find a CFO

CFO Recruitment · recruiters, firms and how it works

CFO recruitment is the work of finding, testing and appointing a chief financial officer, whether permanent, interim or fractional.

A good recruiter starts from what the finance seat must deliver, searches beyond the people already applying, tests candidates on real finance problems, and checks every claim before you meet anyone.

We are a recruitment agency for fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.

On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Brief us on a CFO search →See the roles

How a brief runswhat we undertake

01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief

Shortlist3–5

3–5

Shortlist · with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 set out

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches you

£176,500

CFO median salary · Chief Financial Officer, 2026

Robert Half, 2026

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a CFO

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CFO candidates, their day rates and availability.

0115 minutes, video or phone
02We scope the role and the days a week
03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs

Prefer email? Use the booking page →

Pick a day that suits · live availability

Open the booking calendar →

On the board · last 3 months

CFO roles jobs on the board

3 on the board · 0 confirmed open

Browse every role on the board →

Current CFO and finance leadership roles on our board

Fractional Quest is a fractional recruitment agency: send a CFO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.

01/ the cross

Where a permanent hire becomes cheaper.

Move the day rate and the days a week: the rising line is a month of part-week cost, the flat line a permanent hire’s month. Where they cross, the seat should go full-time.

Day rate£1,050Published band for a fractional CFO: £700–£1,400 a day (FD Capital 2026)Days a week2 days

Fractional CFO, a monthPermanent CFO, a month

At 4.7 days a week a permanent hire costs less.

At 2 days a week: fractional CFO £9,093 a month · permanent £21,327 a month

Our arithmetic. Permanent a month = the salary ÷ 12 plus 15% employer NI, plus the 30% search fee spread over 12 months — the calculator’s inputs. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for each step.

Permanent = the £176,500 Robert Half 2026 median salary. The full calculator below adds the months, the totals and the currency tabs.

02/ the role

CFO recruitment: how the process works

A CFO owns planning, reporting, cash, funding and the controls that keep the numbers true.

Recruiting one follows three routes, and the route sets the process: who the candidates are, how they are found, and how the engagement is contracted.

Permanent

Most strong permanent candidates are in post and not reading adverts, so someone has to approach them, assess them and manage a notice period.

CFO executive search is the approach-led end of that work; a CFO headhunter explains how a search for a permanent seat runs.

Interim and fractional

An interim CFO works full-time for a fixed term, to cover a vacancy, a raise, a sale or a turnaround.

A fractional CFO works agreed days a week, often alongside other clients.

Both candidate pools are smaller and move faster than the permanent one, and availability matters as much as the CV.

A CFO who works through their own company may fall under the off-payroll working rules (IR35).

Status turns on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination.

Who does what

You own the brief and the decision to hire.

The recruiter owns the search, the assessment and the checks, and should tell you plainly when the brief and the budget do not match the market.

03/ scope

CFO recruiters: what a good one does

Good CFO recruiters do five things, and you can ask any CFO recruiter to show you each one before you sign.

1. Take a full brief

The Conduct Regulations 2003 say an agency must not introduce a candidate until it has enough information from the hirer to select someone suitable: the role, the work, the start date, the location and the qualifications needed.

A good recruiter goes further and asks what the finance seat must change in its first year.

Write that into a CFO job description first.

2. Search beyond the applicants

An advert reaches people already on the move.

CFO recruitment professionals map who has done the job in a business like yours and approach them directly, then tell you who said no and why.

3. Assess on the work

The CIPD’s selection factsheet favours clear, structured and objective assessment, including skill-based tasks.

For a CFO, that means the same task for every candidate: read last quarter’s management accounts, find what is missing, and set out a cash forecast.

4. Check what the candidate claims

Confirm the accountancy qualification with the body that awarded it: the ICAEW member directory is free to search, and ICAEW issues confirmation letters for pre-employment checks with the candidate’s consent.

For an employee, you must also check their right to work before they start.

5. Set out the terms on each candidate

Pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position belong on the shortlist, so you compare like with like before the first interview.

How we run a brief

We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.

04/ the maths

What the seat costs, by the days a week

Move the day rate, the days a week and the months: the totals and the permanent comparison for the period. The curve above shows where a permanent hire becomes the cheaper seat.

Day rate£1,050Days a week needed2 daysMonths engaged12 months

The slider runs across the published band for a fractional CFO: £700–£1,400 a day (FD Capital 2026).

Cost over 12 months

£109,200

104 working days · 2 d/wk · 12 mo · before tax

Fractional CFO£109,200

Permanent CFO, same period£255,925

Fractional costs less over 12 months£146,725

Fractional CFO, 12 months£109,200

Fractional CFO, a month at 2 d/wk£9,093

Permanent CFO, same period£255,925

Book a 15-minute call →

Our arithmetic, indicative. Permanent = the £176,500 Robert Half 2026 median salary pro rata for the same months, plus 15% employer NI, plus a 30% search fee on the annual base (UK retained search runs 25–35%, Headhunters.co.uk). Excludes pension, bonus and equity.

05/ the week

How a week divides.

The days you buy are yours; the rest of the week goes to other clients. Move the days a week in the calculator above and the week redraws.

Your companyAnother clientA third client

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Illustration only: one way a fractional CFO’s week can divide at 2 days a week for you. Each block is half a day.

06/ the board

What the board holds.

A read of the roles on the board on this page, counted as they stand: how each is engaged, whether the posting gives the days and the rate, and where the work happens.

On this board, last 90 days · 3 roles · CFO roles

Engagement

Fractional3

Days a week

Stated in the posting0
Not stated3

Day rate

Verified rate1
Estimated (est)0
Rate not stated2

Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)

Remote1
Hybrid1
On-site1

Newest posting on the board: 5 Oct 2026.

07/ comparison

Recruitment agency, search firm or interim provider?

Three kinds of recruiter work on finance leadership seats. Choose by the route, not the brand.

Recruitment agencyExecutive search firmInterim or fractional provider

Finds candidates byIts own database, adverts and direct approachMapping the market and approaching people in postPeople already working on interim or part-week terms

SuitsPermanent, interim and part-week seats where speed mattersA permanent board seat in a competitive marketA vacancy, a project or a part-week need

Ask themWho assesses the candidates, and how?Who runs the search day to day?Who is free now, and on what terms?

IR35On payroll, or decided by how the engagement runsUsually on payrollDecided by how the engagement runs

08/ vetting

How we vet CFOs

What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.

01
Qualification screen
Verify CFO tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING
02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING
03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY
04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5

09/ CFO recruitment firms

CFO recruitment firms: how to judge them

CFO recruitment firms differ less in their adverts than in who does the work.

Searches for CFO recruiting firms, CFO recruitment agencies and CFO executive search firms all lead to the same question: will this firm find people you could not reach yourself, and will it tell you the truth about them?

The law is the same for all of them.

GOV.UK guidance on the Conduct Regulations says the Employment Agencies Act covers executive search consultants as well as agencies, that agencies may not charge candidates for finding them work, and that the Act does not regulate what a hirer pays.

Since April 2026 the Fair Work Agency regulates employment agencies in England, Scotland and Wales.

Before you appoint a CFO recruitment firm, ask who will run the brief day to day, how candidates are assessed, which checks the firm runs itself, and what you will pay and when, in writing.

A CFO recruitment agency that cannot answer those plainly is guessing.

Ask how candidates’ data is handled.

The ICO’s recruitment and selection guidance applies to agencies, head-hunters and consultancies as well as employers, and covers people found through a talent search, not only applicants.

CFO executive recruitment for a permanent seat tends to be approach-led; interim and fractional seats draw on people already working that way.

For finance seats one level below the CFO, see finance director recruitment.

10/ find a CFO

Find a CFO: where the candidates are

To find a CFO, start with what the seat must fix, then decide how much of the week it needs.

A search for "find CFO" usually means one of three things: a permanent leader, a full-time stopgap, or senior finance judgement for a day or two a week.

For a permanent CFO, the strongest candidates are usually in post, so the search runs by approach.

For an interim or fractional CFO, look at people already working that way: to go part-week, hire a fractional CFO, and see fractional CFO cost for published day rates.

However you search, Acas notes there is no recruitment process set by law, but employers must follow a fair one, with discrimination and data protection law applying throughout.

Our CFO jobs board shows how other businesses are framing the seat today.

11/ questions

CFO recruitment FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a CFO.

It starts with a brief: what the CFO will own, what they inherit and what should change in the first year. The recruiter then searches (by approach, for most permanent seats), assesses candidates on real finance work, checks qualifications and references, and brings you a shortlist with pay, availability and IR35 position set out.

Write the brief first, choose the route (permanent, interim or fractional), then agree in writing what the recruiter will do and what you will pay. Insist on the same assessment task for every candidate. For the steps without a recruiter, see hire a CFO.

Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts a CFO at £132,500 to £220,500, with a median of £176,500, before employer National Insurance, pension and bonus. Fractional and interim CFOs work on day rates. On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist.

They take the brief, search for candidates (including people not looking), assess them against the brief, check what each candidate claims, and set out pay, availability and terms. The Conduct Regulations require an agency to have enough information from you to select a suitable candidate before it introduces anyone.

Ask who runs the brief day to day, how candidates are assessed, which checks the firm runs itself, how it handles candidates’ data, and what you will pay and when. Get the answers in writing before the search starts.

Decide what the seat must fix and how much of the week it needs. For a permanent CFO, search by approach, because most strong candidates are in post. For part of the week, hire a fractional CFO; for full-time cover for a fixed term, look at interim candidates.

They overlap. A headhunter usually works by direct approach on a permanent search; a recruiter may also advertise, and often handles interim and fractional seats. The law treats both as employment agencies. For the permanent search route, see CFO headhunter.

It can, if the CFO works through their own company. Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination (HMRC). Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5

Bring the brief. We architect the team.

A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Book a call →Submit a brief