Financial controller recruitment · Permanent, interim, fractional or part-time
Financial controller recruitment: how to hire a financial controller
Financial controller recruitment starts with what the controller will own: month-end and the management accounts, the ledgers and controls, the audit, and the finance team that runs them.
To hire a financial controller, fix that scope and the reporting line, check the ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualification, then test candidates on a real month-end from your business.
We recruit permanent, interim, fractional, part-time and temporary finance leaders.
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.
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
In the press
FM Magazine (AICPA & CIMA) How to make the fractional CFO-client relationship effective · 20 May 2026
If the business needs senior finance judgement for part of the week rather than a full-time controller, a fractional engagement can cover it. FM Magazine sets out how to make one work: scope, access to people and data, and regular communication.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a financial controller
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Financial Controller 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
Pick a day that suits · live availability
On the board · last 3 months
Financial controller roles jobs on the board
Live financial controller and finance leadership roles
How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a Financial Controller brief and a shortlist of three to five.
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.
At 3.9 days a week a permanent hire costs less.
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 £76,750 Robert Half 2026 median salary. The full calculator below adds the months, the totals and the currency tabs.
- The fractional financial controller at 2 days a week never passes permanent inside 24 months.
Our arithmetic, cumulative. Permanent = the salary’s 30% search fee in month 0, then salary ÷ 12 plus 15% employer NI each month. No published interim band for this seat, so no interim line. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for each month.
02/ the route
Fractional, interim or permanent?
Four taps. The answer names the route for the seat and the page that covers it.
The route · Fractional
A fractional financial controller.The work fills part of the week, so buy the days it needs.
A fractional financial controller holds the seat on agreed days for as long as the seat is needed, and works for other clients on the rest.
The route · Interim
An interim financial controller.The work fills the week, and it has an end: a programme, a cover, a transaction.
An interim financial controller takes the seat full time for that stretch and hands it over when it is done.
The route · Interim, then permanent
Interim now, a permanent financial controller after.The seat is full time and long term, and the need is now.
An interim financial controller holds it while the permanent search runs, so the seat is not left empty.
The route · Permanent
A permanent financial controller.A full-time seat that sits at the table for years is a permanent hire.
There is time to run a search, so run one.
03/ the role
What the controller owns, and when you need one
A financial controller owns the accuracy of the numbers.
The company must keep adequate accounting records that show and explain its transactions and disclose its financial position with reasonable accuracy at any time; in most businesses the controller is the person who makes that happen, through the month-end close, the management accounts, reconciliations, controls and the audit file.
When a company needs a financial controller
The usual triggers: month-end takes too long or the numbers keep changing after it; the auditors raise the same control points every year; the business has added entities, currencies or a new finance system; or the finance director spends their time on the ledgers instead of the board.
If the gap is strategy, funding and the board, the seat is a finance director; see finance director recruitment.
Larger companies: the tax accounting duty
In a large company, HMRC’s senior accounting officer rules may apply: a qualifying company must tell HMRC the name of its senior accounting officer for each financial year, and whether a company qualifies turns on its own and its UK group’s turnover and balance sheet.
The controller often runs the accounting processes that officer relies on, so ask candidates how they have documented and tested them.
04/ scope
How to hire a financial controller
1. Scope the seat before the search
Write down what the controller will own (month-end, management accounts, controls, the audit, payroll, the finance team), the systems they will run, who they report to and what should be better after the first year.
A controller for a single-entity business and a group controller with several entities and currencies are different hires.
The financial controller job description gives a template.
2. Choose the route: permanent, interim, fractional or part-time
A permanent controller suits a business whose month-end needs an owner every month.
An interim financial controller covers a vacancy, a system migration or an audit full-time for a fixed term: hire an interim FC.
For senior controls work for part of the week, hire a fractional FC; for set days on your payroll, see part-time financial controller roles.
3. Check the qualification and test the work
Most briefs ask for a qualified accountant.
The ICAEW’s ACA combines technical learning, practical experience and professional skills; the ACCA qualification combines exams, ethics and professional experience; and CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification is built around management accounting, financial reporting and financial strategy.
Confirm membership with the body itself.
Then test the work: the CIPD’s guidance on selection favours structured interviews and skill-based tasks scored against the same criteria, so give every candidate the same trial balance and reconciliation from your business.
4. Run the checks before the offer
For an employee, you must check their right to work before they start.
Take references from a finance director and an auditor who worked with the candidate, and ask about a control failure they found and fixed.
What we do on a financial controller brief
We send a shortlist of 3–5 candidates, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.
05/ 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.
The slider runs across the published band for a fractional financial controller: £400–£650 a day (Accountancy Capital 2026).
Cost over 12 months
£57,200
104 working days · 2 d/wk · 12 mo · before tax
Fractional costs less over 12 months£54,088
Fractional financial controller, 12 months£57,200
Fractional financial controller, a month at 2 d/wk£4,763
Permanent financial controller, same period£111,288
Fractional financial controller, 12 months$75,784
Fractional financial controller, a month at 2 d/wk$6,310
Permanent financial controller, same period$147,445
Converted from £ at $1.3249 per £1 (Bank of England spot rate), 2 Oct 2026. A conversion, not a US market rate. Source ↗
Fractional financial controller, 12 months€67,187
Fractional financial controller, a month at 2 d/wk€5,595
Permanent financial controller, same period€130,718
Converted from £ at €1.1746 per £1 (Bank of England spot rate), 2 Oct 2026. A conversion, not a EU market rate. Source ↗
Our arithmetic, indicative. Permanent = the £76,750 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.
06/ 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.
Illustration only: one way a fractional financial controller’s week can divide at 2 days a week for you. Each block is half a day.
07/ 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 · 1 role · Financial controller roles
Engagement
- Fractional1
Days a week
- Stated in the posting0
- Not stated1
Day rate
- Verified rate0
- Estimated (est)1
- Rate not stated0
Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)
- Remote0
- Hybrid1
- On-site0
Newest posting on the board: 8 Oct 2026.
08/ comparison
Finance manager, financial controller or finance director?
Three finance seats that overlap. Choose by what the person will own and who they answer to.
09/ vetting
How we vet financial controllers
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify Financial Controller 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
10/ what to test for
Financial controller interview questions: what to test for
Test the four things the seat turns on.
The close: ask them to walk through their month-end timetable, what they cut to shorten it and what they would never cut.
Controls: give a reconciliation with an unexplained difference and ask how they would find it.
The audit: ask about an audit adjustment or management letter point they owned, and what they changed so it did not recur.
Systems: ask about a finance system change they ran, and what went wrong.
Add a written task: a short commentary on a set of management accounts, as they would send it to the finance director.
Ask every candidate the same questions in the same order and score each answer against the same criteria.
11/ what a controller costs
What a controller costs: Robert Half’s 2026 figures
Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts a financial controller nationally at £63,000 at the 25th percentile, £76,750 at the 50th and £92,500 at the 75th.
In London its figures are £85,750, £104,500 and £125,750.
These are Robert Half’s starting-salary projections, based on its own placements and third-party vacancy data; bonus and pension are agreed on top.
For more, see financial controller salary.
An interim or fractional controller is paid a day rate, often through their own company.
Then the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply: status depends on how the engagement runs, and a medium or large client makes the determination; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides.
Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist.
12/ questions
Financial controller recruitment FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a financial controller.
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.
