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Fractional CFO · hiring brief

Fractional CFO for Hire

Fractional CFO for Hire: agree the days and the finance decisions the CFO owns, keep the monthly close with your own team, and set a review point when the event is done.

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
Fractional 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?

Fractional 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

Fractional CFO for Hire: what must the role own?

One to three days a week is common; agree what happens in board weeks.

  • 01DaysOne to three days a week is common; agree what happens in board weeks.
  • 02RemitCash, forecasting, funding, controls and board reporting.
  • 03TeamWho closes the books and pays suppliers between the CFO’s days.
  • 04ReviewA date to decide whether to continue, reduce, or move to a permanent CFO.

Role reference: ICAEW: finance career paths. ICAEW’s finance career paths separate finance leadership from finance processing, the line a fractional CFO for hire must keep.

For hire

Fractional CFO for hire: what you are buying

Judgement on a few days a week, not a part-time bookkeeper with a bigger title.

A fractional CFO for hire is right when the business needs senior finance decisions but not five days of them: a raise, a lender, a sale, or a board that wants better numbers.

It is the wrong hire when the real gap is processing. If invoices, payroll and month-end are behind, hire a finance manager or controller first, then a fractional CFO to lead them.

The working pattern

What changes when the CFO is fractional?

A fractional CFO for hire works the same days each week for several months or longer, often for more than one company, and owns finance leadership rather than finance processing.

The illustrative brief: a founder-led business preparing for sale. The owners plan a sale within two years. The accounts are produced by an external accountant once a year and nobody forecasts.

The appointment owns: A fractional CFO for hire sets monthly management accounts, a forecast and a clean data trail, two days a week.

Another owner retains: The owners choose the adviser and the buyer; the external accountant keeps statutory accounts.

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

From brief to start

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

Fractional 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
    Days
    Confirm the days, board weeks and response window.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Access
    Accounts, bank feeds, contracts and the shareholder agreement.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Accountant
    Introduce the external accountant and agree who does what.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    First pack
    A first set of management accounts and a cash view by the first month-end.
    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?

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

  1. Comparable work
    Ask for a sale, raise or refinancing they prepared a business for.
  2. Authority
    Test how they would handle an owner wanting a number the forecast does not support.
  3. Team
    Ask how they trained an in-house finance person to run the monthly pack.
  4. Handover
    Ask what reporting ran without them when they left.

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

Fractional CFO for Hire: questions, answered

Usually contracted through their own company, on agreed days. A part-time CFO on the payroll is the employed alternative; the IR35 position depends on how the work runs.

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: finance career paths 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

Bring the brief. We bring the shortlist.

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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
  4. Your briefs and their candidates, in one room