Fractional CFO services — also sold in the UK as fractional finance director services — give you a senior finance leader on a defined weekly commitment — the engagements we scope run one to three days a week. Day rates run £700–£1,400, averaging around £1,050, with monthly retainers from £2,500 at one day a week to £10,000–£15,000 at three or more.
This page sets out what the service covers, how it is priced, and when it beats an outsourced accountant or a permanent hire. We place the operator, structure the engagement outside IR35, and stay in it for the life of the mandate.
A fractional CFO service puts a senior finance leader into your business on an ongoing commitment rather than a project.
In the UK the same service is frequently sold as a fractional finance director service — the titles differ more by company size than by scope, and we scope the FD shape at smaller revenue and the CFO shape at larger.
The scope is commercial finance, not bookkeeping.
A fractional CFO owns the forecast and the cash runway, prices the business model, runs the fundraise or the debt facility, builds the board pack, and is the person the board asks when the numbers move.
Transaction processing, payroll and statutory accounts belong with your bookkeeper or accountant, and a fractional CFO absorbed into that work has been mis-scoped.
Below the CFO seat, a financial controller service covers month-end, controls and reporting discipline — a different and cheaper instrument.
Buying both is a sensible shape: a controller two days a week for the machinery, a CFO one day a week for the decisions.
If you would rather run the search and contract the person directly, the Fractional CFO Jobs UK hub covers hiring, and Fractional Finance Director Jobs UK carries the FD-side demand.
For the full pricing picture see Fractional CFO Cost UK.
Forecasting and cash. The thirteen-week cash flow, the runway model, the scenario set the board actually decides against. Fundraising and debt — the model, the data room, the diligence questions, the term-sheet arithmetic. Commercial finance — unit economics, pricing, margin by product and channel. Board and investor reporting at a standard that survives scrutiny. Controls and governance proportionate to the stage.
Bookkeeping, transaction processing, payroll, VAT returns and statutory accounts preparation.
If that is the real need, an outsourced finance function or a bookkeeper costs a fraction of a CFO day rate and does it better.
Treat them as one service with two price points.
A finance director engagement leans towards reporting, controls and operational finance; a CFO engagement leans towards capital, strategy and the board.
Smaller businesses usually want the FD shape and larger ones the CFO shape.
Buy the work, not the title.
The scoping test: if the question is "what happened last month", you need a controller. If it is "what happens if we do this", you need a CFO.
Weekly cost at FD Capital’s published UK fractional CFO average day rate of ~£1,050 (FACTS 181). Monthly retainer equivalents in the includes list are FD Capital’s own published bands, not a derivation.
Every figure below is published by the named source. FD Capital (FACTS 181) publishes the day rate, the specialist premium and the retainer bands by days a week; Connectd (FACTS 279) publishes a wider band and a mid-market figure. Nothing here is a derivation.
| Benchmark | Published figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fractional CFO day rate (average) | £700–£1,400 (~£1,050) | FD Capital (181) |
| PE / VC or fundraising specialists | £1,200–£1,600 | FD Capital (181) |
| Retainer, 1 day a week | £2,500–£4,000/mo | FD Capital (181) |
| Retainer, 2 days a week | £5,000–£8,000/mo | FD Capital (181) |
| Retainer, 3+ days a week | £10,000–£15,000/mo | FD Capital (181) |
| Wider market band (mid-market) | £600–£1,500 (£800–£1,100) | Connectd (279) |
| Full-time CFO, total annual cost | £200,000–£350,000 | FD Capital (181) |
The three ways a UK company buys senior finance leadership, on the dimensions that decide between them.
| Metric | Fractional CFO service | Outsourced finance / accountant | Full-time CFO hire |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical UK cost | £2,500–£15,000/mo by days (FD Capital) | A monthly fee, well below a CFO day rate | £200,000–£350,000 total annual cost (FD Capital) |
| What you get | Commercial decisions, board and capital | Bookkeeping, compliance, statutory accounts | All of the above, full-time |
| Time to start | Shortlist in two working days is the target | Days | A full search, start to finish |
| Board credibility | Sits in the board meeting and answers | Not the remit | Sits in the board meeting and answers |
| Best when | You need finance decisions, not headcount | You need the machinery run correctly | The seat is full-time work |
| Exit | Notice period, or convert to core | Notice period | Redundancy or resignation |
Three situations where the service shape beats both an outsourced accountant and a permanent hire.
An investor is about to test your forecast, your unit economics and your cash discipline. A fractional CFO who has run the process before builds the model, owns the data room and answers in the language the room expects.
Revenue has outgrown the accountant but not yet earned a full-time CFO. Two days a week buys a forecast the board can decide against, margin visibility by product, and controls that fit the stage.
Runway is short, a covenant is tight, or a lender wants a plan. This is the mandate where the difference between a controller and a CFO shows up within a fortnight.
Five stages: qualification, mandate fit, reference deep-dive, shortlist and analysis, kick-off. Our fee is 12% of engagement value and is only triggered when you sign — the shortlist costs nothing if you do not hire.
How we take a founder or board's brief and turn it into a delivery system across core, fractional, network, and outsourced functions.
CONFIRM — REAL PROCESSStage · pressure · the work nobody is doing.
We run The Team Architect on every brief. Stage, headcount, sector, pressure. The output is the org shape we'd build with you — including the seats to hold for now. We turn briefs down here, gracefully, when the answer is 'not yet'.
Core. Fractional. Network. Outsourced.
Each function gets a verdict and an intensity. Engineering core. Finance fractional at 2.5 d/wk. Paid-media on the network. IT helpdesk outsourced. We commit to days, IR35 status, and replacement terms in writing before search starts.
Network-first. Outbound where it needs to be.
Fractional candidates have portfolios, not job alerts. We run from our own network plus a structured outbound for the senior end. Shortlist in 8–12 days. Honest scoring against the rubric — no padding.
First-week plan. Success criteria. IR35 live.
Calibration calls. Onboarding plan written down. IR35 structure live before day one. We sit in the first cross-functional meeting if it helps. The replacement guarantee runs for 90 days.
Quarterly cadence. Bridge to core when right.
Monthly check-ins for the first quarter, quarterly after. We surface when a fractional should convert to core (Series A → Series B finance is the modal moment) and we own the bridge. Replacement, conversion, off-ramp — it's all the same firm.
Common questions about fractional CFO Services roles and engagements
Current openings and market opportunities
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Additional tools, guides, and role information
More of the same shape — internal.
