Fractional finance director · Fractional FD · Meaning · Cost
Fractional Finance Director · what one does, what one costs, when you need one
A fractional finance director is a senior finance leader who holds the FD role for part of the week, often one to three days, on an ongoing basis. They own the numbers, the cash and the finance team, report to the owner or CEO and often sit on the board, for fewer days than a full-time FD.
Exec Capital puts a fractional FD working one to three days a week at £30,000 to £90,000 a year. This page covers what the role is, what it costs and when it fits. To hire a fractional finance director, or to see fractional finance director jobs, go to the hub. We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent finance leaders.
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
Practitioners on making a part-week senior finance leader work: a clear scope, access to people and data, and regular communication. A fractional finance director needs the same three things from the owner or CEO.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a fractional finance director
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with finance director 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
Fractional finance director jobs on the board
Current finance director and finance leadership roles
Fractional Quest is a fractional recruitment agency: send a finance director brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.
01/ the role
What is a fractional finance director? a fraction of the week, not of the job
“Fractional” means a fraction of the week, not a fraction of the job. A fractional finance director holds the FD role in full: they run the finance function, own the monthly numbers and the cash, deal with the bank and the auditors, and answer to the owner and the board. They do it for an agreed number of days rather than five. Most people shorten it to fractional FD.
ICAEW groups the CFO and the finance director as the most senior role in the finance function: leading the team, overseeing budgeting, forecasting and planning, managing financial risk and reporting to the board. Our page on what a finance director does covers the full role.
Finance director or CFO?
The work overlaps; the emphasis differs. A finance director usually leans towards reporting, controls, cash and the bank in an owner-managed or mid-sized business. A CFO leans towards capital, investors and strategy, often in a funded or larger company. Robert Half’s 2026 guide reflects the gap in pay: a median of £109,500 for a full-time finance director against £176,500 for a CFO. If the brief is a fundraise and investors, see fractional CFO.
Ongoing, not a project
The arrangement is usually ongoing, reviewed as the business changes rather than ending on a fixed date. For the wider idea, see what fractional work is. If a firm’s service is what you want, fractional finance director services sets out what one covers.
02/ scope
Fractional finance director: what one does week to week
With limited days, a fractional finance director spends them on the work only an FD should do. In practice the weeks go on five things.
The monthly numbers
Management accounts by a set working day, and accounting records that meet the legal floor: under the Companies Act, every company must keep adequate accounting records, enough to show its financial position at any time.
Cash, budget and forecast
A budget compared with actual results, a rolling cash forecast, and someone chasing late payers so that growth does not eat the working capital.
The bank, the auditors and HMRC
The lender relationship, the audit or the statutory accounts that go to Companies House and HMRC, and the tax deadlines that come with them.
Controls and the team
Who can approve what, how the month-end runs, which systems the team uses, and whether the bookkeeper or accountant has what they need.
The owner’s finance partner
Pricing, margins, investment cases and the financial side of every decision the owner or CEO brings to the board.
What stays with the team
A fractional finance director is not a bookkeeper. Day-to-day transactions, payroll and reconciliations are done by the team, an in-house accountant or an outsourced provider. If the real gap is controls and the close, hire a fractional financial controller instead.
03/ comparison
Fractional finance director vs interim finance director vs part-time vs full-time
The titles overlap. The differences are in the days, the length and the contract.
04/ timing
When to hire a fractional finance director
Most companies bring in a fractional finance director when the finance work has outgrown a bookkeeper, an external accountant or the owner’s evenings, but does not yet fill a full-time FD’s week. These are the common triggers.
Scenario 01
The owner is flying blind
The accounts arrive once a year, the management accounts not at all, and decisions are made on the bank balance.
Scenario 02
The bank wants more
A new facility, a covenant or a lender asking for forecasts and monthly reporting that someone senior must stand behind.
Scenario 03
Cash is tight
Growth is eating working capital, customers pay late, and nobody owns the forecast or the conversation with the bank.
Scenario 04
A sale, an acquisition or a new system
A transaction or a finance system change needs a senior finance view from someone who stays accountable for the result.
05/ vetting
How we vet fractional finance directors
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify finance director 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
06/ fractional vs interim
Fractional or interim: part of the week, or all of it for a while
Fractional finance director vs interim finance director comes down to the days and the end date. A fractional FD works part of the week on an ongoing basis. An interim FD works full-time for a fixed period, then leaves: covering a departure, seeing through an audit or a sale, or leading a turnaround. If the work fills the week for a few months and then stops, that is interim. If it needs a finance director every week but not every day, that is fractional.
Exec Capital puts an interim finance director at £500 to £1,200 a day. For a sense of interim scale across the market, the Institute of Interim Management’s 2026 survey reports an average assignment of 10.0 months and an average interim day rate of £907 (£1,004 in the private sector); those are averages across every discipline its members work in, not a finance director rate. For FD roles held for a fixed period, see interim finance director jobs.
A part-time finance director is usually an employee on reduced hours for one company. The seniority can match a fractional role; the contract does not. A part-time employee should get the same treatment on pay rates, pension and holidays as a comparable full-time one, with some benefits pro rata, as GOV.UK sets out. See part-time finance director jobs. When the work grows to fill the week, many companies move to a full-time FD, sometimes the same person. We recruit that permanent hire too.
07/ cost
What a fractional finance director costs by the year, against a full-time salary
The cost is the day rate times the days worked, or a monthly retainer for an agreed number of days. Exec Capital’s 2026 guide puts a fractional FD working one to three days a week at £30,000 to £90,000 a year.
For comparison, Robert Half’s 2026 guide puts the median full-time finance director salary at £109,500, within a range of £89,750 to £138,000; in London the median is £149,000, within £122,000 to £187,750. Those are salaries, before employer National Insurance, pension and benefits.
Our fractional finance director salary page sets out pay in depth. Every shortlist we send states each candidate’s day rate or pay.
08/ contract, board and ir35
How the engagement works: contract, the board and IR35
Most fractional FDs work under a contract for services, as a sole trader or through their own limited company; some are employed part-time. Where the FD works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply. Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the title. In most cases the client decides; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
Many finance directors join the board, and a part-week director has the full duties of one. A director must exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence, judged against what is expected of someone doing that job. The directors stay legally responsible for the company’s records, accounts and performance even when someone else manages them day to day. Agree in writing whether the FD is appointed a director, and what they decide alone.
09/ hiring
Hiring one: the short version
Start with what finance must deliver over the next year: monthly accounts the owner trusts, a lender relationship, a cash plan, an audit, a sale. That sets the days, the scope and the experience you need. Then decide who the FD reports to, whether they join the board, and how their days fall across the month. Write it down; it becomes the brief.
Check the qualification with the body that awards it: the ICAEW’s ACA, the ACCA qualification or CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification. Take references from the owners and boards they reported to.
The hubs take it from there: hire a fractional finance director sets out the process, and for the FD seat in an owner-managed business see fractional FD jobs. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate or pay, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting. If the seat sits below an FD or CFO, see fractional head of finance jobs.
10/ questions
Fractional finance director FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a fractional finance director.
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.
