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Fractional Finance director services · FD

Fractional Finance Director Services · Fractional FD Services

Fractional finance director services put a fractional finance director into your business on a standing weekly commitment.

The finance director runs the finance function: reporting, controls, cash and the management accounts the leadership team runs the business on.

This page sets out what the service covers, when fractional is the right shape, what the market publishes on rates, and how we come back with a shortlist of 3–5, each with rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Submit a brief → →

How a brief runswhat we undertake

  1. 01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
  2. 02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
  3. 03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
  4. 04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
  5. 05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief

Shortlist3–5

£600–£1,000
Fractional day rate · FD Capital 2026
Days a week, ongoing
Commitment

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 Fractional Finance Director Services candidates, their day rates and availability.

  1. 0115 minutes, video or phone
  2. 02We scope the role and the days a week
  3. 03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
  4. 04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs
Prefer email? Use the booking page →

Pick a day that suits · live availability

01/ the role

What fractional finance director services cover

A fractional finance director holds the finance director seat on a standing weekly commitment, usually alongside a small number of other clients, and owns outcomes rather than hours.

A fractional finance director gives an SME the discipline of a finance lead on a standing weekly commitment: the month-end close, the board pack and the cash forecast, with the bookkeeper doing the processing.

The service covers monthly management accounts and the board pack, budgeting, reforecasting and cash management, financial controls, audit and year-end, and banking relationships and working capital and leading and developing the finance team.

If you are weighing the options, the same seat is also bought as interim finance director services, part-time finance director services, outsourced finance director services, or permanent finance director search.

What the seat does day to day is set out in the finance director role explained; executives looking for this work can see current finance director roles.

02/ scope

What is in scope — and what is not

In scope

Monthly management accounts and the board pack; budgeting, reforecasting and cash management; financial controls, audit and year-end; banking relationships and working capital; leading and developing the finance team.

Not in scope

Transaction processing and payroll belong with the finance team or an outsourced bookkeeper.

Capital raising at scale is usually CFO work; the FD prepares the numbers it rests on.

Finance director or a neighbouring seat?

The finance director runs the function; the CFO adds capital strategy and investor work on top.

Smaller businesses usually want the FD shape and larger ones the CFO shape.

The scoping test: write down the three decisions you need the finance director to own in the next ninety days. If you cannot, you are not ready to brief.

03/ the week

How a week divides.

Part of a week is the point of the model: the days you buy are yours, the rest of the week goes to other clients. Move the days a week and the week redraws.

Your companyAnother clientA third client

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

04/ the route

Fractional, interim or permanent?

Four taps. The answer names the route for the seat and the page that covers it.

How much of the week does the work fill?
Is there a fixed end or a programme?
Does the seat sit on the board for years?
Is the need now, or can it wait for a search?

The route · Fractional

A fractional finance director services.

The work fills part of the week, so buy the days it needs.

A fractional finance director services holds the seat on agreed days for as long as the seat is needed, and works for other clients on the rest.

The fractional finance director services routeTalk it through

05/ rates by stage

Finance director rates what the published benchmarks say

Every figure is the named source’s own published band. Fractional Quest publishes no fees: each candidate on a shortlist states their own rate. A fractional engagement is priced on the day rate times the days committed each week.

BenchmarkPublished figureSource
Fractional finance director day rate£600–£1,000FD Capital 2026
Permanent finance director salary (25th–75th percentile)£89,750–£138,000Robert Half 2026

06/ comparison

Four ways to buy a finance director fractional, interim, part-time or permanent

The same finance director seat can be filled four ways. The difference is commitment, contract and how long you need it.

FractionalInterimPart-timePermanent
CommitmentDays a week, ongoingFull-time, fixed termSet days each weekFull-time, open-ended
Usual contractContract for services, often via the executive’s companyDay-rate contract for the mandateOften pro-rata employment; sometimes a contractorEmployment contract
Clients at onceA small portfolioOneOneOne
Best whenYou need finance director judgement every week, not every dayYou need full-time cover or a change led nowYou want the same person on the same days for the long termThe seat is full-time work for years
ExitNotice period, or convert to permanentHand-over at the end of the mandateEmployment noticeResignation or redundancy

07/ timing

When fractional finance director services are the right call

Three situations where the fractional shape beats the alternatives.

Scenario 01

Before full-time

Finance director judgement, not finance director hours

You need someone to own monthly management accounts and the board pack and budgeting, reforecasting and cash management, but the work does not fill five days a week yet.

Scenario 02

Signals

The trigger has arrived

Management accounts arriving late or untrusted, an audit that keeps slipping, a bank asking for covenants to be reported, or a founder still signing off every payment.

Scenario 03

Alongside a team

Senior direction for a capable team

The team can deliver; it needs someone senior to set direction on financial controls, audit and year-end and hold the standard.

08/ vetting

How we vet the shortlist

Five stages: qualification, mandate fit, reference deep-dive, shortlist and analysis, kick-off.

  1. 01

    Qualification screen

    Verify Fractional Finance Director Services tenure, sector context and stage fit.

    SOURCING
  2. 02

    Mandate fit

    Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.

    MATCHING
  3. 03

    Reference deep-dive

    We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.

    VERIFY
  4. 04

    Shortlist

    Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

    SHORTLIST OF 3–5

09/ how it runs

How a fractional finance director engagement runs from brief to hand-over

Brief.

You tell us the scope, the days each week and the start date, and what success looks like in the first ninety days.

A clear brief names the decisions the finance director will own.

Shortlist.

We come back with 3–5 fractional finance directors against the brief, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, assessed through our five-stage vetting.

Cadence.

A fractional finance director works best with fixed days, a standing slot with the CEO and a seat at the board.

Review the commitment each quarter: days go up before a big moment and down once the machine runs.

Hand-over.

If the seat grows into full-time work, the fractional finance director can help recruit the permanent successor, or convert themselves.

10/ before you sign

Before you buy fractional finance director services three checks

Standing.

Check professional standing and references before you sign: check a finance leader’s professional standing before you sign; see ICAEW’s directory of chartered accountants.

Status.

Agree how the engagement will run in practice, because that decides its IR35 status; HMRC’s guidance for clients sets out who makes the status determination.

Scope.

Write down what is out of scope.

Transaction processing and payroll belong with the finance team or an outsourced bookkeeper.

Capital raising at scale is usually CFO work; the FD prepares the numbers it rests on.

11/ questions

Fractional Finance Director services FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a fractional finance director.

The finance director seat’s full scope: monthly management accounts and the board pack; budgeting, reforecasting and cash management; financial controls, audit and year-end; banking relationships and working capital; leading and developing the finance team. Transaction processing and payroll belong with the finance team or an outsourced bookkeeper. Capital raising at scale is usually CFO work; the FD prepares the numbers it rests on.
FD Capital 2026 publishes a UK fractional finance director day rate of £600–£1,000. The total depends on the days committed each week. Fractional Quest publishes no fees of its own; each candidate on our shortlist states their rate.
An interim finance director works full-time for a fixed term, usually to cover a gap or lead a change. A fractional finance director works a standing number of days each week, often for several clients, for as long as the business needs it.
Management accounts arriving late or untrusted, an audit that keeps slipping, a bank asking for covenants to be reported, or a founder still signing off every payment. Fractional is the right shape when the seat needs senior judgement every week but not every day.
It depends on how the engagement runs in practice — control, substitution and whether the finance director is part and parcel of your organisation. For medium and large private-sector clients, the client makes the status determination. Each candidate on our shortlist states their IR35 position.
You brief us on the scope, the days and the start date. We come back with a shortlist of 3–5 fractional finance directors, each with day rate or salary, availability and IR35 position set out, assessed through our five-stage vetting.

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

12/ related

Keep exploring

Adjacent roles and reading.

/finance-director-servicesAll finance director services

Fractional, interim, part-time and permanent, side by side.

/interim-finance-director-servicesInterim Finance Director Services

Full-time for a fixed term.

/part-time-finance-director-servicesPart-Time Finance Director Services

Set days each week.

/what-does-a-finance-director-doThe finance director role explained

What the seat does day to day.

/vettingHow we vet

The five-stage process behind every shortlist.

Executive servicesFinance Director services hubThe finance director seat, fractionalThe finance director seat, interimIR35 guide

For hiring managers

Bring the brief. We bring the shortlist.

Sign up now →Book a call

  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
Fractional Quest logo — how to brief fractional finance director services, fractional finance director services