How to hire a CFO · fractional, interim or permanent · hire a CFO in London

Hire a CFO · fractional, interim or permanent

To hire a CFO, first write down what the finance seat must deliver in the next year: a raise, a sale, a clean audit, or board reporting the investors trust.

Then choose the route (fractional, interim or permanent), search beyond the people already looking, and test each candidate on your own numbers.

We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.

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.

Brief us on a CFO hire →See the roles

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
Worth reading before you choose the part-week route. It sets out what makes the working relationship between a business and a fractional CFO succeed, from scope to access.

3–5

Shortlist · with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 set out

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches you

£176,500

CFO median salary · Chief Financial Officer, 2026

Robert Half, 2026

£700–£1,400

Fractional CFO day rate · typical band, 2026

FD Capital, 2026

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a CFO

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CFO 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

Prefer email? Use the booking page →

Pick a day that suits · live availability

Open the booking calendar →

On the board · last 3 months

CFO roles jobs on the board

3 on the board · 0 confirmed open

Browse every role on the board →

Live finance leadership roles

How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a CFO brief and a shortlist of three to five.

01/ the role

Hire a CFO: what the seat owns before you write the brief

A CFO owns the money side of the business: planning, reporting, cash, funding and the controls that keep the numbers true.

They answer to the CEO and, in most companies, sit on the board.

Before you hire, decide which of those the seat must fix first.

A business raising money needs a different CFO from one preparing for audit or sale.

Duties that come with a board seat

If the CFO becomes a director, the seven general duties of a company director under the Companies Act 2006 come with the seat.

Companies House notes they also apply to someone who acts as a director without being formally appointed.

For a listed company, the UK Corporate Governance Code applies on a comply-or-explain basis.

Since 1 January 2026, Provision 29 asks boards to declare whether their material internal controls are effective, and much of that work lands with the CFO.

CFO or finance director

A finance director often runs reporting, the close and the finance team, one level below a CFO or in a smaller business.

A CFO adds strategy, funding and investor relations.

If the job is mostly the close and the controls, see finance director recruitment before you set the brief.

02/ scope

How to hire a CFO: the steps

1. Write the brief around the finance problem

Set out what the CFO will own, what they inherit (team, systems, auditors, lenders) and what stays with the CEO.

Then say what should be different after twelve months.

Turn that into a CFO job description before anyone is approached.

2. Choose the route

Fractional, interim, part-time or permanent: the section below sets out which fits which situation.

Decide this before you set a budget, because the cost basis differs.

3. Search, then test on your own numbers

An advert that says "hire CFO" mostly reaches people already on the move.

Many strong CFOs are in post, so someone has to approach them; a CFO headhunter does that for a permanent seat.

Give every candidate the same tasks: read last quarter's management accounts, find what is missing, and set out a thirteen-week cash forecast.

Score the answers against criteria agreed in advance, with a panel rather than one interviewer.

Our CFO interview questions set out what to ask.

Acas notes there is no set recruitment process in law, but employers must follow a fair one, with discrimination and data protection law applying throughout.

4. Check qualifications and directorships

Confirm the accountancy qualification with the body that awarded it.

The ICAEW member directory, ACCA’s Find a member search and the AICPA & CIMA directories each let you check membership by name.

Search past directorships and disqualified directors on the Companies House register before the offer.

Take references yourself from a CEO and an auditor or lender who worked with the candidate.

What we do on a CFO brief

We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.

03/ comparison

Fractional, part-time, interim or permanent CFO?

Four ways to fill the seat. Choose by how much of the week the work needs, and for how long.

FractionalPart-timeInterimPermanent

TimeAgreed days a week, often alongside other clientsA fixed part of the week, often employedFull-time, for a fixed termFull-time, open-ended

SuitsA business that needs senior finance judgement, not five days of itA steady, smaller finance functionA vacancy, a turnaround, a raise or a saleA business whose finance decisions need an owner every day

Published cost£700–£1,400 a day (FD Capital, 2026)Set out on each shortlist£1,000–£1,500 a day, SME and mid-market (FD Capital, 2026)£176,500 median salary (Robert Half, 2026), plus employer NI and benefits

IR35Decided by how the engagement runsUsually on payrollDecided by how the engagement runsOn payroll

04/ vetting

How we vet CFOs

What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.

01
Qualification screen
Verify CFO 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

05/ fractional, interim or permanent CFO

Fractional, interim or permanent CFO: which route

Fractional, interim or permanent CFO is the first decision, and it turns on two questions: how much of the week the work needs, and for how long.

A CFO for hire on a day rate suits a defined job; a permanent CFO suits a seat that needs an owner for years.

A fractional CFO works agreed days a week; FD Capital, itself a CFO recruiter, publishes £700–£1,400 a day, averaging about £1,050.

To go that way, hire a fractional CFO, and see fractional CFO cost for day rates and retainers.

An interim CFO works full-time for a fixed term; FD Capital publishes £1,000–£1,500 a day at SME and mid-market businesses and £1,500–£2,500 for complex mandates.

A part-time CFO suits a smaller, steadier finance function.

If the CFO works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply.

Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination; our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

06/ hire a CFO in London

Hire a CFO in London: what changes

To hire a CFO in London you run the same steps, against a deeper market and higher pay.

A search for "hire CFO London" turns up many candidates; the work is narrowing them to people who have done your job in a business like yours.

FD Capital’s 2026 CFO salary guide cites Morgan McKinley’s London CFO range of £120,000–£250,000.

Both are recruitment firms, and these are published figures, not a survey of your sector.

Fractional and interim CFOs often split their week between sites, so agree in the brief which days are in the office.

Live CFO jobs show how other London businesses are framing the role.

07/ questions

Hire a CFO FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a CFO.

Write the brief first (what the CFO will own, what they inherit, what should change in the first year), then choose fractional, interim, part-time or permanent. Test every candidate on your own management accounts and a cash forecast, check their accountancy body and directorships, and take references yourself.

Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts a CFO at £132,500 to £220,500, with a median of £176,500; employer National Insurance adds 15% above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27). FD Capital publishes £700–£1,400 a day for a fractional CFO. On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist.

Four: write the brief around the finance problem, choose the route, search and test candidates on your own numbers, then check qualifications, directorships and references before the offer. The brief is the step most often rushed, and the one that decides whether the hire works.

Permanent when finance decisions need an owner every day; interim when the seat is empty or a raise, sale or turnaround needs a full-time leader for a fixed term. Fractional when you need senior judgement for agreed days a week: hire a fractional CFO.

The same way as anywhere else, with a larger market to narrow. FD Capital’s 2026 guide cites Morgan McKinley’s London CFO range of £120,000–£250,000. Agree office days in the brief, and test candidates on work from your own business rather than on their title.

Search the accountancy body’s own directory by name: the ICAEW, ACCA and AICPA & CIMA each publish one. Then search the candidate’s past directorships and the disqualified directors list on the Companies House register.

A finance director usually runs reporting, the close and the finance team; a CFO adds strategy, funding and investor relations, and normally sits on the board. In a smaller business one person may hold both, so compare the scope rather than the title.

It can, if the CFO works through their own company. Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination (HMRC). We set out each candidate’s IR35 position on the shortlist.

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