How to hire a financial controller · permanent, interim or fractional · London

Hire a Financial Controller · every route

To hire a financial controller, start with the close: what month-end should look like in a year, and what is broken about it now.

Then choose the route (permanent, interim, fractional or part-time), test every candidate on a real month-end from your business, and check the qualification with the body that awarded it.

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 controller 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 if the part-week route is on the table. It sets out what makes a fractional finance engagement work, from a clear scope to access to people and data.

3–5

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

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches you

£76,750

Controller median salary · Financial Controller, national, 2026

Robert Half, 2026

£450–£650

Fractional day rate, London · London and South East, 2026

Accountancy Capital, 2026

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a financial controller

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

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On the board · last 3 months

Financial controller roles jobs on the board

0 Financial controller roles · 7 finance leadership

No Financial controller roles roles on the board in the last three months. Showing finance leadership roles instead.

Browse every role on the board →

Current controller and finance leadership roles

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

01/ the role

Hire a financial controller: what you are buying

A financial controller owns the accuracy of the numbers: the month-end close, the management accounts, the ledgers, the controls and the audit file.

They usually answer to a finance director or CFO, and often run a small finance team.

The year-end lands on them too.

The statutory accounts go to shareholders, Companies House and HMRC, and the balance sheet must be signed by a director, who relies on the controller for what it says.

Signs the business needs one

Month-end takes weeks, or the numbers change after it closes.

The auditors raise the same points every year, or a new entity, currency or finance system has outgrown the bookkeeper.

People search "hire a controller" for this seat; in the US the title often means the same job.

If the gap is strategy, funding and the board rather than the close, the seat is a finance director or CFO: see finance director recruitment or hire a CFO.

02/ scope

How to hire a financial controller: the steps

1. Write the brief around the close

Set out what the controller will own, what they inherit (team, systems, auditors, entities) and what should be better after twelve months.

A single-entity business and a group with several currencies are different hires.

Our financial controller job description gives a template to start from.

2. Choose the route before the budget

Permanent, interim, fractional or part-time: the section below sets out which suits which situation.

The cost basis differs, so decide this first.

3. Search, then test on your own month-end

A job advert that says "hire financial controller" mostly reaches people already looking.

Many strong controllers are in post, so someone has to approach them.

Give every candidate the same trial balance and reconciliation from your business, and score the answers against criteria agreed in advance.

Our financial controller interview questions set out what to ask.

Acas notes there is no set recruitment process in law, but employers must follow a fair one.

Discrimination and data protection law apply throughout.

4. Check the qualification, then the right to work

Confirm the accountancy qualification with the body itself: the ICAEW member directory, ACCA’s Find a member search and the AICPA & CIMA directories each let you check by name.

For an employee, you must check their right to work before they start.

Take references yourself, from a finance director and an auditor who worked with the candidate.

What we do on a controller 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

Permanent, interim, fractional or part-time?

Four ways to fill the seat. Choose by how much of the month the close needs, and whether the need has an end date.

PermanentInterimFractionalPart-time

TimeFull-time, open-endedFull-time, for a fixed termAgreed days a week, often alongside other clientsFixed days a week, on your payroll

SuitsA business whose close needs an owner every monthA vacancy, a system change or an auditSenior controls work without five days of itA steady, smaller finance function

Published cost£76,750 median salary (Robert Half, 2026), plus employer NI and benefitsSet out on each shortlist£450–£650 a day in London and the South East (Accountancy Capital, 2026)Set out on each shortlist

IR35On payrollDecided by how the engagement runsDecided by how the engagement runsUsually on payroll

04/ vetting

How we vet financial controllers

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

01
Qualification screen
Verify Financial Controller 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/ permanent, interim or fractional financial controller

Permanent, interim or fractional financial controller: which route

A permanent, interim or fractional financial controller is the first choice to make.

It turns on two questions: how much of the month the work needs, and whether it has an end date.

Permanent suits a business whose month-end needs an owner every month.

Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts a financial controller at £63,000 to £92,500, with a median of £76,750; see financial controller salary for the detail.

An interim financial controller works full-time for a fixed term, through a vacancy, a system change or an audit.

To go that way, hire an interim FC.

A fractional controller works agreed days a week; Accountancy Capital’s 2026 market report publishes £450–£650 a day in London and the South East, and £400–£550 regionally.

People who search "hire a fractional controller" can hire a fractional FC there.

Part-time means fixed days on your payroll; see part-time financial controller jobs.

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

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

06/ hire a financial controller in London

Hire a financial controller in London: what changes

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

A search for "hire financial controller London" turns up many candidates; the work is narrowing them to people who have closed the books of a business like yours.

Robert Half’s 2026 guide puts a London financial controller at £85,750 to £125,750, with a median of £104,500.

Robert Half is a recruitment firm, and these are its published starting-salary projections, not a survey of your sector.

Employer National Insurance adds 15% above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27), so budget the salary and the cost of employing it separately.

The same applies when you hire financial controller Manchester candidates or anywhere else: agree office days in the brief, because fractional and interim controllers often split their week.

Current financial controller jobs show how other businesses frame the seat.

07/ questions

Hiring questions FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a financial controller.

Write the brief around the close first: what the controller will own, what they inherit, and what should be better in a year. Then choose permanent, interim, fractional or part-time, test candidates on a real month-end from your business, confirm the qualification with the awarding body, and take references yourself.

Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide puts a financial controller at £63,000 to £92,500, with a median of £76,750, and employer National Insurance adds 15% above £5,000 a year (HMRC, 2026/27). Accountancy Capital publishes £450–£650 a day for a fractional controller in London and the South East. On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist.

Four: write the brief around the close, choose the route, search and test candidates on your own month-end, then check the qualification, right to work and references before the offer. The brief decides whether the hire works, and it is the step most often rushed.

Permanent when the close needs an owner every month. Interim when the seat is empty, or a system change or audit needs a full-time controller for a fixed term. Fractional when you need senior controls work for agreed days a week; part-time when you want fixed days on your payroll.

The same way as anywhere else, with a larger market to narrow. Robert Half’s 2026 guide puts a London financial controller at £85,750 to £125,750, median £104,500. Agree office days in the brief and test candidates on your own numbers rather than their title.

Search the accountancy body’s own directory by name: the ICAEW, ACCA and AICPA & CIMA each publish one. Do not rely on the CV alone.

It can, if the controller 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