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Interim Finance Manager · hiring brief

Hire Interim Finance Manager

Hire Interim Finance Manager: name the close, reporting and control work the interim covers, the approvals they hold and the handover at the end.

Brief us on this role →How it works

Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 28 October 2026 · 4 sources linked below

  • 3–5on every shortlist
  • 5stages of vetting
  • IR35set out on every brief
Hire Interim Finance Manager: a finance leader reviewing a board pack with a finance manager (illustration)

In the press

The brief

Hire Interim Finance Manager: what must the role own?

Set the month-end and reporting deadlines.

  • 01CloseSet the month-end and reporting deadlines.
  • 02ControlsName the reconciliations and approvals they run.
  • 03ProjectSay if there is a systems or audit project.
  • 04HandoverAgree what the successor receives.

Role reference: ICAEW: finance career paths. ICAEW’s finance career paths describe the finance roles from manager to director, useful to set an interim finance manager’s level.

Interim finance

Interim finance manager or interim financial controller?

How to hire interim financial controllers follows the same steps, one level up.

A financial controller owns controls and statutory reporting; a finance manager runs the processes beneath. Hire to the level of the gap.

The working pattern

What changes when the Finance Manager is interim?

An interim finance manager keeps the finance engine running: month-end, reconciliations, reporting and controls, during a gap or a project.

The illustrative brief: a finance manager on leave before year-end. The finance manager is on leave for six months over the audit.

The appointment owns: The interim finance manager runs the close and the audit file.

Another owner retains: The finance director keeps sign-off; the team keeps transactions.

The case is illustrative; it does not describe a Fractional Quest placement.

From brief to start

How do you hire an interim finance manager, step by step?

The first three steps are ours; the last four are what has to be true before the first day. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date.

  1. Day 0
    01
    The 15-minute call
    What the Finance Manager must own, the working pattern, the start date and the budget.
    You and us
  2. Week 1
    02
    Scope agreed in writing
    The outcome the seat exists for, the days, and how the engagement will run for IR35.
    Us
  3. Weeks 1–3
    03
    Search, references, shortlist
    We approach people who aren’t looking, verify tenure, take references ourselves and return three to five.
    Us
  4. Week 4
    04
    Outcome
    Agree deadlines and end date.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Access
    Provide systems and prior files.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Approvals
    Set approval limits.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    Log
    Keep a close checklist for handover.
    You

Assessment

How should you assess Finance Manager candidates?

Put the same work and evidence in front of each candidate before comparing answers.

  1. Close
    Ask for a close they ran to deadline.
  2. Audit
    Ask how they prepared an audit file.
  3. Systems
    Check the accounting systems they know.
  4. Handover
    Ask what they left behind.

Acas recommends a consistent, fair selection process: choosing who to interview.

Vetting

What happens before anyone reaches your shortlist?

Five stages before a candidate reaches a shortlist of three to five.

  1. Pedigree screen
    Tenure
    We verify prior tenure in the seat, at the scale and stage you need. No consultant presenting as an executive.
  2. Mandate fit
    Fit
    Fit to your stage, sector and the problem the seat exists to solve, not a CV keyword.
  3. Reference deep-dive
    Verify
    We take references ourselves, from recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.
  4. Shortlist
    Shortlist
    Three to five candidates, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
  5. Kick-off
    Start
    Scope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.

The full process is on how we vet.

Questions

Hire Interim Finance Manager: questions, answered

A brief to hire an interim finance manager begins with close: Set the month-end and reporting deadlines. Then a stated working pattern and the evidence you will ask every candidate to show.

Read next

Related hiring and role pages

Sources

Where does every reference on this page come from?

  • icaew.com
  • HMRC
  • legislation.gov.uk
  1. 1
    ICAEW: finance career paths icaew.com
  2. 2
    Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRC
    Status depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
  3. 3
    Check employment status for tax (CEST) HMRC
    HMRC’s own status check for each engagement.
  4. 4
    Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.uk
    The law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.

For hiring managers

Bring the brief. We bring the shortlist.

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  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