Interim CFO · Interim chief financial officer · What one does, how long, what it costs
Interim CFO · what one does, how long, what it costs
An interim CFO is a chief financial officer who takes the finance seat full-time for a fixed term, to cover a departure, steady the cash, run a deal or rebuild the function, and then hands over. They run finance with full authority while they are there; they are not an adviser and not a part-time fractional CFO.
This page sets out what an interim CFO does, how long one stays and what one costs, from published sources. To hire an interim CFO, or to browse interim CFO jobs, go to our interim CFO hub. We recruit interim, fractional, part-time, temporary and permanent finance leaders, and send a shortlist of 3–5 on every brief.
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
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire an interim 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
Pick a day that suits · live availability
On the board · last 3 months
Interim CFO jobs on the board
No Interim CFO roles on the board in the last three months. Showing fractional CFO roles instead.
Current interim and fractional CFO roles
Fractional Quest is a fractional recruitment agency: send a CFO brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.
01/ the role
What is an interim CFO? The finance seat, full-time, for a fixed term
An interim CFO is the chief financial officer for a defined period: full-time, with the authority of the role, and with an end date agreed at the start. The Institute of Interim Management describes interim management as business solutions delivered by an independent, board or near-board level executive over a finite time span, and notes that interim managers usually trade through their own limited company. For a CFO that means owning cash, reporting, the lenders and the board relationship until the job is done or the permanent CFO arrives.
What one does, from first week to handover
The IIM’s guide sets out five stages to an assignment: entry, diagnosis, proposal, implementation and exit. For a CFO the diagnosis is usually cash first: a short-term cash forecast, the covenant position, what the bank and the auditors already know. The proposal is a plan the board can hold the interim to. Implementation is the bulk of the term, running the close, the forecast and whatever the assignment exists for. Exit is a handover: the model documented, the lender relationships passed on, often a hand in hiring the successor.
What one is not
An interim CFO is not a consultant who reports and leaves, and not an accountancy firm delivering a service. Nor is it the part-week arrangement of a fractional CFO. For the permanent role and what it covers day to day, see what a CFO does.
02/ scope
How to hire an interim CFO
Write down the outcome and a date: the refinancing signed, the sale completed, the audit cleared, the finance team closing the month on time. Then look for someone who has delivered that outcome before, and take references from the chairs and CEOs of their recent assignments.
Check the qualification with the body: ICAEW offers verification of membership to employment agencies and new employers, and the ACCA Qualification and CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification each combine exams with practical experience. The IIM’s guide adds a point boards often miss: an interim is there to qualify for a finite piece of work, so interview them on the situation, not as a candidate for a permanent job.
Our interim CFO hub covers the hiring process in full, with interim CFO jobs on its board. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.
03/ comparison
Interim CFO vs fractional CFO vs permanent
The same seat, filled three ways. Choose by how much of the week the work needs and whether it has an end date.
04/ timing
When to hire an interim CFO
Four situations that call for a full-time finance chief for a period, and what each one should leave behind.
Scenario 01
The seat is empty
Reporting still has to go out on time and the lenders still need a named finance lead. The interim holds the seat while the board runs a proper search, and leaves a function the permanent CFO can walk into.
Scenario 02
Cash is short
The Insolvency Service’s company health check names late payments to suppliers and arrears with HMRC as warning signs. If the company may be insolvent, directors’ duties shift towards creditors; the interim puts a cash forecast in front of the board and says plainly where it stands.
Scenario 03
A deal is coming
A transaction needs a CFO who has run one: the data room, the forecasts behind the equity story, the lenders’ questions. The interim stays until completion and hands over a clean set of numbers.
Scenario 04
Finance needs fixing
Before a permanent CFO can succeed, the close, the controls and the system have to work. The interim fixes them and writes the brief for the successor.
05/ vetting
How we vet interim 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
06/ interim cfo
Interim CFO: how long one stays, and what one costs
There is no published average for interim CFO assignments alone. Across every discipline, the IIM Interim Management Survey 2026 puts the average assignment at 10.0 months and the average interim day rate at £907, or £1,004 in the private sector. Those are all-discipline averages, not a CFO rate, and a CFO usually sits above them.
For the CFO seat itself, the published figures come from recruiters’ own guides. Exec Capital publishes an interim CFO band of £700–£2,000 a day. FD Capital publishes £1,000–£1,500 a day for full-time interim work at SME and mid-market businesses, and £1,500–£2,500 for listed, PE-backed, turnaround or crisis mandates. Leadership Services reports a median interim CFO day rate of £1,200 from a May 2026 survey of 200 senior finance professionals, with most SME and mid-market work at £1,000–£1,500. For a permanent CFO, Robert Half’s 2026 guide gives a median of £176,500.
The total is the day rate times the days worked, with no employment cost after the term. The IIM’s guide warns against setting an interim rate from the pro-rata salary of an employee, because the interim carries no holiday, pension or notice. For the fractional side of the market, see fractional CFO cost and fractional CFO salary.
07/ ir35
IR35 and the interim finance chief
Most interim CFOs work through their own company, so the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply. In most cases the client decides the status; for a small client outside the public sector, the interim’s own company decides. HMRC sets out the size tests in its guidance for clients. Status turns on how the assignment runs in practice, not on the contract’s label. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
08/ questions
Interim CFO FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in an interim CFO.
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.
