Hire an Interim Finance Director · Interim FD Jobs UK
Interim Finance Director Jobs · hire an interim FD
for the gap, or hire a finance director
Hire an interim Finance Director — full-time finance leadership on a fixed-term assignment — for vacancy cover, a year-end or audit, a sale or refinancing, or a finance function that needs rebuilding. Also an interim FD or interim head of finance. Or browse live interim Finance Director jobs below.
- £600–£1,000 a day (FD Capital)
- Full-time, fixed-term
- SME to PE-backed
- Shortlist of 3–5
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 Finance Director
Tell us the situation and the start date. We come back with interim Finance Director candidates, their day rates and availability.
- 0115 minutes, video or phone
- 02We scope the assignment and the start date
- 03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
- 04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs
Pick a day that suits · live availability
Interim Finance Director jobs · last 3 months
Live Interim Finance Director jobs
01/ definition
What is an interim Finance Director?
An interim Finance Director runs the finance function full-time for a fixed term: the numbers, the close, the team, the auditors and the bank. One level below an interim CFO, who owns capital, investors and strategy from the board.
01 · cadence
The Finance Director seat, five days a week.
An interim Finance Director takes the role in full — reporting, the monthly close, cash, the finance team and the auditors — rather than advising from outside it.
02/ scope
What an interim Finance Director owns
The interim carries finance accountability for the term; the team keeps the transactional work.
- Monthly close and management accounts
- Cash flow and forecasting
- Year-end and audit
- Bank and covenant reporting
- Budget and KPIs
- Controls and processes
- Finance team structure
- Handover to the permanent FD
- Bookkeeping
- Purchase and sales ledgers
- Payroll processing
- VAT returns
- Expense administration
- Credit control
03/ alternatives
Interim Finance Director vs CFO, fractional and permanent
If you asked “what’s the difference between an interim FD and a fractional CFO?”, it is the first two tabs.
→ In smaller companies the titles blur. Hire for the work: controls and reporting, or capital and investors.
04/ rates
Interim Finance Director day rates, UK 2026
Published figures only, each with its source.
- Interim FD, all mandates£400–£1,200Exec Capital
- Interim FD, standard£600–£1,000FD Capital
- Interim FD, PE / transaction£800–£1,300FD Capital
Full-time month at 21 working days: £12,600–£21,000 on FD Capital’s standard band — our arithmetic.
05/ calculator
What an interim Finance Director costs
Model a fixed-term interim Finance Director against a permanent Finance Director over the same period.
£800 a day is within the published Standard band (£600–£1,000, FD Capital).
Interim cost for the term
£104,000
130 working days · 5 d/wk · 6 mo · before tax
Interim costs more over 6 months£7,750
Book a 15-minute call →Our arithmetic, indicative. Permanent = a £110,000 base, the bottom of Exec Capital’s mid-market FD band pro rata for the same months, plus 15% employer NI, plus a 30% search fee on the annual base (UK retained search runs 25–35%, Headhunters.co.uk). Excludes pension, bonus and equity.
06/ tax
Is an interim Finance Director tax-deductible?
General position under UK rules, with the HMRC source for each point. Not tax advice — check your own case with your accountant.
01 · DEDUCTIBLE
The fees are a business expense
An interim Finance Director’s fees, like a salary, are deductible against profits when incurred wholly and exclusively for the trade (HMRC BIM37000). At the 25% main rate, each £1,000 of fees costs a profitable company £750 after relief.
02 · EMPLOYER NI
Employer NI follows IR35 status
A permanent Finance Director carries employer National Insurance at 15% (gov.uk). An interim engaged through their own company carries none when the engagement is outside IR35; inside IR35, the fee-payer deducts tax and NI and pays employer NI. Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice.
03 · WHO DECIDES
IR35 status, by company size
Medium and large clients determine the interim’s status themselves; for a small private-sector client, the interim’s own company decides (HMRC off-payroll guidance).
07/ decision
When to hire an interim Finance Director
Four situations where companies hire an interim Finance Director.
Which sounds like you?
A resignation or leave with a close to run and a bank to report to.
- → Monthly close
- → Bank reporting
- → Search
An audit that must not slip, or last year’s findings to clear.
- → Audit file
- → Controls
- → Sign-off
Vendor due diligence, a data room and completion accounts.
- → Data room
- → Forecasts
- → Completion
An ERP or finance system that must go live without breaking the close.
- → Design
- → Migration
- → Go-live
08/ guide
Hiring an interim Finance Director: what to get right
Pick the level. An interim Finance Director runs finance; an interim CFO owns capital, lenders and investors from the board. FD Capital prices an interim FD at £600–£1,000 a day for standard work and £800–£1,300 for PE-backed or transaction mandates.
Start with the outcome: a year-end signed, an audit cleared, a sale completed, a system live, a permanent FD in post. Put it and a date in the brief.
Budget from published figures. FD Capital puts six months full-time at the mid-range at £90,000–£110,000 all-in. A permanent FD is £60,000–£90,000 base at SME level and £110,000–£160,000 mid-market (Exec Capital), before on-costs and a retained search fee.
Choose between interim and fractional. If finance needs a full-time owner for a period, hire an interim FD. If it needs senior judgement a day or two a week, a fractional Finance Director or fractional CFO costs less.
If you are looking for interim Finance Director jobs rather than hiring, the live board below lists current roles; fractional FD jobs cover the part-time market.
08.1/ interim fd recruitment
Interim finance director recruitment: check the qualification, then the fit
Interim finance director recruitment should include a check that the qualification on the CV is current. The three main bodies publish free ways to verify it. ICAEW’s member directory confirms membership, the admission date and whether the member holds a practising certificate, and ICAEW’s disciplinary database is free to search. ACCA has a find an ACCA member search, and AICPA and CIMA publish directories for validating CIMA membership.
Then check the fit. An interim FD who has closed a year-end under audit pressure is a different hire from one who has built a finance function or run a sale process. Use structured interviews built around the situation in your brief, and take references from recent assignments rather than only past employers.
We send a shortlist of three to five interim Finance Directors, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out. If the job is capital, lenders and investors at board level, see hiring an interim CFO; for part-time cover, a fractional Finance Director.
09/ contract
Interim Finance Director jobs: how the assignment is contracted
Interim Finance Director jobs are usually contracted through the interim’s own limited company, on a fixed-term agreement that sets out the scope, the term, the day rate, the days a week and notice on each side. The scope is the outcome from the brief: the year-end, the audit, the system, the sale or the cover the assignment exists to deliver.
IR35 status turns on how the assignment runs in practice, not on what the contract calls it. HMRC looks at substitution, control and whether either side must offer or accept further work. Medium and large clients make the status determination; for a small private-sector client, the interim’s own company does (HMRC off-payroll guidance). See the IR35 guide.
TEST 1
Substitution
Whether the interim’s company could send a suitably qualified substitute, and whether that right is genuine in practice.
What HMRC looks atTEST 2
Control
Who decides how the work is done, as distinct from what the assignment must deliver.
What HMRC looks atTEST 3
Mutuality
Whether either side is obliged to offer or accept work beyond the agreed assignment.
What HMRC looks at10/ process
How to hire an interim Finance Director with us
What we undertake on every brief.
- 01
Brief
A 30-minute call on the assignment, the start date and what the interim Finance Director must have delivered by the end of the term.
DAY 0 - 02
Search
We search and screen against that brief: track record at your stage and in your situation, and references we take ourselves.
SCREENING - 03
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5 - 04
Start
You interview and choose. The interim you choose contracts with you.
YOU CHOOSE
11/ questions
Interim Finance Director FAQ
Hiring an interim Finance Director, or looking for interim Finance Director jobs.
Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5
Hiring an interim Finance Director? Start with the brief.
Book 15 minutes.
