Outsourced Finance director services · Virtual Finance Director

Outsourced Finance Director Services · Virtual Finance Director

Outsourced finance director services — also sold as virtual finance director — give you a finance director who is not on your payroll and may work largely off-site.

The finance director runs the finance function: reporting, controls, cash and the management accounts the leadership team runs the business on.

Ask what sits behind the label: a firm delivering a bundled service, or a named senior individual.

This page sets out the difference, what the service should cover, and how we shortlist named finance directors: 3–5, each with rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Submit a 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

£600–£1,000

Fractional day rate · FD Capital 2026

Days a week, ongoing

Commitment

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire an outsourced finance director

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Outsourced Finance Director Services 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 →

01/ the role

What outsourced finance director services cover

An outsourced finance director is bought as a service rather than hired as an employee.

In UK usage the label covers two different things: a provider that runs the function with a team and a named lead, or one senior finance director working remotely on a standing commitment, which is the fractional model under another name.

Whichever you buy, the scope is the seat’s: monthly management accounts and the board pack; budgeting, reforecasting and cash management; financial controls, audit and year-end; banking relationships and working capital; leading and developing the finance team.

The same seat is also bought as fractional finance director services, interim finance director services, part-time finance director services, outsourced finance director services, or permanent finance director search.

What the seat does day to day is set out in the finance director role explained; executives looking for this work can see current finance director roles.

02/ scope

What is in scope — and what is not

In scope

Monthly management accounts and the board pack; budgeting, reforecasting and cash management; financial controls, audit and year-end; banking relationships and working capital; leading and developing the finance team.

Not in scope

Transaction processing and payroll belong with the finance team or an outsourced bookkeeper.

Capital raising at scale is usually CFO work; the FD prepares the numbers it rests on.

Finance director or a neighbouring seat?

The finance director runs the function; the CFO adds capital strategy and investor work on top.

Smaller businesses usually want the FD shape and larger ones the CFO shape.

The scoping test: write down the three decisions you need the finance director to own in the next ninety days. If you cannot, you are not ready to brief.

03/ rates by stage

Finance director rates what the published benchmarks say

Every figure is the named source’s own published band. Fractional Quest publishes no fees: each candidate on a shortlist states their own rate. A fractional engagement is priced on the day rate times the days committed each week.

BenchmarkPublished figureSource

Fractional finance director day rate£600–£1,000FD Capital 2026

Permanent finance director salary (25th–75th percentile)£89,750–£138,000Robert Half 2026

04/ comparison

Four ways to buy a finance director fractional, interim, part-time or permanent

The same finance director seat can be filled four ways. The difference is commitment, contract and how long you need it.

FractionalInterimPart-timePermanent

CommitmentDays a week, ongoingFull-time, fixed termSet days each weekFull-time, open-ended

Usual contractContract for services, often via the executive’s companyDay-rate contract for the mandateOften pro-rata employment; sometimes a contractorEmployment contract

Clients at onceA small portfolioOneOneOne

Best whenYou need finance director judgement every week, not every dayYou need full-time cover or a change led nowYou want the same person on the same days for the long termThe seat is full-time work for years

ExitNotice period, or convert to permanentHand-over at the end of the mandateEmployment noticeResignation or redundancy

05/ timing

When fractional finance director services are the right call

Three situations where the fractional shape beats the alternatives.

Scenario 01

Before full-time

Finance director judgement, not finance director hours

You need someone to own monthly management accounts and the board pack and budgeting, reforecasting and cash management, but the work does not fill five days a week yet.

Scenario 02

Signals

The trigger has arrived

Management accounts arriving late or untrusted, an audit that keeps slipping, a bank asking for covenants to be reported, or a founder still signing off every payment.

Scenario 03

Alongside a team

Senior direction for a capable team

The team can deliver; it needs someone senior to set direction on financial controls, audit and year-end and hold the standard.

06/ vetting

How we vet the shortlist

Five stages: qualification, mandate fit, reference deep-dive, shortlist and analysis, kick-off.

01
Qualification screen
Verify Outsourced Finance Director Services 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

07/ firm or person

Outsourced finance director services a firm, or a named person?

A provider gives you continuity and a team behind the work; ask who the named lead is, how many days they personally give you, and who attends the board.

A named individual gives you one accountable senior person; ask how many other clients they hold and how urgent issues are handled between their days.

Either way, check standing before you sign: check a finance leader’s professional standing before you sign; see ICAEW’s directory of chartered accountants.

And whoever you appoint, the directors stay accountable: GOV.UK’s guidance on being a company director is explicit that responsibility is not outsourced with the work.

08/ before you sign

Before you buy fractional finance director services three checks

Standing.

Check professional standing and references before you sign: check a finance leader’s professional standing before you sign; see ICAEW’s directory of chartered accountants.

Status.

Agree how the engagement will run in practice, because that decides its IR35 status; HMRC’s guidance for clients sets out who makes the status determination.

Scope.

Write down what is out of scope.

Transaction processing and payroll belong with the finance team or an outsourced bookkeeper.

Capital raising at scale is usually CFO work; the FD prepares the numbers it rests on.

09/ questions

Outsourced Finance Director services FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in an outsourced finance director.

Usually the delivery model. An outsourced finance director service is often a provider running the function with a named lead; a fractional finance director is one senior individual holding the seat personally on a weekly commitment. Ask who does the work each week before comparing prices.

FD Capital 2026 publishes a UK fractional finance director day rate of £600–£1,000. The total depends on the days committed each week. Fractional Quest publishes no fees of its own; each candidate on our shortlist states their rate.

An interim finance director works full-time for a fixed term, usually to cover a gap or lead a change. A fractional finance director works a standing number of days each week, often for several clients, for as long as the business needs it.

Management accounts arriving late or untrusted, an audit that keeps slipping, a bank asking for covenants to be reported, or a founder still signing off every payment. Fractional is the right shape when the seat needs senior judgement every week but not every day.

It depends on how the engagement runs in practice — control, substitution and whether the finance director is part and parcel of your organisation. For medium and large private-sector clients, the client makes the status determination. Each candidate on our shortlist states their IR35 position.

You brief us on the scope, the days and the start date. We come back with a shortlist of 3–5 fractional finance directors, each with day rate or salary, availability and IR35 position set out, assessed through our five-stage vetting.

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