What to charge as a fractional executive
A fractional executive in the UK charges £600 to £1,500 a day, depending on the seat. A fractional CFO's band is £800 to £1,500. The floor under any rate is what your last employer spent on you, divided by the days you will actually sell, and the rest of this page works that out seat by seat.
From your last salary to a day rate
Start with what the seat cost an employer, not what arrived in your account. Take a full-time CFO on a base of £140,000, the mid-market figure the CFO salary page and the cost calculator both use. The employer also paid £20,250 in National Insurance at 15 per cent above the threshold, and £1,321 as the statutory minimum pension. That is £161,571 a year.
Spread across 46 billable weeks at five days, it is £702 a day. Spread across three days a week, which is what a full fractional practice usually sells, it is £1,171 a day. The published band for the seat is £800 to £1,500, so even its low end is above the five-day employment-equivalent rate. A rate under the three-day figure means selling a full practice for less than the job paid.
The same arithmetic for the four seats with a published salary page, before your own costs, bonus or equity:
| Seat | Full-time base band | Employer cost on the mid-market base | As a day rate, 5 days | As a day rate, 3 days | Published fractional band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFO | £110,000 to £180,000 | £161,571on £140,000 | £702 | £1,171 | £800 to £1,500 |
| CTO | £115,000 to £185,000 | £167,321on £145,000 | £727 | £1,212 | £800 to £1,400 |
| CMO | £100,000 to £165,000 | £150,071on £130,000 | £652 | £1,087 | £700 to £1,300 |
| COO | £100,000 to £170,000 | £150,071on £130,000 | £652 | £1,087 | £700 to £1,300 |
Employer cost is base, employer National Insurance and the statutory minimum pension, from the same figures the cost calculator uses. To run your own package, with bonus, pension and benefits, use the salary to day rate calculator.
Day rates for all eleven seats
The low and high end of each published band, the typical rate in the middle rounded to £50, and what the typical rate comes to across 46 weeks at two, three and four days a week.
| Seat | Low | Typical | High | 2 days a week | 3 days a week | 4 days a week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fractional CFO | £800 | £1,150 | £1,500 | £105,800a year | £158,700a year | £211,600a year |
| Fractional CMO | £700 | £1,000 | £1,300 | £92,000a year | £138,000a year | £184,000a year |
| Fractional CTO | £800 | £1,100 | £1,400 | £101,200a year | £151,800a year | £202,400a year |
| Fractional COO | £700 | £1,000 | £1,300 | £92,000a year | £138,000a year | £184,000a year |
| Fractional Sales Director | £700 | £1,000 | £1,300 | £92,000a year | £138,000a year | £184,000a year |
| Fractional Growth Lead | £600 | £850 | £1,100 | £78,200a year | £117,300a year | £156,400a year |
| Fractional Product Lead | £700 | £950 | £1,200 | £87,400a year | £131,100a year | £174,800a year |
| Fractional People Lead | £600 | £850 | £1,100 | £78,200a year | £117,300a year | £156,400a year |
| Fractional CISO | £900 | £1,200 | £1,500 | £110,400a year | £165,600a year | £220,800a year |
| Fractional Data Lead | £700 | £950 | £1,200 | £87,400a year | £131,100a year | £174,800a year |
| Fractional General Counsel | £800 | £1,100 | £1,400 | £101,200a year | £151,800a year | £202,400a year |
Before tax and before your own costs, and only once the days sell. Four days a week across several clients is the top of what most seats can carry; the seat pages say how many clients each one genuinely holds.
Day rate, retainer or hourly
Price in days. A day rate keeps the scope honest: when the work grows, the days grow with it, and the conversation is about days rather than about whether a call counted.
Invoice as a retainer when the client prefers it. A retainer is the day rate times the days, so a fractional CFO at £1,150 a day for two days a week is £8,817 a month across 46 weeks. Agree in writing how many days the retainer buys, and what happens when a month runs over.
Do not price by the hour. The bench rules put it in one line: “Rates are day rates or monthly retainers, never hourly.” Hourly pricing invites being managed as a contractor, and it turns every unplanned question into a negotiation rather than part of holding the seat.
What moves you up the band
- Fractional CFO: Higher end for fundraise or exit work, and for regulated sectors.
- Fractional CMO: Higher end for category creation, rebrands and full funnel rebuilds.
- Fractional CTO: Higher end for regulated sectors, AI systems and technical due diligence.
- Fractional COO: Higher end for turnarounds, scale-ups past 50 people and multi-site operations.
- Fractional Sales Director: Often part fixed fee, part performance-linked. Agree the structure in writing before starting.
- Fractional Growth Lead: Higher end for marketplaces, subscription products and anything with a complex funnel.
- Fractional Product Lead: Higher end for complex B2B products and platform or API work.
- Fractional People Lead: Higher end for scale-ups hiring at pace and for TUPE, restructures or redundancy work.
- Fractional CISO: Among the highest fractional rates, driven by certification work and regulated sectors.
- Fractional Data Lead: Higher end for machine learning and AI strategy work as well as pipeline building.
- Fractional General Counsel: Still materially below partner-level law firm rates for equivalent seniority.
When to raise it
Raising a rate on an existing client is much harder than setting it correctly at the start, so the cleanest moments are the ones where the engagement changes anyway: a new client, a renewal, or a change in scope such as a raise, an acquisition or a team doubling. Price each new client at where your track record now sits rather than where the first one started.
The other signal is the diary. When the days are full and new briefs are being turned down, the rate is below what the market will pay for you, and the next client is the place to correct it. The bands themselves are published on the 2026 day rates page, and where the rate data comes from explains how they are set.
Common questions
How much should a fractional CFO charge in the UK?
£800 to £1,500 a day is the published band, with a typical rate around £1,150. Higher end for fundraise or exit work, and for regulated sectors. Below about £1,171 a day, three days a week does not cover what an employer spends on a £140,000 CFO.
How much do fractional executives earn a year?
At the typical rate for each of the eleven seats, two days a week across 46 billable weeks is £78,200 to £110,400 a year. That is before tax and your own costs, and it assumes the days sell, which in the first year they often do not.
Should I charge a day rate or a monthly retainer?
Price in days and invoice in whichever the client prefers. A retainer is the day rate times the days, so £1,150 a day at two days a week is £8,817 a month across 46 weeks. Clients budget monthly; the day rate is what keeps the scope honest when the days start to creep.
Should a fractional executive charge by the hour?
No. The bench rules say it plainly: "Rates are day rates or monthly retainers, never hourly." Hourly pricing invites being managed as a contractor, and it makes every unplanned call a negotiation rather than part of holding the seat.
Do I set my own rate on getoperators?
Yes. The bench rules: "Your rate is your rate. You set it, you publish it, and you agree it with the company directly." There is no registration fee, and nothing is taken from the executive's rate. Every fee is paid by the hiring company, under its Terms of Business.
Publish the rate you settle on
No registration fee, and nothing is taken from your rate. What listing costs, here and elsewhere, or put yourself on the bench.