The executive search fee on a £150,000 CFO, worked through
A retained search for a £150,000 chief financial officer costs £37,500 to £49,500 at the UK market band of 25 to 33 per cent, charged on base, plus VAT. With employer National Insurance and the statutory pension, year one of the hire comes to £210,571 to £222,571 before any bonus or equity.
Year one, line by line
| Line | At 25% | At 33% |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | £150,000 | £150,000 |
| Employer National Insurance | £21,750 | £21,750 |
| Pension, statutory minimum | £1,321 | £1,321 |
| Search fee | £37,500 | £49,500 |
| Year-one total | £210,571 | £222,571 |
| Each third of the fee | £12,500 | £16,500 |
| VAT on the fee, at 20% | £7,500 | £9,900 |
VAT sits outside the total because a VAT-registered company recovers it, but it is cash out of the account until the return is filed. The thirds are the usual billing: one on engagement, one on the shortlist, one when the offer is accepted.
When a bonus joins the basis
The same percentage charged on a larger basis is a larger fee, and the basis is the clause most often skimmed. A first CFO's bonus runs 20 to 40 per cent of base in 2026, so a contract that counts the target bonus as first-year earnings moves the fee like this.
| Charged on | Basis | Fee at 25% | Fee at 33% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary only | £150,000 | £37,500 | £49,500 |
| Base plus a 20 per cent target bonus | £180,000 | £45,000 | £59,400 |
| Base plus a 40 per cent target bonus | £210,000 | £52,500 | £69,300 |
Agree the basis in writing before the search starts. A target bonus counted in the basis is a fee paid on money the CFO may never receive.
The same money, spent fractionally
At the middle of the published UK fractional CFO band, £1,150 a day, the search fee alone buys 33 to 43 days of a fractional CFO, before a pound of salary. Two days a week at that rate is £8,817 a month, so the fee is about 4 to 6 months of a two-day engagement.
That is not an argument against the search. A company that needs a CFO five days a week should run one, and a fractional CFO is a different hire rather than a cheaper version of the same one. It is the comparison worth making before the first third is invoiced. How to hire a CFO, fractional or full time sets out which one the seat needs.
What this calculation assumes
- Employer National Insurance at 15% on earnings above £5,000.
- The statutory auto-enrolment minimum of 3% on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270. Many companies pay more for an executive, by choice.
- The UK retained band of 25 to 33 per cent of first-year earnings, charged on base unless the bonus rows above say otherwise.
- A £150,000 base, inside the 2026 CFO band of £110,000 to £180,000 for companies of twenty to two hundred people.
- No assessment, advertising or travel expenses, which some firms add on top. Ask for them to be capped or included.
Other salaries are on what executive search costs, the full CFO package is on the CFO salary page, and the cost calculator runs fractional against full-time at any day rate.
Permanent, or the part-time version first
Retained search runs a full-time CFO appointment end to end, with the fee agreed in writing before it starts. CFO executive search sets out how that search runs, and the fractional CFO page covers the two-day version.