Where to hire a fractional executive, compared

Written by one of the platforms on the list, which is why nothing here is ranked. They are four different products sharing a word, and which one suits you depends on whether you want to browse, to be matched, to post a role, or to have somebody run the search.

the UKTwo things narrow the UK field. Off-payroll rules mean somebody has to make and document a status determination, and a platform that cannot tell you how it handles that is leaving the liability with you. And the UK market is small enough that the same few hundred senior operators appear on several platforms at once, so a large stated network size usually means overlap rather than reach.
the United StatesThe American field is the largest and the loosest. Fractional CFO is used here by outsourced accounting firms whose actual product is bookkeeping with a senior name attached, and by former public-company finance chiefs, at very different prices. The other thing to settle early is worker classification: the arrangement is normally a 1099, several states apply stricter tests than the federal one, and the liability for getting it wrong sits with the company rather than the platform.
the UAEThe Emirates has one question that does not arise in London or New York, and it should be asked before anything else: under what licence does the operator provide the service. Somebody working here generally needs their own company, a freelance permit, or a visa sponsored by somebody. A platform that cannot answer that for the people it is putting in front of you is handing you a risk rather than carrying it. Ask it of every name on this page, including ours.

The four kinds of thing

Browsable benches

You look through profiles yourself, see who is there, and approach the ones who fit. Fastest and cheapest when you already know what the seat needs. The sifting is your work.

Matched marketplaces

You describe the role and the platform comes back with a shortlist, usually inside a few days. You are buying their judgement about fit, and paying for it in the fee or the margin on the rate.

Job boards

You post the role and fractional executives apply. Cheap, sometimes free, and the volume is yours to handle. Good when the seat is easy to describe and you have time to read applications.

Fractional firms and practices

The firm supplies one of its own people, usually on a monthly retainer, with a bench behind them. You get continuity and somebody to hold accountable, at a premium over engaging an individual direct.

Search practices

Somebody runs the market against a written brief and presents a shortlist they can defend. Worth it when the seat is hard, the market is not obvious, or you do not have time to sift. Priced on the appointment.

What the rate actually is

Whichever route you take, the number underneath it is the same market. Day rates for all eleven seats are published openly, as pages and as data: the UK, the US and the UAE.

The bench

See the rate before you speak to anybody

Browse the bench, with every operator’s day rate on their own profile, checked by hand before it went up. Book direct, with nothing taken from what they charge.