Fractional CFO or an accountant?
An accountant keeps the past correct: the accounts, the returns and the filings. A fractional CFO uses those numbers to decide what happens next: cash, pricing, the raise. Most growing companies need both. The accountant is a monthly compliance fee; the fractional CFO costs £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week, and needs the accountant's work to be current.
Below is what each one actually owns, what they cost on the same basis, how each one fails, and when to pick the other one.
| A fractional CFO | An accountant | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the outcome | Forward-looking decisions: what to do next and what it costs | The statutory accounts, the returns and the filings |
| Commitment | One to three days a week, flexing with the work, no end date assumed | A monthly fee for compliance work, usually renewed each year |
| How it is priced | £800 to £1,500 a day | A monthly fee, usually a fraction of a day rate, scoped to compliance work rather than decisions. |
| Typical monthly cost | £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week | No like-for-like monthly figure is published here; see how it is priced |
| How it fails | Being brought in while the books are behind. A CFO cannot forecast from records that are not current, and the first month becomes cleanup at a day rate. | Expecting a compliance provider to tell you the business is running out of money. That is not what they are engaged to do, and being annoyed about it afterwards is unfair. |
| Pick it when | Somebody has started asking what to do next, and nobody can answer | The books are behind, the VAT is late, or the bank has not been reconciled in months |
What an accountant actually is
An accountancy practice or outsourced finance provider, preparing the accounts, filing the returns and keeping the records straight.
What each one owns
| A fractional CFO | An accountant |
|---|---|
| Forward-looking decisions: what to do next and what it costs | The statutory accounts, the returns and the filings |
| The forecast, the runway and the scenarios behind them | Keeping the records correct and current |
| Sitting in the leadership meeting and owning a number | Tax compliance and the deadlines that carry penalties |
| Pricing, margin and where the money is actually going | Being right about the past, which is genuinely hard and essential |
What neither of them does
Neither one runs a finance team. If the company needs both the judgement and a function managed daily, that is a full-time hire.
How each one fails
The fractional CFO: Being brought in while the books are behind. A CFO cannot forecast from records that are not current, and the first month becomes cleanup at a day rate.
An accountant: Expecting a compliance provider to tell you the business is running out of money. That is not what they are engaged to do, and being annoyed about it afterwards is unfair.
What they cost, on the same basis
A fractional CFO charges £800 to £1,500 a day, which is £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week. A monthly fee, usually a fraction of a day rate, scoped to compliance work rather than decisions. The monthly and annual arithmetic for the fractional side, against a full-time equivalent, is on the cost page for this seat.
Pick an accountant when
- The books are behind, the VAT is late, or the bank has not been reconciled in months
- What you actually need is accounts filed correctly and on time
- Nobody is asking a forward-looking question yet
We would rather say that plainly than win an engagement that was the wrong shape. Nobody pays us to list on the bench, so there is nothing in it for us either way.
When you want both
Most companies at this size have both, and should. The accountant keeps the past correct; the fractional CFO uses it to decide the future. Bringing in the second before the first is doing its job wastes the money.
Fractional CFO vs bookkeeper
A bookkeeper sits below the accountant: the daily ledger, the bank reconciliations, the invoices out and the bills in. The accountant turns that into accounts and returns, and the CFO turns the accounts into decisions. If the bookkeeping is behind, it is the first thing to fix, and the cheapest.
Read next: Fractional CFO vs bookkeeper, in full.
Common questions
Should I hire a fractional CFO or an accountant?
An accountant keeps the past correct: the accounts, the returns and the filings. A fractional CFO uses those numbers to decide what happens next: cash, pricing, the raise. Most growing companies need both. The accountant is a monthly compliance fee; the fractional CFO costs £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week, and needs the accountant's work to be current.
Is a fractional CFO cheaper than an accountant?
No. An accountant's compliance fee is usually well below a month of senior days, and a fractional CFO costs £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week. They buy different things: the accountant keeps the records and filings right, the CFO uses them to decide. Most companies that add a CFO keep the accountant.
When is an accountant the better choice than a fractional CFO?
The books are behind, the VAT is late, or the bank has not been reconciled in months. What you actually need is accounts filed correctly and on time. Nobody is asking a forward-looking question yet.
Can I use a fractional CFO and an accountant at the same time?
Most companies at this size have both, and should. The accountant keeps the past correct; the fractional CFO uses it to decide the future. Bringing in the second before the first is doing its job wastes the money.
Should I hire a fractional CFO or just a traditional accountant?
Start with the accountant if the books are behind or nobody is yet asking a forward-looking question, because a CFO cannot forecast from records that are not current. Add a fractional CFO once decisions about cash, pricing or a raise start costing more than the day rate, which is usually when the accountant's answers stop telling you what to do next. Most companies end up with both.
Is outsourced accounting the same as a fractional CFO?
No. Outsourced accounting is production: bookkeeping, the month-end close, VAT, payroll and the statutory accounts, done by a firm for a monthly fee. A fractional CFO is judgement: one senior person who owns the forecast, the board pack and the decisions. Some outsourced packages include a CFO tier, and the test is how many days of a former CFO it actually buys.