Fractional CFO or a bookkeeper?
A bookkeeper keeps the ledger current: invoices, bills, reconciliations, often payroll. A fractional CFO decides what the numbers mean: cash, pricing, the raise, the board. They sit on the same ladder rather than being alternatives. The bookkeeper is a modest monthly fee; the fractional CFO costs £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week, and needs current books to be worth it.
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 | A bookkeeper | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the outcome | The forecast and the runway, built on the books | The ledger, current every week |
| Commitment | One to three days a week, flexing with the work, no end date assumed | A few hours a week or a month, scaled to transaction volume |
| How it is priced | £800 to £1,500 a day | An hourly or monthly fee scaled to the number of transactions, and a small fraction of any senior finance day rate. |
| 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 hired while the books are months behind, so the first weeks at a senior day rate go on reconciling bank statements rather than on any decision. | Being expected to say whether the company can afford a hire or a price cut, which is a judgement a bookkeeper is neither engaged nor paid to make. |
| Pick it when | The books are current and decisions are being made without them | The books are behind and nobody trusts the bank balance in the accounts |
The finance ladder, in the order companies climb it
Each rung assumes the one below it is working. Skipping one is the usual mistake: a fractional CFO hired above books nobody keeps, or a full-time CFO hired where two days a week would have done.
- Bookkeeper: records every transaction and keeps the ledger current
- Accountant: turns the ledger into statutory accounts and tax returns, and files them
- Financial controller: owns the accuracy of the monthly numbers and the controls around them, usually once there is a finance team
- Fractional CFO: owns what the numbers mean and what to do about them, one to three days a week
- Full-time CFO: the same seat every day, once the finance work and the team fill a week
What a bookkeeper actually is
The person who records every transaction: invoices, bills, bank reconciliations and often payroll, so the ledger stays current and everybody above can trust it.
What each one owns
| A fractional CFO | A bookkeeper |
|---|---|
| The forecast and the runway, built on the books | The ledger, current every week |
| Pricing, margin and where the money actually goes | Sales invoices out and supplier bills in |
| The board pack, and the questions that follow it | Bank reconciliations, so the cash figure is real |
| Deciding when the finance function needs its next hire | Often payroll and the VAT records |
What neither of them does
Neither signs off the statutory accounts or files the corporation tax return. That is the accountant's job, and it sits between the two on the ladder.
How each one fails
The fractional CFO: Being hired while the books are months behind, so the first weeks at a senior day rate go on reconciling bank statements rather than on any decision.
A bookkeeper: Being expected to say whether the company can afford a hire or a price cut, which is a judgement a bookkeeper is neither engaged nor paid to make.
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. An hourly or monthly fee scaled to the number of transactions, and a small fraction of any senior finance day rate. The monthly and annual arithmetic for the fractional side, against a full-time equivalent, is on the cost page for this seat.
Pick a bookkeeper when
- The books are behind and nobody trusts the bank balance in the accounts
- The company is small enough that recording transactions is the whole finance job
- Nobody is yet asking a question the ledger cannot answer by itself
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
Nearly always, once a fractional CFO is involved. The bookkeeper keeps the data current and the CFO uses it. A CFO without a bookkeeper either does data entry at a senior rate or forecasts from stale numbers, and both waste the engagement.
Common questions
Should I hire a fractional CFO or a bookkeeper?
A bookkeeper keeps the ledger current: invoices, bills, reconciliations, often payroll. A fractional CFO decides what the numbers mean: cash, pricing, the raise, the board. They sit on the same ladder rather than being alternatives. The bookkeeper is a modest monthly fee; the fractional CFO costs £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week, and needs current books to be worth it.
Is a fractional CFO cheaper than a bookkeeper?
No, and it is not meant to be. A bookkeeper is an hourly or monthly fee scaled to the transactions, a small fraction of a senior day rate. A fractional CFO costs £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week. They are not substitutes: the bookkeeper keeps the ledger current and the CFO decides what to do with it.
When is a bookkeeper the better choice than a fractional CFO?
The books are behind and nobody trusts the bank balance in the accounts. The company is small enough that recording transactions is the whole finance job. Nobody is yet asking a question the ledger cannot answer by itself.
Can I use a fractional CFO and a bookkeeper at the same time?
Nearly always, once a fractional CFO is involved. The bookkeeper keeps the data current and the CFO uses it. A CFO without a bookkeeper either does data entry at a senior rate or forecasts from stale numbers, and both waste the engagement.
Do I need a bookkeeper if I have a fractional CFO?
Yes, in almost every case. A fractional CFO works one to three days a week on decisions and needs current books to make them. Without a bookkeeper the CFO either keeps the ledger personally, which is senior time spent on data entry, or forecasts from numbers that are weeks out of date. Some outsourced finance packages include both, which is fine if the split is stated.
Can a fractional CFO do my bookkeeping?
They can, and it is the most expensive way to get it done. At £800 to £1,500 a day, an hour of a CFO on reconciliations costs many times an hour of a bookkeeper doing the same work. A good fractional CFO sets up the bookkeeping, chooses the software and supervises whoever does it, rather than doing it personally.
When should a company move from a bookkeeper to a fractional CFO?
When the questions change from what happened to what to do next. The usual signals are a raise on the horizon, a bank or investor asking for a forecast, cash that is tighter than the profit suggests, or prices being set by instinct. At that point keep the bookkeeper and add the CFO above them, with the accountant still filing the accounts.