Fractional CFO or a finance director?
The short answer: a fractional CFO brings the judgement for part of a week; a finance director brings something different that is often confused with it. Here is what each one actually owns, what they cost on the same basis, and when to pick the other one.
What a finance director actually is
A full-time finance director, employed, running the finance function five days a week and reporting to the chief executive.
What each one owns
| A fractional CFO | A finance director |
|---|---|
| The numbers a board acts on, and the story behind them | Everything above, plus the daily running of the function |
| Cash, runway and the forecast, reforecast against actuals | Managing a finance team day to day |
| Fundraise preparation, the model and surviving diligence | Being in the building for whatever comes up |
| The judgement calls: pricing, margin, when to stop spending | Continuity, which a part-time seat cannot fully provide |
What neither of them does
Neither does the bookkeeping. If the books are months behind, that is a bookkeeper or an outsourced accountant, and paying either of these to fix it is expensive.
How each one fails
The fractional CFO: Being asked to carry a full-time workload in two days, which ends with the work half done and everybody frustrated.
A finance director: Hiring five days of a senior person when the company genuinely needs two, which is a salary spent on availability rather than output.
What they cost, on the same basis
A fractional CFO charges £800 to £1,500 a day, and most engagements run one to three days a week. Salary plus employer National Insurance, pension and a recruitment fee, so meaningfully more than the salary alone in year one. The monthly and annual arithmetic for the fractional side, against a full-time equivalent, is on the cost page for this seat.
Pick a finance director when
- The finance function has people in it who need managing every day
- The work genuinely fills a week, every week, and has for months
- You need someone in the building continuously rather than on agreed days
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
A common shape is a fractional CFO above an existing financial controller: the controller runs the function, the CFO brings the judgement two days a week. That works well and costs far less than a director over a controller.
Common questions
Is a fractional CFO cheaper than a finance director?
On a like-for-like basis it usually is, because you buy the days you need rather than all of them. A fractional CFO runs £800 to £1,500 a day, most often one to three days a week. Salary plus employer National Insurance, pension and a recruitment fee, so meaningfully more than the salary alone in year one. But cheaper is the wrong question if the work genuinely needs the other one.
When should I pick a finance director instead?
The finance function has people in it who need managing every day The work genuinely fills a week, every week, and has for months You need someone in the building continuously rather than on agreed days
Can I have both?
A common shape is a fractional CFO above an existing financial controller: the controller runs the function, the CFO brings the judgement two days a week. That works well and costs far less than a director over a controller.