Fractional FD or fractional CFO?
In UK SMEs a finance director and a CFO are the same seat under two names: FD is the older British title, CFO the newer one. A fractional FD is a fractional CFO: £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week. The real choice is fractional or a full-time FD.
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 finance director | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the outcome | The numbers a board acts on, and the story behind them | Everything a fractional CFO owns, plus the daily running of the function |
| Commitment | One to three days a week, flexing with the work, no end date assumed | Five days a week on the payroll, with notice periods on both sides |
| How it is priced | £800 to £1,500 a day | Salary plus employer National Insurance, pension and a recruitment fee, so meaningfully more than the salary alone in year one. |
| 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 asked to carry a full-time workload in two days, which ends with the work half done and everybody frustrated. | Hiring five days of a senior person when the company genuinely needs two, which is a salary spent on availability rather than output. |
| Pick it when | The finance work is two days wide and the function below it already runs | The finance function has people in it who need managing every day |
What an FD does and what a CFO does
Where a company does separate the two titles, usually a group with a finance team of its own, the split runs along this line. In a company small enough to be hiring fractionally, one person covers both columns, which is why the market prices them as one seat.
| Finance director scope | CFO scope |
|---|---|
| Statutory accounts and the year end | Strategy, and what the numbers say to do next |
| Controls, approvals and who may spend what | The raise: the model, the data room and the investors |
| Management accounts, monthly and on time | The board: the pack and the conversation after it |
| The bank relationship and the facilities | M&A, on either side of the table |
| The audit and the auditors | Pricing, margin and where capital goes |
Fractional FD day rate
A fractional FD is priced in the same band as a fractional CFO, because it is the same seat: £800 to £1,500 a day in the UK in 2026. At one day a week that is £3,067 to £5,750 a month, and at two days £6,133 to £11,500, on 46 billable weeks a year. The top of the band is for fundraise or exit work and regulated sectors, not for the CFO title.
Read next: What a fractional CFO costs, month by month.
What a finance director actually is
Used here in its full-time sense: a finance director employed five days a week, running the finance function and reporting to the chief executive. Part-time FD is the older name for the fractional seat itself.
What each one owns
| A fractional CFO | A finance director |
|---|---|
| The numbers a board acts on, and the story behind them | Everything a fractional CFO owns, 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, which is £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two 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
Should I hire a fractional CFO or a finance director?
In UK SMEs a finance director and a CFO are the same seat under two names: FD is the older British title, CFO the newer one. A fractional FD is a fractional CFO: £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week. The real choice is fractional or a full-time FD.
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 is a finance director the better choice than a fractional CFO?
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 use a fractional CFO and a finance director at the same time?
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.
Is a part-time FD the same as a fractional CFO?
Yes, in all but the paperwork. Part-time FD is the older British name for the seat, often held on the payroll for two or three days a week; fractional CFO is the newer name for the same seat held through the executive's own company. The work, the band and the people are largely the same, and the part-time CFO comparison sets out the employment difference.
What does a fractional FD cost per month?
£3,067 to £5,750 a month at one day a week and £6,133 to £11,500 at two, from a UK band of £800 to £1,500 a day. Most engagements start at a few days a month and settle at one or two days a week. There is no separate FD band, because the seat is the same.