Fractional CFO or a financial controller?
A financial controller makes the numbers right: the ledger, the month end, the controls. A fractional CFO decides what the numbers mean and what to do about them. The controller is a full-time salary below the CFO band; the fractional CFO costs £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week. Past a few million in revenue, most companies have both.
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 financial controller | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the outcome | What the numbers mean and what to do about them | That the numbers are right, on time, every month |
| Commitment | One to three days a week, flexing with the work, no end date assumed | Full-time and permanent, on the payroll |
| How it is priced | £800 to £1,500 a day | A full-time salary, lower than a finance director but with the same employer costs and recruitment fee attached. |
| 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 close the month in two days a week, which turns a decision seat into an admin seat and wastes what you are paying for. | Expecting a controller to answer the board's questions about strategy. Accuracy and judgement are different jobs, and most controllers would tell you so themselves. |
| Pick it when | The numbers are right and nobody is using them to decide anything | The numbers themselves are unreliable and somebody has to own that daily |
What a financial controller actually is
A full-time hire who owns the accuracy of the numbers: the ledger, the month end, the reporting pack and the controls around them.
What each one owns
| A fractional CFO | A financial controller |
|---|---|
| What the numbers mean and what to do about them | That the numbers are right, on time, every month |
| Cash, runway, and the decisions that change either | The ledger, reconciliations and the audit file |
| The board pack, and the conversation that follows it | Controls, approvals and who is allowed to spend what |
| Fundraise readiness and surviving financial diligence | Managing the bookkeeping and the finance team day to day |
What neither of them does
Neither is a bookkeeper. If the books are behind, hiring either of these to catch them up is the most expensive way to do data entry that exists.
How each one fails
The fractional CFO: Being asked to close the month in two days a week, which turns a decision seat into an admin seat and wastes what you are paying for.
A financial controller: Expecting a controller to answer the board's questions about strategy. Accuracy and judgement are different jobs, and most controllers would tell you so themselves.
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 full-time salary, lower than a finance director but with the same employer costs and recruitment fee attached. The monthly and annual arithmetic for the fractional side, against a full-time equivalent, is on the cost page for this seat.
Pick a financial controller when
- The numbers themselves are unreliable and somebody has to own that daily
- There is a finance team that needs managing every day of the week
- You are audited and the audit file needs continuous ownership
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
The common shape once a company is past a few million in revenue. A controller owns the accuracy, a fractional CFO owns the meaning, and neither is doing the other's job badly.
Common questions
Should I hire a fractional CFO or a financial controller?
A financial controller makes the numbers right: the ledger, the month end, the controls. A fractional CFO decides what the numbers mean and what to do about them. The controller is a full-time salary below the CFO band; the fractional CFO costs £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week. Past a few million in revenue, most companies have both.
Is a fractional CFO cheaper than a financial controller?
Not necessarily. A full-time controller is a salary below the CFO band plus employer costs, and a fractional CFO costs £6,133 to £11,500 a month at two days a week, so the monthly totals can land close together. They are not substitutes: the controller makes the numbers right and the CFO decides what they mean.
When is a financial controller the better choice than a fractional CFO?
The numbers themselves are unreliable and somebody has to own that daily. There is a finance team that needs managing every day of the week. You are audited and the audit file needs continuous ownership.
Can I use a fractional CFO and a financial controller at the same time?
The common shape once a company is past a few million in revenue. A controller owns the accuracy, a fractional CFO owns the meaning, and neither is doing the other's job badly.
Do I need a fractional CFO or a financial controller?
A controller first if the numbers themselves are unreliable, late or unaudited, because a CFO cannot make decisions from figures nobody trusts. A fractional CFO first if the numbers are right and nobody is using them: no forecast, no runway view, no board pack worth reading. Once both problems exist, the usual answer is a full-time controller with a fractional CFO above them.
Can I hire a fractional financial controller?
Yes. Plenty of controllers work part-time or on contract, usually for the month-end close, the audit or a systems change. They price below the fractional CFO band of £800 to £1,500 a day, because the seat is accuracy rather than judgement. No separate band is published here, so compare quotes on days a month rather than on the title.