UK · Pricing guide · Fractional Finance Director
How Much Does a Fractional Finance Director Cost in the UK?
Short answer
A fractional Finance Director in the UK typically costs £1,500–£6,000 per month in 2026, billed as a fixed monthly retainer rather than by the day. The figure depends on scope: monthly accounts and reporting sit at the lower end, while forecasting, board packs and funding support sit at the top. BlackpeakCFO's fractional FD engagements start at £1,995/month, fixed and agreed in writing.
What it costs with BlackpeakCFO
| Engagement | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Fractional FD — Foundation | From £1,995/mo | Monthly management accounts, cash-flow visibility, KPI reporting and a monthly review call — the core finance-leadership layer. |
| Fractional FD — Core | £2,995–£4,500/mo | Everything in Foundation plus rolling forecasts, budget vs actual, board-pack preparation and ongoing strategic input. |
| Fractional FD — Intensive | £4,500–£6,000/mo | Everything in Core plus funding support, lender or investor reporting, scenario modelling and always-on availability. |
| Defined project | Fixed quote | 13-week cash model, budget rebuild, funding readiness or a financial-model build — scoped and priced as a one-off. |
All prices fixed and agreed in writing before any work starts. No hourly meter, no surprise invoices. Prices shown in GBP, current as of May 2026.
What drives the price
Scope of the role
Monthly accounts and a review call cost far less than rolling forecasts, board reporting and funding support. How far into strategic territory you need the FD to operate is the single biggest price driver.
Company size and complexity
A single-entity business with one bank account is quicker to run than a group with multiple companies, inventory and a payroll of forty. Complexity — not just turnover — sets the retained time.
Reporting cadence
A monthly cycle costs less than weekly contact with always-on availability during a funding round or a refinancing. More touchpoints means more retained hours, and the fee reflects that honestly.
State of your finance function
If your books are clean and your accounting stack is current, an FD adds value from week one. If the foundation needs rebuilding first, that is scoped separately as a one-off — never hidden inside the monthly retainer.
What you'd pay elsewhere
A full-time UK Finance Director costs £70,000–£120,000 in base salary, and the all-in cost with employer's National Insurance, pension, bonus and benefits typically runs £90,000–£160,000 a year. That is the right hire for a business with the scale and complexity to keep an FD genuinely busy five days a week — and a heavy fixed cost for one that does not. Day-rate interim FDs commonly charge £500–£900 a day, which is flexible but hard to budget and expensive if the need is ongoing. Recruitment fees on a permanent FD hire add a further 15–25% of first-year salary. The case for fractional is straightforward: you buy the senior judgement and the deliverables, not the full-time salary.
How we price it
BlackpeakCFO prices fractional FD work as one fixed monthly fee, scoped to your business and agreed in writing before anything starts — no day-rate meter, no surprise invoices. Every engagement is delivered personally by Stuart Wilson, ACMA CGMA: a CIMA Chartered Management Accountant with 24 years in finance and seven years (2017–2024) as Group Finance Director for a portfolio of small and mid-sized businesses in London. There are no junior associates and no offshore team — the person who builds your forecast is the person who answers your email. A quiet month does not move the fee; a heavy month does not move it either. That predictability is the point.
Common questions about how much does a fractional finance director cost in the uk?
Is a fractional FD cheaper than a full-time Finance Director?
Substantially. A full-time UK FD costs £90,000–£160,000 all-in per year once you add employer's National Insurance, pension, bonus and benefits. A fractional FD from £1,995/month costs roughly £24,000–£72,000 a year — because you are buying scoped senior time and defined deliverables, not a full salary package. For most businesses that cannot keep an FD genuinely busy five days a week, fractional is not a compromise; it is the correct structure.
What is the difference between a fractional FD and a fractional CFO?
In UK practice the titles overlap heavily — both describe senior finance leadership delivered part-time. "Finance Director" is the more common UK term and tends to emphasise running the finance function: management accounts, forecasting, controls and reporting. "CFO" tends to lean towards external-facing strategy and funding. BlackpeakCFO delivers both under one fixed monthly fee and will scope the engagement to what your business actually needs rather than the label.
Why is a fractional FD billed monthly instead of by the day?
Day rates make the bill impossible to forecast and quietly discourage you from picking up the phone. A fixed monthly retainer means finance leadership becomes a known line in your budget and you can ask a question without watching a meter. BlackpeakCFO agrees the monthly figure in writing before the engagement starts, and it does not move with the volume of a given month.
How many days a month does a fractional FD work?
It varies with scope, which is why BlackpeakCFO prices the outcome rather than the diary. A Foundation engagement typically covers the monthly accounts cycle, a review call and ongoing email access; an Intensive engagement during a funding round involves materially more contact. You are buying a defined set of deliverables and availability, not a fixed number of days on a timesheet.
Can I start small and scale the engagement up?
Yes — that is the normal path. Many businesses begin at the Foundation tier to get monthly accounts and reporting solid, then move up to Core or Intensive when they are raising finance, scaling or facing a decision that needs forecasting. Because every tier is fixed-price and scoped in writing, moving between them is a straightforward conversation rather than a renegotiation.
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