Part-time day rates · 2026
Part-time executive day rates for a CFO
Every band on this page is a published UK figure with its source named, and every conversion is our arithmetic, shown so you can check it.
Set a seat, a day rate and the days a week in the calculator to see the monthly and annual cost against a full-time salary.
When you are ready to hire, a 15-minute call gets you a shortlist of three to five with each candidate’s rate set out.
- Published UK bands only
- Source named on every band
- Conversions labelled as ours
- Nine executive seats
How a brief runswhat we undertake
- 01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
- 02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
- 03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
- 04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
- 05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief
Shortlist3–5
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to scope the role
Tell us the situation, the days and the start date. We come back with part-time executive candidates, their day rates and availability.
- 0115 minutes, video or phone
- 02We scope the days and the pattern
- 03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
- 04Fractional, interim, part-time and permanent briefs
Pick a day that suits · live availability
On the board · last 3 months
Part-time executive roles on the board
No Part-time executive roles on the board right now.
We only show real vacancies from the last three months, read from the Fractional Quest pipeline — we never pad the board. New roles appear here as the pipeline finds them.
Looking? Build your repo once on Fractional Quest and every role on the board is read against it.
Sign up now →01/ definition
How a part-time day rate is built
A day rate is the price of one day of a senior leader’s time.
For a part-time executive engaged through their own company, it has to cover what an employer would otherwise provide — holiday, pension, the days between engagements — so it always looks high next to a salary divided by working days.
These five factors move it.
ROLE
The seat sets the band
Finance, technology, operations and the chief executive role each have their own published band. A financial controller and a CFO sit in very different places.
The seat sets the band. Finance, technology, operations and the chief executive role each have their own published band. A financial controller and a CFO sit in very different places.
Scope moves it within the band. A leader who owns funding, a board and a team of ten sits higher than one running a monthly close. The more the seat decides, the higher the rate.
Fewer days can mean a higher rate. One day a week carries the same preparation and context-switching as three. Some executives charge more per day for a lighter pattern; FD Capital’s finance director band, for example, is quoted at one to two days a week.
Day rate or pro rata salary. An employed part-time executive is paid a pro rata salary plus statutory benefits. A day-rate executive covers their own holiday, pension and gaps. Compare the two on the same basis.
Sector, location and situation. A regulated sector, a London base or a live funding round tends to push a rate up. A steady business with a strong team underneath can sit lower.
02/ scope
What a rate should buy
Agree what is included before you agree the number.
A clear remit protects both sides from a rate that quietly stops covering the work.
- The agreed days, on the agreed pattern
- Preparation and follow-up for those days
- Ownership of the function’s results
- Board or leadership-team reporting
- Line management of the team during the engagement
- A named deputy routine for days off
- Extra days outside the pattern (agreed and billed separately)
- Specialist work by outside advisers
- Expenses and travel, unless agreed as included
- Projects beyond the written remit
03/ which model
Which model are you pricing?
Rates differ by model.
A part-time executive usually works for one employer on set days; a fractional CFO or other fractional leader spreads similar days across several clients; an interim works close to full-time on a fixed term.
Set the days and term to see which band applies.
The model that fits · executive
Part-time
A fixed slice of the week on a set pattern — the same days each week, often on a part-time contract or a day-rate arrangement.
Part-time day-rate bands →Our framing, not a measured rule: the lines between the four models blur, and many briefs could run two ways.
04/ alternatives
A day rate against a salary
The two numbers measure different things.
Compare them on the same basis or the comparison misleads.
→ Day rate for independence; pro rata salary for integration. Neither is cheaper until you compare total cost.
05/ rates
Part-time executive day rates by seat
Published UK part-time and fractional day-rate bands for nine executive seats, each with its source named, against a full-time salary converted to a day (salary ÷ 220 days, our arithmetic).
Type your own rate to see where it sits.
- Part-time / fractional CFO£700–£1,400FD Capital 2026
- Part-time / fractional Finance Director£600–£1,000FD Capital 2026
- Part-time / fractional Financial Controller£400–£650Accountancy Capital 2026
- Part-time / fractional CTO£1,000–£1,600Leadership Services 2026
- Part-time / fractional CMO£750–£1,400Connectd 2026
- Part-time / fractional COO£800–£1,400Connectd 2026
- Part-time / fractional CIO£800–£2,000Exec Capital 2026
- Part-time / fractional CEO£800–£1,500FD Capital 2026
- Part-time / fractional CISO£1,200–£2,000Optima Europe
Bands are the sources’ own published figures. Full-time comparators are published salaries divided by 220 working days — our arithmetic, not a market day rate.
06/ calculator
What a part-time executive costs a year
Model a part-time executive at the days you need against a permanent executive.
The slider runs across the published band for a part-time CFO: £700–£1,400 a day (FD Capital 2026).
Cost over 12 months
£109,200
104 working days · 2 d/wk · 12 mo · before tax
Fractional costs less over 12 months£146,725
Part-time CFO, 12 months£109,200
Part-time CFO, a month at 2 d/wk£9,093
Permanent CFO, same period£255,925
Part-time CFO, 12 months$144,679
Part-time CFO, a month at 2 d/wk$12,047
Permanent CFO, same period$339,075
Converted from £ at $1.3249 per £1 (Bank of England spot rate), 2 Oct 2026. A conversion, not a US market rate. Source ↗
Part-time CFO, 12 months€128,266
Part-time CFO, a month at 2 d/wk€10,681
Permanent CFO, same period€300,610
Converted from £ at €1.1746 per £1 (Bank of England spot rate), 2 Oct 2026. A conversion, not a EU market rate. Source ↗
Our arithmetic, indicative. Permanent = the £176,500 Robert Half 2026 median salary pro rata for the same months, plus 15% employer NI, plus a 30% search fee on the annual base (UK retained search runs 25–35%, Headhunters.co.uk). Excludes pension, bonus and equity.
At 4.7 days a week a permanent hire costs less.
Our arithmetic. Permanent a month = the salary ÷ 12 plus 15% employer NI, plus the 30% search fee spread over 12 months — the calculator’s inputs. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for each step.
07/ over two years
Part-time, interim or permanent over 24 months
The same seat three ways, at the days a week and day rate set in the calculator. Each crossover is computed, not typed.
- The part-time CFO at 2 days a week never passes permanent inside 24 months.
- Interim passes permanent at month 8.
Our arithmetic, cumulative. Permanent = the salary’s 30% search fee in month 0, then salary ÷ 12 plus 15% employer NI each month. Interim = the midpoint of the published interim band (£1,100 a day, FD Capital 2026) × 5 days × 4.33 weeks. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for each month.
Illustration only: one way a part-time CFO’s week can divide at 2 days a week for you. Each block is half a day.
08/ decision
When to look again at the rate
A rate agreed once is not fixed for ever.
These are the moments to revisit it, from either side of the table.
Which sounds like you?
The role started as reporting and cash, and now includes a fundraise and a team of six. The rate set for the first remit no longer fits the second.
- → New direct reports
- → A transaction or raise added
- → Board attendance increased
Two days have become three, or the pattern has dropped to one. Agree whether the day rate holds, or whether a lighter pattern carries a higher rate.
- → Regular extra days
- → Pattern cut back
- → Urgent calls on off-days
A day-rate executive is moving onto the payroll, or the reverse. Convert on the same basis so neither side loses out in the switch.
- → IR35 determination revisited
- → Benefits now wanted
- → Executive forming a company
An annual review keeps the rate honest. Check it against the latest published band for the seat rather than last year’s number.
- → Twelve months since the last review
- → New published bands
- → Scope settled
09/ tax and IR35
How a part-time executive is engaged
General position under UK rules, with the HMRC source for each point. Not tax advice — check your own case with your accountant.
01 · DEDUCTIBLE
Fees are a business expense
Fees, like a salary, are deductible against profits when incurred wholly and exclusively for the trade (HMRC BIM37000), with corporation tax at the 25% main rate.
02 · WHO DECIDES
Status turns on how the work runs
Medium and large clients make the off-payroll status determination themselves; for a small private-sector client, the executive’s own company does (HMRC off-payroll guidance).
03 · WHAT HMRC LOOKS AT
Substitution, control, mutuality
Whether a substitute could genuinely be sent, who decides how the work is done, and whether either side must offer or accept further work. HMRC’s CEST tool walks through the same questions.
04 · ON THE PAYROLL
A part-time employee is an employee
Hired on a part-time contract, the executive has the same rights as a comparable full-time worker, pro rata (gov.uk part-time worker rights), and you pay employer NI on their salary.
10/ guide
Part-time day rates by seat: what the sources say
Every band below is a published figure with the source named; we have not adjusted any of them.
Most UK sources publish fractional bands rather than bands labelled “part-time”, because day-rate pricing is the same for a leader on two days with one employer as for one on two days with several.
We show those bands here and say so.
Finance: FD Capital 2026 puts a fractional CFO at £700–£1,400 a day and a fractional finance director at £600–£1,000 a day at one to two days a week.
Accountancy Capital 2026 puts a fractional financial controller at £400–£650 a day, from regional to London and South East.
If finance is your seat, see our part-time CFO hub and the parent site’s guide to how to hire a part-time CFO.
Technology: Leadership Services 2026 puts a fractional CTO at £1,000–£1,600 a day; Exec Capital 2026 puts a fractional CIO at £800–£2,000; Optima Europe puts a fractional CISO at £1,200–£2,000.
Our part-time CTO hub covers the technology seat in more depth.
Marketing and operations: Connectd 2026 puts a fractional CMO at £750–£1,400 a day and a fractional COO at £800–£1,400.
The chief executive seat: FD Capital 2026 puts a part-time CEO at £800–£1,500 a day.
See our part-time CMO and part-time COO hubs for those seats.
To turn a day rate into a monthly cost, multiply by the days a week and by 4.33, the average number of weeks in a month (52 ÷ 12).
Our arithmetic: a CFO at £700 a day on two days a week costs about £6,062 a month; at £1,400 a day, about £12,124.
Over a year of 220 working days, a two-day pattern is 88 days — £61,600 to £123,200 at the FD Capital band.
When you are ready to hire, our parent company is a fractional recruitment agency that searches for part-time, fractional, interim and permanent executives.
Seekers can find current part-time CFO jobs and part-time financial controller jobs on the parent site, and every seat on our part-time jobs board.
10.1/ cfo rates and salary
Part-time CFO rates and salary: comparing the two
Part-time CFO rates and a part-time CFO salary answer the same question in two currencies.
The day rate is what a self-employed CFO charges per day through their own company.
The salary is what an employer pays a part-time CFO on the payroll, pro rata to the days worked, with benefits on top.
Start from the full-time salary.
Robert Half’s 2026 guide puts a UK CFO at £132,500–£220,500 (25th to 75th percentile), with a median of £176,500.
Pro rata, our arithmetic: on two days a week (two-fifths), that is £53,000–£88,200; on three days (three-fifths), £79,500–£132,300.
The employer then adds employer NI and pension contributions, and the employee is entitled to statutory holiday pro rata — GOV.UK’s guidance gives 5.6 weeks a year, so 11.2 days for someone on two days a week (holiday entitlement).
Now the day rate.
At FD Capital’s 2026 fractional CFO band of £700–£1,400, a two-day pattern over a 220-day working year is £61,600–£123,200 (our arithmetic).
That is higher than the pro rata salary range because the self-employed CFO funds their own holiday, pension and gaps between clients, and the client pays no employer NI where the engagement is outside IR35.
Status depends on how the work runs; a medium or large client makes that determination (HMRC off-payroll guidance).
Which is cheaper?
Neither, by default.
Compare total cost: pro rata salary plus employer NI, pension and any hiring cost, against the day rate × days.
The calculator above runs that comparison on published figures for your pattern.
Part-time employees have equal treatment rights
An employed part-time CFO must not be treated less favourably than a comparable full-time employee on pay rates, pension, holiday and training because they work part-time (GOV.UK: part-time worker rights).
10.2/ conversion
Day rate to salary, and back again
Two conversions cover almost every question, and both are our arithmetic, not a published figure.
Day rate to monthly cost: day rate × days a week × 4.33.
Salary to day rate: annual salary ÷ 220.
Why 220?
A year has 260 weekdays (52 × 5).
Take away the statutory minimum of 28 days’ leave for a five-day worker, which can include bank holidays (GOV.UK), and 232 remain; we round down to 220 to allow for other non-working days.
It is a convention for comparison, not a rule.
Worked both ways, our arithmetic: Robert Half’s 2026 CFO median salary of £176,500 ÷ 220 is about £802 a day.
Going the other way, a £700 day rate × 220 is £154,000 a year full-time equivalent.
Remember that the day-rate figure has to fund holiday, pension and gaps, so a day rate that converts to a higher annual figure than a salary is not necessarily dearer to the business.
A quick check for seekers
If a role advertises a pro rata salary, divide it by the days a week and multiply by five to see the full-time salary it implies.
If it advertises a day rate, multiply by 220 for the full-time equivalent.
Compare both with the published band for your seat.
11/ process
How we run the search
What we undertake on every brief, run by Fractional Quest, our parent company.
- 01
Brief
A scoping call on the role, the days a week, the start date and what the part-time executive must have delivered.
DAY 0 - 02
Search
We search and screen against that brief: track record at your stage, in your situation, and references we take ourselves.
SCREENING - 03
Shortlist
Three to five candidates, each with day rate or salary, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5 - 04
Start
You interview and choose. The executive you choose contracts with you.
YOU CHOOSE
12/ the family
Rates and hiring across Fractional Quest
Part-Time Quest is part of Fractional Quest.
For seat-by-seat hiring, fractional rates and live roles, the parent site covers it.
Fractional, interim, part-time and permanent executive search in one firm.
Leaders shared across several companies, and how they price their days.
13/ questions
Questions, answered
For hiring managers, and for executives looking for the role.
Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5
Start with the brief.
Fifteen minutes to scope the seat, the days and the start date.