Fractional CFO Job Description: UK Template, Duties & KPIs

A good Fractional CFO job description does two jobs at once. It tells a candidate exactly what the business needs, and it tells the business exactly what it is entitled to expect. Get it vague and you will hire a reporting accountant and wonder why nothing strategic happens. Get it right and both sides know what success looks like from week one.

This guide sets out the duties, skills, deliverables and KPIs that belong in a UK fractional CFO brief, with a template you can adapt for your own business or use to sense-check a role you are being offered.

Part of our CFO careers series

This article supports our main guide: Fractional CFO Jobs and Portfolio CFO Jobs in the UK: The Complete Career Guide.

For Candidates and Clients Alike

If you are applying for Fractional CFO jobs, read this as a checklist of what you should be able to evidence. If you are hiring, read it as a template. Either way, the clearer the brief, the better the outcome.

Purpose of the role

The opening paragraph of any strong brief explains why the role exists, not what the person will do. For example: to provide senior financial leadership on a part-time basis, giving the board clarity on cash, margin and funding, and preparing the business for its next stage of growth or for sale.

If you cannot write that sentence, you are not ready to hire. Businesses that appoint a fractional CFO without a clear purpose tend to fill the days with reporting and then conclude that fractional does not work.

Core duties and responsibilities

Cash and working capital

Own a rolling thirteen-week cash flow forecast and report against it.
Manage working capital: debtor days, creditor terms, stock and contract billing cycles.
Monitor covenant compliance and maintain the lender relationship.
Provide early warning of any funding requirement well before it becomes urgent.

Profitability and commercial insight

Analyse gross margin by product, service line, customer, contract or channel.
Identify and quantify loss-making activity and recommend action.
Support pricing strategy and contract negotiation with modelled evidence.
Build and maintain a driver-based financial model the board can interrogate.

Reporting and governance

Produce a monthly board pack with commentary and clear recommendations.
Define and report the KPIs that genuinely drive the business.
Ensure statutory, tax and regulatory obligations are met on time.
Strengthen internal controls and reduce single points of failure.

Funding, growth and exit

Develop the funding strategy across equity, debt and asset-based options.
Prepare the business, the model and the data room for investment or sale.
Lead or support diligence processes and negotiations.
Advise on acquisitions, integration and post-deal reporting.

Team and systems

Lead, coach and quality-control the existing finance team.
Recommend and implement improvements to systems and data quality.
Build documented processes so the function does not depend on individuals.

What Should Not Be In The Brief

Bookkeeping, payroll processing, credit control administration, company secretarial duties and IT support. Including them guarantees the strategic work gets squeezed out — and you will be paying CFO rates for administration.

Skills and experience to specify

A credible brief distinguishes between essential and desirable. These are the items that genuinely belong in the essential column for most UK fractional roles.

A UK recognised accountancy qualification — ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent.
Demonstrable finance director or CFO level experience owning the whole financial picture.
Strong commercial modelling ability, built from a blank sheet rather than a template.
Practical cash forecasting and working capital experience in a business of comparable scale.
The ability to communicate financial reality clearly to non-financial founders.
Experience relevant to the specific situation — fundraising, exit preparation, turnaround or rapid scaling.

Desirable items typically include sector experience, transaction track record, experience of the client’s accounting systems, and prior fractional or portfolio experience. For more on how to evidence these, see our guide to the Fractional CFO CV and LinkedIn profile.

Deliverables and KPIs

This is the section most job descriptions omit, and it is the one that makes the engagement work. Specify what will exist that does not exist today.

A rolling thirteen-week cash forecast, updated weekly, accurate within an agreed tolerance.
A monthly board pack delivered by an agreed working day after month end.
A gross margin analysis by the dimensions that matter to this business.
A three-year driver-based model, refreshed quarterly.
An agreed KPI dashboard with owners and targets.
A documented month-end process and close timetable.
Where relevant: an investor-ready data room and information memorandum support.

Make It Measurable

Replace “improve financial reporting” with “board pack delivered by working day eight, with cash forecast variance under five per cent”. Measurable deliverables protect the candidate as much as the client.

Time commitment, reporting line and terms

State the number of days per month or week, whether they are fixed or flexible, which meetings attendance is required at, and the expected split between on-site and remote. Confirm who the role reports to — almost always the founder, chief executive or board — and who reports to the role.

Be explicit about the commercial basis: day rate, monthly retainer or project fee, what happens when the included days are exceeded, notice period on both sides, and how fees are reviewed. Confirm the intended employment status, because a fractional CFO engaged through their own company will need clarity on off-payroll working rules before starting.

A short Fractional CFO job description template

Role: Fractional CFO. Commitment: two days per month, one on site. Reports to: the board. Purpose: to give the board clarity on cash, margin and funding, and to prepare the business for a trade sale within twenty-four months.

Key deliverables: rolling thirteen-week cash forecast; monthly board pack by working day eight; gross margin analysis by contract; three-year model; exit readiness plan and data room. Essential: ACA, ACCA or CIMA; FD or CFO experience in a business of five to thirty million turnover; prior trade sale experience; strong modelling. Terms: monthly retainer, three months’ notice either side, annual fee review, engaged via own limited company.

Adapt the purpose and deliverables and you have a brief that will attract genuine CFO-level candidates rather than a queue of general accountants. If you would like help finding the right person, we hire Fractional CFOs and Portfolio CFOs across the UK.

More in this series

Continue with the rest of our Fractional CFO and Portfolio CFO careers series, or start with the complete pillar guide.

Written by

Liz Bell

Liz Bell is the founder of Liz Bell Consulting and the driving force behind a growing community of Chief Financial Officers. She champions a data-driven, strategic and reliable approach to CFO services, helping founders scale smarter, raise with confidence, and build businesses that endure.

Learn more about Liz →

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Fractional CFO Job Description: Duties, Skills and KPIs (UK Template)