Hiring a fractional CFO: scope, questions and warning signs
Updated 16 October 2026
A fractional CFO is a chief financial officer who works with a company for part of each month. Hiring one well takes three steps. Write down the decisions the CFO will work on. Test each candidate for finance experience at the company's size, the ability to plan ahead and the ability to explain. Then agree the scope, the schedule and the first 90 days in writing. This guide assumes the company has decided it needs one. Averan's pages on whether you need a fractional CFO and fractional against full-time cover that decision. The examples on this page use round figures as an illustration.
Define the role before the search
A fractional CFO leads the forward-looking finance work on a part-time basis. The work covers forecasts and scenario models, cash management, margin and pricing analysis, the budget, the figures the leadership team tracks, and preparation for a lender or investor. Daily entry of transactions and processing of bills belong to a bookkeeper. Month-end review belongs to a controller. A candidate who describes bookkeeping under a CFO title is offering a different seat.
An owner of a 40-person services company writes a brief before speaking to anyone. It names four decisions for the next 12 months: whether to open a second office, how to price a new service line, how much to draw on the credit line, and when to hire a second project manager. It also notes that a bookkeeper closes the books by the 12th of each month. Every candidate receives the same brief, so every answer can be compared. The figures are an illustration.
Five qualities to test
- Finance experience at the company's size and complexity, shown by decisions the candidate shaped at past companies.
- Forward-looking work, such as forecasts built and decisions modeled before they were made.
- Familiarity with the industry where the model has unusual economics, such as recurring revenue, inventory or more than one entity.
- Plain explanation. An owner who cannot follow the candidate in the first meeting will have the same trouble later.
- A plan for the books underneath. A forecast built on inaccurate books gives inaccurate answers, so the candidate should ask about the close and the reconciliations.
An owner scores three candidates from 1 to 5 on each of the five qualities, for a maximum of 25. Candidate A scores 21, Candidate B scores 17 and Candidate C scores 14. Candidate B scored 5 on industry and 2 on plain explanation. Candidate A scored 4 on each of the first four and 5 on the books question. The owner shortlists Candidate A, who leads by 4 points. The figures are an illustration.
Six questions for the interview
- Which decisions did you help a company like this one make, and what happened after?
- How do you build a cash forecast, and how often do you update it?
- How often will we meet, and in what format will you report?
- What do you need from our bookkeeping to do this work?
- What will you have delivered at the end of the first 90 days?
- When the engagement ends, what stays with us?
Listen to how the candidate answers the 90-day question. A candidate who wants to learn the cash cycle, the margin on each line and who owns each figure before proposing changes is diagnosing. A candidate who arrives with a fixed plan from a past client is repeating that plan.
Candidate A answers with three dated deliverables: a 13-week cash forecast in week 3, a margin report by service line in week 6, and a 12-month budget in week 12. Candidate B answers with a cost-cutting program used at a past client. Candidate A's answer ties each deliverable to this company's figures and gives a date. The owner can check Candidate A's progress on day 21, day 42 and day 84. The figures are an illustration.
Scope, schedule and fee
Most fractional CFOs work on a monthly retainer sized to the hours and scope, from a few days a month up to most of a week. Agree a standing meeting, weekly, every two weeks or monthly, and say which leadership meetings the CFO attends. List the regular deliverables, such as the forecast, the monthly review of figures and the lender or board package. The first 90 days carry the most setup work: the model, the forecast and the first set of priorities.
A company agrees a scope of 3 days a month. Day one is the monthly review meeting with the owner and two managers. Day two updates the 13-week cash forecast and the 12-month budget. Day three goes to one project, rotating among pricing, the lender package and hiring plans. Over a year that is 36 days, of which 12 go to rotating projects. The figures are an illustration.
Warning signs
Four signs suggest a mismatch. The first is a CFO offering that turns out to be bookkeeping. The second is reporting that only looks back, with no forecast or model. The third is vague answers about decisions the candidate influenced. The fourth is a scope that keeps growing with no written change. Most of these come down to one test. If every deliverable the candidate describes records the past, the seat is a bookkeeping seat.
An owner lists every deliverable from the first three months of an engagement. There are 9 items: 3 monthly reports on past results, 3 reconciliation summaries and 3 expense reviews. None of the 9 looks ahead. The owner raises it at the next meeting and asks for a cash forecast and a budget within 30 days. The figures are an illustration.
What this means for an owner
Write the decisions down before the first call, and give every candidate the same brief. Score each candidate on the same five qualities. Ask the six questions and judge the 90-day answer on whether it starts from the company's own figures. Put the scope, the meeting schedule and the deliverables in writing. Check the deliverables at 90 days, and expect at least one that looks forward.
Fractional CFO work from Averan
Averan Advisors provides fractional CFO work under a written monthly scope. The controller service keeps the books underneath closed and reconciled, so the forecasts start from accurate figures.
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If you want this done for you
What happens next
Reading about it and having it done are different things. Here is exactly what happens if you want the second one.
- The call takes thirty minutesYou describe the business and where the numbers are letting you down. We give you an expert view of your situation, and what we would start with. There is no pitch deck.
- We look at the fileYou give us read access to the books as they are. We come back with what is wrong, what it will take to fix, and whether the answer is bookkeeping, controller work, or something else.
- We send a written scope and a priceIt lists what we do each month, what you get, the date it lands and the fee. We agree it before anything starts, and it does not change unless you agree.
- We take over the books and close the first monthWe set up access and systems and enter the opening balances. The first close lands on the date in the scope, and every one after it does too.