CEO Series: Why the Fractional CFO Market is Broken (And How We're Fixing It)

Richard Salt, CEO and Founder of Fyn. 

‍

I need to say something that's been on my mind for a while now.

The term "fractional CFO" has exploded in popularity. LinkedIn is flooded with people adding it to their profiles and Google Trends shows a 300% increase in searches over the past two years. Everyone's talking about it and ‘doing it’, and therein lies the problem: not everyone actually understands what it means.

I've spent the past two years building a genuinely fractional finance practice, and I've watched this market evolve from a niche, high-value service into something that's starting to resemble the Wild West. 

So here’s my take. This isn't a hit piece on the fractional movement, quite the opposite. I'm writing this because I believe in the model so deeply and want to share why I back it wholeheartedly. 

‍

The LinkedIn Consultant Problem

Here's what I'm seeing: someone gets made redundant from a Finance Director role, spends three months unsuccessfully looking for another permanent position, updates their LinkedIn headline to "Fractional CFO | Helping businesses scale", and suddenly they're a fractional CFO. But fractional isn't just permanent employment cut into smaller pieces. 

I had a conversation recently with a founder-CEO who told me about their previous "fractional CFO" who charged £500 a day to sit in their office two days a week, attend team meetings, and essentially do what an employed Finance Director would do, just less frequently. When I asked what strategic value they'd added, what investor conversations they'd shaped, what commercial insights they'd delivered, there was a long pause.

"Well, they kept our books in order."

To Fyn, that’s not true fractional CFO work and that’s why we’re keen to demonstrate why we’re different. 

What Fractional Actually Means

Let me tell you what I think fractional finance should look like, because I've lived it from both sides - as someone who's worked in PE-backed businesses doing exits, and now as someone who's built a practice around this model.

True fractional means flexible expertise at the point of need. It means a founder can directly access someone who's taken companies through fundraisers, or someone with transaction and exit experience, or even someone who understands investor language like the back of their hand. However, they can access that person for exactly the amount of time they actually need them, not the arbitrary "five days a week" that permanent employment demands.

When I was Commercial Director at World of Books overseeing international expansion and operations, I didn't need 40 hours a week of my CFO's time for every single week of the year. I needed intensive strategic input during acquisition discussions and board prep. Understandably, I then needed lighter-touch operational oversight during execution phases. The problem was, employment doesn't work that way. You get all or nothing.

Fractional should solve that dilemma, to scale up and down as needed. But only if it's done properly.

‍

The Experience Question No One's Asking

Here's the uncomfortable truth: not everyone calling themselves a fractional CFO has the depth of experience to justify that title.

A CFO - fractional or otherwise - should be able to speak fluently with investors. They should understand cap tables, liquidation preferences, and anti-dilution provisions. They should have lived through at least one exit, preferably more. They should be able to look at your three-year financial model and immediately spot the assumptions that don't stack up.

What I'm seeing instead are people who've been Financial Controllers or Finance Managers positioning themselves as CFOs, but in reality the gap between producing accurate financial statements and navigating a £50 million exit is enormous.

‍

The Day Rate Circus

Then there's the pricing issue, which tells you everything you need to know about how confused this market has become. I've seen fractional CFO services advertised at £300 a day and £2,500 a day. The range is so vast that it's become meaningless.

I'm not suggesting there's a single "correct" day rate. For bespoke consultancy tailored to different businesses,  different levels of seniority and different sectors command different rates. But when the spread is that wide, it suggests we're not comparing like with like. In my opinion, the market needs to mature quickly.

‍

How We're Approaching It Differently

At Fyn, I’m proud to have built something that I believe respects what "fractional" should actually mean. And I want to be transparent about this because if the market is going to professionalise, we all need to share what works.

1. Real credentials, non-negotiable: Every CFO we work with has genuine C-suite experience. We’re handpicked them from their previous experience having worked with investors, led exits, and built finance functions from scratch in scaling businesses. No one gets through our door without that pedigree. But we also recognise the importance of client success and work with exceptional fractional FP&A professionals, financial controllers and financial directors to successfully tailor our expertise to your business’s needs. 

2. Proper structure: We don't just parachute someone into a business two days a week and hope for the best. We have tiered support and have built a scaffolded model. You get the right level of expertise at the right price point for exactly what you need.

3. Community: This is crucial. When you're fractional, you can feel isolated. You're not embedded in one business, you're across multiple clients. So we've created a genuine peer network. Our fractional community support each other, challenge each other, share war stories and solutions. We have sector specialists who can jump in when a client's question goes beyond one person's experience.

4. Flexibility that actually means something. We offer monthly retainers, day rates, project-based work, even mentorship and advisory relationships for founders who just need someone to sense-check their thinking. This structure bends to fit the client's reality, not the other way around.

‍

The Mentorship Gap

Something I've become passionate about, and this relates directly to the "broken market" problem,  is that we're not creating enough pathways for the next generation of fractional CFOs.

If you're an experienced Finance Director, maybe you're starting to think about flexibility, about working differently, about the fractional model but also about taking that step up to a new CFO role. How do you actually make that transition? Where's the training? Where's the support?

What we've started doing is pairing experienced fractional CFOs with people who have the raw credentials but haven't made the leap yet. It’s similar to a buddy system, but it's about knowledge transfer. Because if we don't do this deliberately, we're going to end up with a market where everyone's learning by making expensive mistakes on their clients.

‍

What Good Actually Looks Like

Let me paint you a picture of what properly executed fractional finance looks like, because I think we've lost sight of this.

A founder reaches out to us six months before they want to start their Series A process. They've got traction, a product-market fit and early revenue. What they don't have is a financial narrative that will resonate with investors.

We deploy a fractional CFO who's taken four companies through Series A in similar sectors. Not just to work two days a week but instead ten days of intensive work to build out a robust three-year model, stress-test assumptions, prepare investor materials, and rehearse the financial story. Then we step back to a lighter retainer - maybe one day a week to keep the model updated and help prepare for investor meetings.

As they move through the fundraise, intensity increases again. Term sheet negotiations, due diligence support, cap table modelling. Then post-close, we help them think about how to deploy that capital intelligently, how to build the finance function they'll need at their next stage, maybe even how to recruit the permanent CFO who'll eventually replace our fractional professional. That's fractional and flexibility at the point of need. That's expert value without the overhead of permanent headcount.

‍

Why I'm Optimistic Despite Everything

So yes, the market is broken in some ways and the term has been diluted. Yes, we're going to see some founders get burned by people who aren't delivering genuine CFO-level value but here's why I'm not pessimistic - the need is real. Founders genuinely benefit from being able to access CFO-level expertise without taking on £150k+ of permanent salary cost. Experienced finance leaders enjoy the variety and flexibility of working across multiple businesses rather than being locked into one company.

I believe the market will professionalise over time. The founders who've had poor experiences will become more discerning and they'll start asking the right questions. For example:

• What exits have you been part of? 
• Which investors have you worked with? 
• Can you show me examples of board packs you've prepared? 
• What's your actual CFO experience versus controller or finance manager experience?

The people who've positioned themselves as fractional CFOs without the credentials to back it up will either upskill dramatically or find themselves priced out as the market matures. And those of us who are building fractional practices with true standards, genuine community, tiered support structures, and honest pricing will be the ones left standing.

If you're a founder trying to navigate this landscape, or a finance leader thinking about making the transition to fractional work, I'd genuinely love to hear your perspective. The best way we professionalise this market is by having honest conversations about what's working and what isn't.

Keen to get in touch? Reach out today.