Guide
Making Tax Digital: what UK businesses must do
Who is in scope, which software qualifies and the deadlines HMRC expects you to hit.
Read guideVirtual CFO services
Get board-level finance leadership a few days a month — cash-flow forecasting, funding readiness and management reporting without a full-time salary.
Contact us about virtual CFONeed help with virtual CFO services?
Tell us what you need. It takes about five minutes and there's no obligation.
How virtual CFO services work
A virtual or fractional CFO gives you senior finance expertise on a part-time basis: forecasting, margin analysis, funding strategy and the reporting a board or lender expects.
It sits above bookkeeping and accountancy. Where those record and report the past, a CFO shapes decisions about pricing, hiring, investment and capital.
Typical engagements run from one day a month for an early-stage business to two or three days a week during a fundraise or turnaround.
What affects the cost of virtual CFO services
- Days per month of senior time
- Whether reporting packs are built from scratch
- Fundraising or lender negotiation support
- Systems implementation work
- Board attendance and investor reporting
Why get in touch about virtual CFO services with us
Board-level insight
Someone who has run finance functions, not just recorded them.
Flexible commitment
Scale days up during a fundraise and back down afterwards.
Funding ready
Forecasts and data rooms prepared the way lenders and investors expect.
Virtual CFO options compared
Indicative UK market rates for fractional finance leadership.
| Option | Typical monthly cost | Commitment | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advisory call + pack | £500 - £1,200 | 0.5 - 1 day | Early-stage businesses |
| Fractional CFO | £1,500 - £4,000 | 2 - 4 days | £1m - £10m turnover |
| Project CFO | £4,000 - £10,000 | Fixed term | Fundraise or exit |
| Full-time CFO hire | £8,000 - £14,000 | Permanent | £15m+ turnover |
What you typically get by tier
Scope grows with the number of days you buy.
| Deliverable | Advisory | Fractional | Project |
|---|---|---|---|
| Management accounts review | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 13-week cash forecast | Sometimes | Yes | Yes |
| Board pack and attendance | No | Yes | Yes |
| Funding / lender negotiation | No | Sometimes | Yes |
| Systems implementation | No | Sometimes | Yes |
Expert advice
Our finance team reviews UK providers, pricing tiers and service levels every quarter.
“Hire a fractional CFO for a decision, not a job title. The best engagements start with a funding round or a margin problem.”
virtual CFO services: pros and cons
Pros
- Senior expertise at a fraction of a full-time salary
- Objective, external view of margins and pricing
- Faster, better-prepared funding conversations
- Scales up and down with need
Cons
- Not available for day-to-day firefighting
- Value depends heavily on the individual
- Needs reliable bookkeeping underneath to be useful
How to choose virtual CFO services
The cheapest headline price is rarely the cheapest total cost. Work through these points before you commit.
- 1
Fix the outcome first
Define whether you are buying reporting, funding support or margin improvement.
- 2
Check sector experience
A CFO who knows your business model will be useful in week one, not month three.
- 3
Confirm what's underneath
A CFO cannot work from unreconciled books — budget for bookkeeping too.
- 4
Agree an exit path
Know what triggers a move to a permanent hire and how handover works.
Get in touch about virtual CFO services
Tell us what your business needs today. It takes just minutes.
Getting help with virtual CFO services
It takes a few minutes to get in touch, and there is no obligation.
1. Tell us about your business
Turnover, structure, headcount and how many transactions you process each month.
2. Get matched with a specialist
We put you in touch with a provider that genuinely supports businesses of your size and sector.
3. Understand the real costs
Monthly fees, per-user charges, onboarding costs and what is bundled versus billed extra.
4. Get set up
Your chosen provider handles onboarding, data migration and HMRC registrations where needed.
Things to watch out for
Day rates quoted excluding VAT can look 20% cheaper than they are.
Very cheap offerings are often a report template, not genuine advisory time.
Without clean monthly bookkeeping, most of the CFO's time goes on tidying data.
Our virtual CFO services service
We put you in touch with established UK providers and independent practices for virtual CFO services, so you can weigh price against the level of support you actually get.
There is no fee to get in touch, and we will tell you plainly when your existing arrangement is already competitive.
Getting started
1
Gather your numbers
Latest accounts, current provider costs and your accounting year end.
2
Check the transfer
Confirm how records, payroll history and HMRC authorisations move across.
3
Set the go-live date
Most businesses switch at a quarter or year end to keep reporting clean.
Why choose Grow Your Business?
Specialists, not generalists
We put you in touch with UK specialists who actually fit how your business operates.
No cost to enquire
There's no fee to get in touch, and no obligation to go ahead once you hear back.
Simple and fast
It takes just a few minutes to send your enquiry, and a specialist will be in touch shortly after.
Types of virtual CFO services
Different setups suit different stages of growth.
Light-touch advisory
Monthly review call and a management pack.
Fractional CFO
Two to four days a month including board attendance.
Project CFO
Fixed-term support for a fundraise, acquisition or turnaround.
Outsourced finance function
CFO plus bookkeeping and management accounting as one package.
Who we work with
Logos are shown for identification. We are not affiliated with every provider listed and do not cover the whole market.
Crunch
Mazuma
TaxAssist
The Accountancy Partnership
1st Formations
Osome
Sage
XeroComparing with us is a no-brainer
“Two days a month got us investor-ready in a quarter. A full-time hire was never going to be affordable.”
Aisha, SaaS founder, London
virtual CFO services guides
Guide
Cutting the cost of your accounting stack
Where subscription tiers, per-user fees and add-on modules quietly inflate your bill.
Read guide
Guide
In-house vs outsourced finance
When a bookkeeper, an accountant or a fractional finance director makes more sense.
Read guidevirtual CFO services FAQs
What's the difference between a virtual CFO and an accountant?
An accountant reports on what happened; a CFO helps you decide what to do next, covering forecasting, funding and strategy.
How many days do I need?
Most businesses under £5m turnover start with one to two days a month and increase during a fundraise.
Is it worth it for a small business?
It becomes worthwhile once decisions are large enough that getting them wrong costs more than the fee.
Written by the Grow Your Business editorial team · Updated 26 July 2026