This page is a single reference for interim and fractional day rates across the UK finance function in 2026 — every role in one table, with links to the detailed guide for each. It is deliberately an index rather than a deep dive: if you want the full picture for a specific seat, including what drives the rate up or down and how the engagements are structured, follow the guide link on that row.
On the figures. These are Accountancy Capital’s market observations from live assignments, rates offered and accepted, and candidate conversations across the qualified finance market at £50,000 and above. They are not survey results. Rates move with urgency, scarcity and duration — short-notice cover commands a premium, a comfortable six-month assignment a modest discount — so treat the ranges as a starting point for a conversation.
The rate card
| Role | London / South East | Regional UK | Detailed guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Management Accountant | £250–£375 | £225–£325 | Guide |
| Financial Accountant | £275–£400 | £250–£350 | Guide |
| Finance Manager | £300–£450 | £275–£400 | Guide |
| Finance Business Partner | £400–£600 | £300–£450 | Guide |
| FP&A Manager | £400–£600 | £350–£500 | Guide · Budget-season cover |
| Financial Controller | £400–£650 | £310–£490 | Guide · Fractional FC |
| Group Financial Controller | £520–£720 | £450–£625 | Guide |
| Head of Finance | £500–£750 | £450–£650 | Guide |
| Finance Director | £600–£1,100 | £450–£750 | Guide |
| CFO | £750–£1,300 | £565–£1,105 | Guide · CFO rates |
| Corporate Tax Manager | £450–£700 | £400–£600 | Guide · Interim tax rates |
| VAT Manager | £450–£700 | £400–£600 | Guide · Interim tax rates |
| CASS / Regulatory Reporting | £500–£800 | £450–£675 | Guide |
Day rates per full working day. The Financial Controller regional range runs from the Midlands and North (£310–£490) up to the South East outside London (£350–£550); the CFO regional range covers the same spread for interim and fractional CFOs.
How to use the rate card
The table answers one question quickly: is the rate you have been quoted, or the budget you have set, in the right place? Used in this order, it gets you to a defensible number before you brief anyone.
- Match the role to the work, not the title. An “interim Finance Manager” who will own the close, sign off the balance sheet and manage the auditors is doing Financial Controller work and will price accordingly. See Financial Controller versus Finance Manager if the line is blurred.
- Pick the column. London and the South East sit in the first column; the rest of the UK in the second.
- Position yourself within the band. The middle of a range is a fair rate for a standard assignment. Move up for the factors in the next section — urgency, scarce experience, short duration, a regulated environment, a fully on-site role — and down for a long, hybrid, well-defined assignment.
- Check the detailed guide. Each row links to a fuller guide that breaks the range down by sector, business size and scope.
- Compare like with like. Confirm whether a quoted figure is the rate the interim receives or the charge rate including the agency’s margin, and whether VAT applies, before comparing two quotes or comparing either with a salary.
If the number still looks wrong after those five steps, the brief usually needs another look rather than the budget. Our guide to briefing an interim finance search covers how to tighten it.
What moves a rate
Five factors explain most of the variation within a band, and knowing which apply to your assignment is the difference between a realistic rate and a stalled search.
Urgency. A start required this week prices above one required next month, and the premium is real rather than notional — the available pool at short notice is smaller.
Scarcity of the specific experience. Sector or technical requirements narrow the pool sharply. Consolidation, CASS oversight, regulatory reporting, a specific ERP or a first audit each price above the general band.
Duration. Longer assignments attract a modest discount; short assignments and part-week arrangements price higher per day, because the interim carries the gap between engagements.
Regulated environments. FCA-authorised firms typically pay 10–15% above the equivalent commercial rate, reflecting scarcity and the personal accountability the roles carry.
Location and on-site expectation. Fully on-site roles outside major centres price above hybrid equivalents, because they restrict who can take them. A five-day on-site requirement in a smaller town can price close to London levels simply because so few interims can commute to it.
Three further points sit behind the headline figure and are worth settling early.
Notice and availability. The best interims are usually between assignments for days rather than weeks. A candidate free tomorrow is in a stronger position than one finishing an engagement in a month, and the rate reflects it.
IR35 status. An outside-IR35 role generally attracts a wider pool at a given rate. Where a role is inside IR35, many contractors look for a higher gross rate to offset the tax and National Insurance deducted at source, so the same seat can price differently depending on the determination.
Umbrella or limited company. How the interim is engaged changes what a given day rate is worth to them, and therefore what they will accept. The section below covers it.
Check a rate before you brief — 0204 553 8893
Tell us the role, the location and when you need someone, and a consultant will tell you where the assignment sits on the card and what the market will bear. We respond the same working day, and interim and fractional candidates are typically put forward within days.
Interim, fractional or permanent?
The rate card covers both interim and fractional engagements, and the distinction determines how the cost actually lands.
Interim is full-time and finite — a defined assignment with an end you can name: covering a departure, leading a transaction, building a function. The day rate applies across a full week.
Fractional is part-time and ongoing — one or two days a week indefinitely. Similar day rates, consumed at a fraction of a full week, which is why the annual cost sits well below a permanent equivalent. Our fractional practice covers the model.
Permanent is the comparison both should be measured against, and the arithmetic is the part employers most often get wrong. Compare a day rate to the fully loaded cost of employment rather than to a salary: a £75,000 Financial Controller costs an employer closer to £90,000 once National Insurance (15% employer rate since April 2025), pension and benefits are added — roughly £390 a day equivalent before any recruitment cost, holiday or notice period. Read that way, the interim premium is smaller than it appears and buys speed, flexibility and a clean ending. Our comparison of interim versus fractional finance works through the choice, and temporary, fixed-term and interim arrangements covers the contractual differences. Permanent salary equivalents for each role are in our accountancy salary guides.
IR35 and engagement
Interim and fractional finance professionals are normally engaged through their own limited company or an umbrella arrangement rather than employed. For medium and large businesses the responsibility for determining status sits with the engager, and the determination must reflect the actual working arrangement rather than the contract label.
Two practical points. Blanket determinations are costly — they narrow the candidate pool and push up the rate the remaining contractors require, so they rarely save what they appear to. And the assessment should be done before advertising, not after offer, because status materially affects the net position and candidates will ask. HMRC’s off-payroll guidance is the primary source, HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax tool is a sensible first test (an ICAEW-qualified Chartered Accountant can advise on borderline cases), and our guide to IR35 and employment tax covers the framework.
Umbrella or limited company?
Through an umbrella company the interim is an employee of the umbrella, which deducts PAYE, employee and employer National Insurance and its own margin from the rate before paying them. Through their own limited company, outside IR35, the interim invoices the rate and manages their own tax. The same day rate therefore produces noticeably different take-home pay, which is why an inside-IR35 or umbrella-only assignment often needs to sit higher in the band to attract the same calibre. Our guide to umbrella, PSC and fixed-term interim arrangements sets out the options side by side, and contracting versus permanent in finance covers the choice from the candidate’s side.
Getting value from an interim assignment
Three things separate assignments that deliver from those that merely fill a seat, and none of them is about the rate. Define the objective, not just the cover — “hold the fort” produces a caretaker; “get us through the audit, rebuild the reporting pack and leave a documented month-end process” produces a result. Give real authority from day one, because six months is too short to earn it the hard way. And plan the handover from the start: documentation, templates and a successor briefing should be deliverables rather than an afterthought, as our interim handover guide sets out.
The businesses that get most from interim finance treat it as a designed intervention with a defined output. Those that treat it as a gap being plugged pay the same rate for considerably less. Our guide to managing an interim Financial Controller applies to most interim finance roles, not only the FC.
Interim Day Rates: FAQs
What is a typical interim Financial Controller day rate?
In London, typically £400–£650 a day; £350–£550 in the South East and £310–£490 in the Midlands and North. Our interim Financial Controller rates guide breaks this down by business size and sector.
What does an interim CFO cost per day?
Typically £750–£1,300 a day in London depending on experience and complexity, with lower rates regionally. CFO and FD searches usually run with our sister firm FD Capital; see our fractional CFO rates guide for retainer structures.
Are the rates on this card inclusive of VAT?
Treat them as day rates before VAT. Whether VAT is charged depends on how the interim is engaged and whether the supplying company is VAT-registered, so confirm it when comparing quotes.
How quickly can you find an interim?
We respond the same working day and typically put forward interim candidates within days of a complete brief. Fees are agreed in writing before a search starts. Call 0204 553 8893 or email recruitment@accountancycapital.co.uk, or see how our interim accountancy recruitment service works.
Adrian Lawrence FCA — Founder, Accountancy Capital
Fellow of the ICAEW | Chartered Accountant holding an ICAEW practising certificate | Part of FD Capital Group
Adrian is a former listed-company Finance Director with a BSc from Queen Mary College, University of London. The day-rate conversation he has most often is with a business that compares an interim rate to a salary and concludes interim is expensive; once the full cost of a permanent hire is counted, it usually is not. The honest test is whether you can say when the engagement finishes — if you can, interim is buying speed and a clean exit; if you cannot, hire permanently.
Related Pages and Resources
Interim Finance
Day-rate specialists for defined assignments.
→ Interim Accountancy Recruitment
Need an interim or fractional finance professional? — 0204 553 8893
Same working day response on every brief, with interim and fractional candidates typically put forward within days. Our recruitment team works from 167–169 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5PF and Watling Court, Orbital Plaza, Watling Street, Cannock WS11 0EL.