The question behind the question
Companies usually search this after one of two moments. Either the CFO just left, or the CEO has realized the controller is doing a CFO's job without the experience to do it well. Those are different problems, and they call for different answers.
Finance is the most common fractional role on the market. In the Fractional Work Report 2026, finance accounted for 22% of fractional job postings, the largest share of any function, at an average rate of $229 an hour. There are a lot of options. The point of this page is to help you pick the right kind.
Side by side
| Interim CFO | Fractional CFO | |
|---|---|---|
| Time | Full time, for a defined period | Part time, ongoing |
| Typical trigger | CFO departure, cash crisis, lender pressure, transaction, audit problem | Growth, fundraising prep, a team that has outgrown its controller |
| What they own | The whole finance function and its relationships | Specific outcomes: forecast, board pack, pricing, capital plan |
| Who they report to | CEO and board, often with a lender or sponsor watching | CEO |
| Market price signals | One interim CFO provider quotes $15,000 to $30,000 a month for 3 to 6 months | One provider puts the typical range at $3,000 to $12,000 a month |
| How it ends | Handoff to a permanent CFO | Grows, ends, or is replaced by a full-time hire |
Those price ranges come from individual providers' published guides, not market-wide surveys, and your scope will move them a lot. They are here to help you budget, not as TPG's prices.
Signs you need an interim CFO
- Your CFO is gone and nobody else has signing authority, lender relationships or the full picture of cash.
- You can't produce a 13-week cash forecast you trust.
- A lender, sponsor or board is asking for someone accountable in the seat.
- You are in the middle of a sale, acquisition, refinancing or audit.
Signs you need a fractional CFO
- The books close on time, but nobody is turning them into decisions.
- You are raising capital in the next 6 to 12 months and the model won't survive diligence.
- Pricing, margin or unit economics questions keep landing on the CEO.
- The board pack is a data dump rather than a story with a plan.
The limits of fractional finance leadership
Be honest about the tradeoffs. Hunt Scanlon notes that fractional leadership usually costs two to three times more per hour than a full-time executive's effective rate, and that past about three days a week the math starts to favor a full-time hire. The same piece warns that a long-term fractional CFO at a $75 million company can look like a yellow flag to lenders, acquirers and investors. Fractional is a stage, not a permanent structure. Plan the exit when you plan the start.
When TPG is not the right call
- You need a permanent CFO and have time to search. If your controller can hold things together for a few months, go straight to a retained search.
- You only need a few hours a month. For a quarterly review, a tax question or a single model, an independent fractional CFO or a single-function finance firm is the better fit. Several do this well.
- The problem is finance only. If revenue, operations and leadership are fine and the gap is purely financial, a finance-only firm is a reasonable choice.
- You are heading into formal restructuring. If you need a chief restructuring officer, creditor negotiations or a court process, hire a turnaround firm.
TPG fits when the finance problem is tangled up with something else: a missed plan, a closed deal, a cash squeeze that is really a sales or operations problem. Then you want a CFO who works inside one accountable team.
The Proper Group
The Proper Group is a national collective, headquartered in Cincinnati, that places senior operating executives inside companies at the moments the current team can't carry: cash pressure, a missed plan, a closed deal, a leader gone. One accountable lead runs the team, the executive who diagnoses the problem can embed to fix it, and every engagement is built to hand off to the client's own leaders.
Frequently asked questions
Can a fractional CFO handle a cash crisis?
Sometimes, if they can add days quickly. A real liquidity crunch usually needs someone close to full time for the first few weeks.
How quickly can an interim CFO start?
It depends on the provider. The first priorities are bank access, a cash forecast and a call with your lender, so ask any provider what their first week looks like.
Will a lender accept an interim CFO?
Often yes, and some lenders ask for one. What lenders want is a credible, accountable person and a plan, not a title.
Should our interim CFO be a candidate for the permanent job?
It can work, but decide early. An interim who is auditioning may manage differently than one who is there to fix and hand off.
When should we move from fractional to full time?
When you need senior finance attention more than about three days a week, or when you are preparing for a transaction where investors will expect a full-time CFO.
Next step: If cash is the worry, a Cash Protection Sprint gives you a fixed-scope, two-to-three-week look at where the money is going and what to do about it. Let's talk about whether it fits.
Contact The Proper Group