Most owner-managed businesses start with a bookkeeper and an external accountant, and for a long time that works well. But somewhere between £2m and £10m turnover, the questions change. They stop being about filing accounts on time and start being about where the business is heading, whether it can afford to get there, and what the numbers are really saying.
Eight signs you have outgrown your finance function
- You are growing, but cash always feels tight.
- Management accounts arrive late, are hard to read, or do not exist.
- You are not sure which products, customers, jobs or sites actually make money.
- Prices and quotes are based on instinct or last year's rates rather than current costs.
- Your bank, investors or board are asking for better forecasts and reporting.
- You are considering funding, an acquisition, a new site or an eventual sale.
- Your bookkeeper and accountant are stretched by questions outside their role.
- The owner carries the financial worry of the business alone.
What a Fractional Finance Director does
A Fractional Finance Director is an experienced FD who works with your business part time, typically a set number of days a month. They sit alongside the owners and leadership team, set up the reporting, forecasting and controls the business needs, and bring senior judgement to big decisions.
Unlike an external accountant, whose focus is usually year-end accounts, tax and compliance, a Fractional FD looks forward: planning, cash, performance, pricing and funding. The two roles complement each other.
Fractional or full time?
A full-time Finance Director brings salary, bonus, pension, National Insurance and recruitment costs that many growing businesses cannot justify, and often more capacity than they need. A fractional arrangement gives you the same level of experience for the time the business actually requires, and can be scaled up during busy periods such as a funding round or systems change.
For many businesses, a Fractional FD is also the bridge to a permanent appointment later: building the finance function, then helping to recruit and hand over to a full-time FD when the time is right.
Where to start
If several of the signs above sound familiar, start with a conversation about where the business is heading and what is getting in the way. The answer is often a handful of practical changes, such as faster monthly reporting, a rolling cash forecast and job-level costing, that make a noticeable difference within a few months.
This article is general guidance, not advice for your specific circumstances. If you'd like to talk about your business, get in touch.