Fractional CFO and COO

What is a fractional CFO and COO, and is it right for you?

A fractional CFO and COO is a senior executive who works inside your company on a defined monthly scope, without a full-time hire. You get finance and operations leadership together, scoped to the work, for as long as you need it.

The options

Fractional, interim, or full-time?

A fractional CFO and COO is a senior executive who works inside your company on a defined monthly scope, without a full-time hire.

Fractional, interim, outsourced, or part-time CFO: what's the difference?

You'll hear four labels for outside finance leadership. They describe different arrangements, and the right one depends on whether the seat is empty and how much of the job you need.

Fractional CFO: A senior executive working on a defined monthly scope, inside your team, for as long as you need it.; Best when you need senior judgment for part of each month.
Interim CFO: A full-time leader filling an empty seat for a defined period: a search, a turnaround, or a transaction.; Best when the chair is empty now.
Outsourced CFO: Usually a firm's service, often bundled with outsourced accounting staff. You buy a team and a process more than one named executive.; Best when you have no accounting team at all.
Part-time or virtual CFO: Other names for fractional. "Virtual" stresses remote delivery.; Same decision as fractional.

Advisor and Operator are fractional. Interim coverage is available on request. Day-to-day bookkeeping isn't part of a standard engagement.

Full-time CFO or COO hire compared with doing nothing and with Steichen Strategic Partners
Factor	Hire a full-time CFO or COO	Do nothing for another year	Steichen Strategic Partners
What it costs	CFO: $150,000 to $290,000 base at a private company with $10M to $100M in revenue. COO: $225,000 to $350,000 base at companies up to $100M. Plus bonus, benefits, and a search fee of 20% to 35% of first-year pay.	No invoice. On $50M of revenue, each point of gross margin left on the table is $500,000 a year.	A fraction of a full-time executive. No search fee, no benefits load, a written scope, and no surprise invoices.
Time to start	3 to 4 months to fill a CFO seat, longer with a notice period or relocation.	It never starts. The same problems repeat next quarter.	Usually within two weeks of signature.
Operations covered	One side. A CFO hire rarely brings operations, and a COO hire rarely brings finance.	Everything keeps running through the owner.	Finance and operations together: cash, pricing, inventory, and purchasing under one plan.
Commitment	Full-time employment and the cost of getting the hire wrong.	Another 12 months at today's numbers.	No minimum commitment. Monthly, with 30 days' notice.
When it's right	When either seat is daily, full-time work.	When the numbers are clean, current, and already driving decisions.	When you need senior judgment and hands-on change before a full-time seat is justified.

Sources: Cowen Partners, Average CFO Salary by Revenue (January 2026); Cowen Partners, executive search fees (October 2025); CFO Selections, A Roadmap to Hiring a CFO; JRG Partners, COO Salary Guide 2026 (July 2026).

Who this is for

Who is a fractional CFO and COO right for?

Companies that have outgrown spreadsheets and founder intuition, with nobody senior running finance and operations together.

Owner-led companies

Founder- and family-owned businesses where cash, margin, and reporting haven't kept pace with growth, and the owner is still the one connecting every function.

PE-backed portfolio companies

A sponsor who needs lender-ready reporting, a 100-day plan that holds, and someone who can run an integration or prepare the company for exit.

The work pays back fastest in product businesses where inventory and working capital are large items on the balance sheet, such as distributors and light manufacturers, and in growth-stage technology and energy companies that have revenue to protect and an operation that hasn't caught up to it.

You're likely a fit if one of these is happening now

Margin is compressing
Cash is tight despite growth
Your leadership team isn't executing as one
The bank is asking harder questions
You're integrating an acquisition
You're changing ERP systems
You're stepping back from day-to-day
You're preparing for a sale

When this isn't the right fit

If one of these describes you, here's who to call, and where the work still helps.

You need someone to keep the books, run payroll, or administer benefits.: Bookkeeping and payroll sit outside a standard engagement. We'll point you to the right provider, and if the books need cleanup before we can start, we'll scope that work first.
You need tax returns filed or an audit opinion.: Your CPA firm. We work alongside them and never replace them.
You're under $5M in revenue.: We can still talk. At that size our fee can outweigh the return, so on the first call we'll put what the work is worth next to what it costs. If it doesn't pay back, we'll say so.
You won't share system or bank access, the company is already in default, or the owners aren't aligned on outside help.: We talk candidly before either of us commits a dollar. If a restructuring professional is the right first call, we'll tell you.
You need someone in the seat full-time, permanently.: A full-time CFO. We'll help you define the job and find the right person.
You need the formal quality of earnings report, or someone to run the sale.: An independent accounting firm for the QoE and an investment banker for the process. You get the sell-side prep: adjusted EBITDA, working capital analysis, pro forma financials, and the data room, so their work moves faster.