The interim CFO market has shifted materially in the last 18 months. Day rates are down, availability is up, and the quality bar for who is doing interim work has risen.
For boards facing a CFO gap, this is unambiguously good news. Here is what has changed and how to make the most of it.
What has shifted
Three specific market changes, all reinforcing each other.
More experienced CFOs are choosing interim as a career phase, not a stopgap. Five years ago most senior interims were between permanent roles. Today a meaningful minority are people who have done two or three permanent CFO stints and deliberately chosen interim as the shape of their career for the next five to ten years. They are not looking to convert. They are running a portfolio.
Day rates have compressed. For a competent interim CFO at mid-market scale (£40m to £150m businesses), day rates that were £2,000 to £2,500 in 2023 are now regularly £1,400 to £1,900. Some of this is competition from the wider pool. Some of it is that the top-tier permanent-CFO population has moved into the market and priced accordingly.
Availability windows are shorter. The best interims are booked. The three-month lead time to secure one has fallen to three-to-four weeks in most cases, because the shift in market shape means more good people are between engagements at any given time.
Why this matters for boards
Two implications, both practical.
Interim bridging is now the right answer for shorter gaps than it used to be. Five years ago an interim was typically justified for gaps of three months or longer. Now the maths works for gaps of six weeks. The cost is materially lower, the quality is higher, and the disruption of running with a vacancy is unchanged.
If your CFO has handed in notice and you cannot realistically hire and land a permanent replacement inside eight weeks, an interim bridge is almost always worth the money.
Interim conversion to permanent is now more common as a hiring path. With a materially stronger pool doing interim work, the odds that an interim CFO is also a viable permanent candidate have risen. In the last two years, roughly a third of the senior interim CFO placements we have made have converted to permanent.
That is not accidental. Both sides get to see each other work for three months before making a permanent commitment. It is the best-informed hiring decision available.
When interim is the wrong answer
Three scenarios where the maths still favours running short-handed rather than bringing in an interim.
Gaps of under four weeks. The productivity ramp-up for an interim usually takes two weeks. If the gap is only three or four weeks, the interim is barely productive before the permanent CFO arrives. Better to have the CEO and existing team stretch.
Highly relationship-driven gaps. Some businesses are in a specific relationship phase (a live investor negotiation, a covenant conversation, a specific customer situation) where introducing a new face for six weeks does more harm than a short vacancy. Judge case by case.
Businesses in the middle of a systems change. Interims are not usually productive during a live ERP rollout or comparable systems transition. The learning curve on the system consumes the interim's productive weeks.
How to use the new market well
Three practices worth adopting.
Keep a shortlist warm. The best interims are booked when you need them. Chairs who maintain a rolling relationship with two or three interim CFOs (a coffee every six months) have someone to call when the gap emerges.
Structure the interim engagement with permanent conversion in mind. Even if you do not intend to convert, structure the engagement so that conversion is possible. Standard interim terms that make conversion friction-free rather than a renegotiation. Both sides value the option even if it is not exercised.
Pay properly on rate. The interim market has compressed on rate, but paying at the bottom of the range attracts the bottom of the pool. Pay near the top of the current range and you get the top of the pool. The difference between £1,500 and £1,900 a day is £8,000 a month. Trivial compared to the value of a strong interim.
If you are facing a CFO gap now, or want to build a rolling interim relationship for future insurance, get in touch. We keep a curated bench of senior interims and can move within days.
