Fractional vs. Outsourced vs. Virtual vs. Interim CFO: Decoding the Labels
Written by Harry Prabandham
Curated by Rubric Financial
Last updated
1 / 5
The Decoder
- Fractional and part-time describe the time commitment: a fraction of an executive's month, typically 15-40 hours, rather than all of it.
- Outsourced describes the sourcing (the CFO comes from outside, usually through a firm) and virtual describes the delivery (remote, over video and cloud tools).
- One engagement can be all four at once: 20 hours a month, through a firm, over Zoom. Nothing about the work changes when you swap the label.
- Interim is the exception: a full-time, temporary executive engaged for a defined period, usually 3-12 months, because something happened. It is a different product, not a discount model.
Go deeper on this topic: Fractional vs. Outsourced vs. Virtual vs. Part-Time vs. Interim CFO: What Actually Differs→
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About the author
Harry PrabandhamFounder & CEO
Founder and CEO of StartupCFO. MBA from Wharton, MS in Computer Science, and decades of experience building and advising venture-backed startups.
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