Fractional CFO Services
Finance director capability, without the full-time cost.
Most growing SMEs reach a point where gut feel stops being enough — but hiring a full-time FD is not yet warranted. A fractional CFO gives you the strategic finance input, forecasting and KPI visibility your business needs, right now. Fixed fees, FCMA-qualified, and questions answered the day you ask them.
- Monthly management accounts with KPI dashboards — ready for decisions, not just HMRC
- Cash-flow forecasting and scenario modelling before problems surface, not after
- Strategic commercial input on pricing, margin, funding and growth — when you need it
- Finance function running in the background via cloud accounting, so you can focus on the business
No long-term contract. If the engagement is not working after three months, you leave with clean books, current forecasts and nothing owed.
Get a free quote
Fixed pricing. Same-day reply.
What our clients say
★★★★★
A Financial Team That Integrates Seamlessly
"We always feel well-informed and confident about our financial processes and data."
★★★★★
Savings That More Than Cover The Fees
"His fees are very reasonable and the money he has saved me more than covers them."
★★★★★
Always Available, Always Above And Beyond
"Niall and his team go above and beyond the duties to provide accounting services but also general advices."
★★★★★
Hands-On Support, Not A Faceless Firm
"Niall and his team are supportive, clear and directional accountants who have supported our small business"
Sound familiar?
Growing fast, but flying blind on the numbers?
At a certain size, the spreadsheet on your laptop stops cutting it. You need someone who can read the management accounts, flag the margin erosion early and tell you whether the cash position will hold through Q3. That is not what a compliance accountant does. And hiring a full-time FD at £90,000-plus a year is not yet the answer.
- No reliable monthly numbers — decisions made on estimates and gut feel
- Cash-flow surprises arriving at the worst possible moment, with no warning
- No one in your corner when it comes to pricing, margin, funding or growth strategy
What a fractional CFO actually delivers
You get the strategic finance function of a large business — management accounts, forecasting, KPI reporting and commercial input — for a fixed monthly fee, run remotely by a chartered management accountant who already understands how SMEs operate.
- Monthly management accounts and KPI dashboards you can actually make decisions from
- Rolling cash-flow forecasts with scenario modelling — so surprises become visible weeks ahead
- Commercial finance input on pricing, margin, funding and growth — when you need a sounding board
- Fixed monthly fee — no hidden charges, no full-time salary, no surprise invoices
What SMEs say about working with us
These are not one-off engagements. Several clients have worked with OD Accountants for seven, ten, even eleven years — and describe the relationship in terms most firms would not dare claim.
The service from OD has been excellent, as has their advice. It's great to have access to a financial team who can guide us with such confidence and seamlessly integrate with our internal team. We always feel well-informed and confident about our financial processes and data. Highly recommend.
I've been there for years and Niall and his team go above and beyond the duties to provide accounting services but also general advices. They are always available if you need anything while charging very competitive prices. I could not recommend them enough.
Three things your fractional CFO covers
The engagement is structured around the three areas where SMEs most often lack proper finance director input — reporting, forecasting and strategic commercial advice.
Management Accounts and KPI Reporting
Monthly or quarterly management accounts prepared and delivered via cloud accounting — with KPI dashboards built for your sector, not a generic template. You see gross margin, cash position, cost variances and runway in one place, every period. Ready for management decisions, lender reporting or board review.
Included as standardCash-Flow Forecasting and Scenario Modelling
Rolling 13-week and 12-month cash-flow forecasts updated as trading data comes in — so you are not guessing what the bank balance looks like in six weeks. Scenario modelling lets you test the impact of a new hire, a price change or a late customer before committing. Problems become visible early enough to do something about them.
Included as standardStrategic Finance and Commercial Input
When you need a finance director in the room — for a funding round, a pricing review, a restructure or an M&A conversation — the engagement covers it. Founder Niall O'Driscoll FCMA, CGMA spent 10-plus years doing exactly this work freelance, including with listed UK and overseas companies. You are not getting a generalist; you are getting someone who has seen this situation before.
Available on demandTrusted by SMEs across sectors for over a decade
From hospitality and start-ups to retail and consultants — clients across a range of industries describe the same things: responsiveness, plain-English advice and fees that pay for themselves.
Hands-On, Cares For You As An Individual
“My other-half introduced me to Niall at OD Accountants and I have to say my finances are so much the better for it. Unlike my previous Accountants, Niall is far more hands-on, available for advice and able to care for me as an individual, rather than a faceless client. His fees are very reasonable and the money he has saved me more than covers them. If you need an Accountant who cares, Niall and OD Chartered Management Accountants are the way to go.”
Always On The End Of The Phone
“Niall and his team are supportive, clear and directional accountants who have supported our small business staff up. They're always on the end of the phone to advise and assist and provide a top service for our accounting needs. Plus they're just nice people which helps too!!”
Welcoming, Supportive And Always Available
“As a new start up and having never dealt with an accountant, Niall at OD Accountants has been very welcoming and supportive. All our prior queries and issues have been resolved, and he is always available to meet the needs of our team.”
What makes this different from hiring a traditional accountant
Most accountants will file your Corporation Tax return and leave strategy to you. OD Accountants are chartered management accountants — the specialism is in commercial finance, not just compliance.
Restructure Experience Behind The Advice
Founder Niall O'Driscoll FCMA, CGMA spent over ten years as a freelance accountant specialising in restructures and turnarounds — including contracts with listed UK and overseas companies. That experience informs how OD approaches every SME engagement. When the conversation turns to margins under pressure, funding options or a disposal, you are talking to someone who has navigated it before.
Real-Time Numbers Via Cloud Accounting
The fractional CFO service is built on cloud accounting — Xero and best-of-breed SaaS integrations for expenses, forecasting and management information. That means your numbers are current, not three months stale. KPI dashboards and cash-flow views are live, not produced by someone manually pulling data from a spreadsheet the night before a meeting.
Long-Term Relationship, Not A Short Engagement
Verified Google reviews for OD Accountants go back more than a decade, with clients describing tenures of seven, ten and eleven years. A fractional CFO arrangement only works if the person giving you advice actually understands your business — and that takes time. The engagement is designed for continuity, not a rolling set of strangers.
Up and running in four straightforward steps
Most clients are fully onboarded within two to three weeks. The process is designed to be low-effort on your side from the outset.
Book a discovery call
A 30-minute call with Niall — no preparation required on your part. You explain where the business is and what is not working. He will ask the right questions and tell you plainly whether a fractional CFO engagement makes sense for your situation.
Receive a fixed-fee proposal
You get a clear written proposal setting out exactly what is covered, at what cost, with no ambiguity about extras. If your books are behind, catch-up work is scoped and priced separately — nothing is buried.
Onboard to cloud accounting
If you are not already on Xero or a compatible platform, the team migrates your data and configures the dashboard and reporting stack. You do not need to manage the technology — that is handled.
Finance running in the background
Monthly management accounts land in your inbox. The cash-flow forecast is current. When something strategic comes up — a pricing decision, a funding conversation, an acquisition — there is a chartered management accountant available to work through it with you. Which is, frankly, the way it should have been from the start.
“Been with OD Accountants for over a year now. Niall and the team are brilliant. They helped me set up a company and get everything I needed in place to run my business. I'm a tricky client due to my 'digital nomad' status, but their advice…”
A few things people usually ask first
Is a fractional CFO the same as a virtual finance director?
In practice, the terms are used interchangeably. Both describe an outsourced, part-time finance director arrangement — where a qualified finance professional provides the strategic and commercial input of an FD without the full-time headcount cost. OD Accountants uses the term virtual finance director (vFD) on occasion, but the service is substantively the same: management reporting, forecasting, KPI oversight and commercial advice, delivered remotely via cloud accounting.
What does a fractional CFO engagement cost?
Fees are fixed and agreed in advance — no hourly billing or surprise invoices at month end. The exact cost depends on the scope: what reporting you need, how frequently, and whether strategic or M&A support is required on top of the core management accounts and forecasting work. Clients who have commented on fees publicly describe them as very reasonable, with savings typically covering the cost of the engagement. A free-quote request takes two minutes and gives you a clear figure.
Our books are a mess. Can you still take us on?
Yes. Most new clients arrive with books that are behind, inconsistent or held in a system that has not been properly maintained. Catch-up work is scoped and priced transparently as part of the initial proposal — there are no hidden fees for getting things current. Once the backlog is cleared and the cloud accounting stack is configured correctly, the ongoing engagement runs cleanly from there.
Is there a long-term contract or a minimum commitment?
There is no long-term lock-in. The engagement runs monthly and either party can end it with reasonable notice. If the arrangement is not working after three months, you leave with current management accounts, an up-to-date forecast and nothing outstanding. The firm's client retention record — with multiple clients staying seven, ten and eleven years — suggests that departures are rare, but the option is always there.
Can a fractional CFO help with fundraising or approaching lenders?
Yes. Lender-ready management accounts, cash-flow forecasts and KPI packs are part of the standard reporting output. If you are approaching a bank, investor or alternative lender, the team can produce the financial pack they will need and support you through the due diligence process. Founder Niall O'Driscoll's background includes M&A and commercial finance work with listed companies, so funding conversations are familiar territory.
Will I be able to see my financial position in real time, or do I wait for month-end reports?
Because the engagement is built on cloud accounting — Xero and connected SaaS integrations — your KPI dashboard and cash-flow position are visible between formal reporting cycles, not just when a PDF arrives in your inbox. Monthly management accounts remain the structured reporting output, but you are not flying blind in between. The dashboard is configured for your business, not a generic template.
Stop guessing what the numbers mean. Start knowing.
A chartered management accountant runs your finance function remotely — management accounts, forecasting, KPI dashboards and strategic input — for a fixed monthly fee, with no long-term contract.