The Fractional FD Model
An internal finance function — without the internal hire.
This is what actually happens inside a business once someone is watching the numbers every week instead of every year. Not a bigger bookkeeping package. A different relationship with your own financial position.
Most growing businesses reach a point where the books are accurate, the VAT is filed on time, the year-end accounts are correct — and none of it actually helps them run the business.
That’s not a compliance gap. It’s a control gap. The data exists, but nobody’s turning it into decisions before they’re needed — which supplier to chase, which job actually made money, whether this is the month to hire. A full-time Finance Director closes that gap. Most businesses at this stage can’t justify one yet. This is what fills the space between the two — built from someone who’s done the job inside a business, not just reported on it from outside.
What’s actually in it
Five things a finance director does that an annual accountant doesn’t.
Each of these exists because a specific decision was being made without the information to make it properly. None of them are add-ons — together, they’re what “having someone watching the finances” actually means.
01
Cash flow forecasting
Knowing what’s in the bank today tells you nothing about whether you can make payroll in six weeks. A rolling forecast does. It’s rebuilt against what’s actually happened — not redone from scratch every time something changes — so it stays usable instead of becoming a spreadsheet nobody trusts.
Built around
Confirmed income, committed costs, and the gap between when invoices go out and when they actually get paid.
What it answers
Can we take this contract. Can we make this hire. Do we need to chase this debt now or can it wait.
02
Management accounts that mean something
A profit and loss account that just mirrors the statutory format tells you the business made money. It doesn’t tell you which part of it did. Management accounts are built around how this specific business actually makes its margin — by job, by site, by product line, by client — so the numbers match the decisions you’re actually trying to make.
Built around
Your structure, not a template — segmented by whatever actually drives profit in this business.
What it answers
Which of these is worth doing more of, and which one is quietly costing you.
03
Systems that actually talk to each other
Most high-volume businesses run on two or three systems that were never designed to agree with each other — a booking platform, a payment processor, a job management tool, the bank. Each one tells a slightly different story. Someone has to be the person who reconciles those stories into one number you can actually rely on, and fixes the gap permanently rather than patching it every month.
Built around
Whatever you already run — platform exports, bank feeds, payroll data — reconciled properly, not just filed.
What it answers
Why the bank balance and the sales reports never seem to agree, and what’s actually true.
04
Margin work
Revenue growing while margin quietly erodes is the most common — and most dangerous — pattern in a scaling business, because the top line looks healthy right up until it isn’t. This is the work of finding where margin is actually leaking: pricing that hasn’t moved with costs, a supplier contract due for renegotiation, a service line that’s busy but not profitable.
Built around
Cost of delivery against price, tracked by the same segments as the management accounts — not in isolation.
What it answers
Why turnover is up but the bank balance doesn’t feel any different.
05
KPI dashboards
Not a wall of numbers — three to six figures that actually move the business, tracked consistently, so you can see a problem the month it starts rather than the month it becomes serious. What goes on it depends entirely on what matters in your business: utilisation, debtor days, gross margin by service line, cost per mile, whatever the real levers are.
Built around
The handful of numbers that actually predict trouble or opportunity in your specific business.
What it answers
Is this trending in the right direction, and how would I know if it stopped.
How it actually runs
This isn’t a once-a-year relationship.
The value of internal finance control comes from the rhythm, not from any single report. Here’s the cadence that makes it work.
Ongoing
The transactional engine
Bookkeeping, reconciliations and payroll keep running underneath everything else — the foundation the rest is built on, kept current rather than caught up in a rush at year-end.
Monthly
Management accounts & review
INumbers that are actually ready in time to act on, not three months after the period closes — with a conversation about what they mean, not just a PDF in your inbox.
As it comes up
The one point of contact
A supplier wants accounts. HMRC opens an enquiry. Something doesn’t look right. One person who already knows the business answers, tells you whether to relax or act, and brings in specialist help if it’s needed.
VAT in e-commerce
VAT for online sellers is not straightforward.
Here is what the liability actually looks like across common e-commerce scenarios — and whether it’s typically handled correctly by businesses without specialist advice.
UK sale via Shopify direct — standard UK VAT, collected and remitted by you on your return
UK sale via Amazon (UK buyer) — Amazon collects and remits as deemed supplier; excluded from your VAT return correctly
Sale to EU buyer (goods under €150) — marketplace collects VAT under EU OSS rules; your obligation depends on platform and setup
Goods imported from China — postponed VAT accounting — import VAT deferred and reclaimed on VAT return via monthly PVA statement
Multi-currency sale — exchange rate for VAT — HMRC requires specific exchange rate methodology; payout rate is not acceptable
Sale to B2B EU buyer with valid VAT number — zero-rated under reverse charge; requires evidence of business status
The pattern we see
The businesses that come to us have usually been filing VAT returns that are technically submitted on time but structurally incorrect. The errors aren’t obvious — they don’t trigger immediate penalties. They accumulate quietly until a VAT inspection surfaces them, at which point the correction covers multiple periods and carries interest.
The most common single error: import VAT not being reclaimed through postponed VAT accounting. For businesses importing regularly from Asia, this is real cash sitting unclaimed — sometimes tens of thousands over two to three years.
Built for high-volume businesses
This looks slightly different depending on what you run.
The five pillars stay the same. What changes is which numbers actually matter for your sector — see how this applies to your business specifically.
Read More
E-Commerce & Retail
Platform reconciliation, marketplace VAT, stock and margin across Shopify, Amazon, eBay and Etsy.
Read More
Transport & Logistics
Fuel cost tracking, fleet margin, cash flow timing on long payment cycles, CIS where it applies.
Read More
CIS Subcontractors
Scheme compliance, project costing, payroll, and scaling cleanly past the point where it gets complicated.
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The Fractional FD Model
Your finance team, without the hire.
Someone watching your numbers every week, not every year.
Accurate books.
No real control.
Your VAT is filed and your accounts are right, but none of it tells you which job made money or whether you can afford to hire.
A full-time FD would fix that. This fills the gap until you need one.
What’s in it
Five things an FD does.
01
Cash flow
A rolling forecast, kept up to date, so you know weeks ahead whether payroll is covered.
Answers: Can we take this contract, or make this hire?
02
Management accounts:
Profit split by job, site, product or client.
Answers: What’s worth doing more of?
03
Joined-up systems:
Your platforms, payments and bank reconciled into one number you can trust.
Answers: Why don’t the bank and sales reports agree?
04
Margin:
Finding where profit leaks, such as prices that haven’t kept up with costs or busy work that doesn’t pay.
Answers: Why is turnover up but the bank feels the same?
05
Joined-up KPI dashboard:
Three to six numbers that matter, tracked monthly.
Answers: Are we on track?
How it runs
All year, not once a year.
Ongoing
Bookkeeping, reconciliations and payroll kept current.
Monthly
Accounts in time to act on, plus a chat about what they mean.
As needed
Supplier asking for accounts? HMRC enquiry? One person who already knows your business.
A conversation, not a commitment.
A free, no-pressure call to see where the gaps are.