Our 10 Best Fractional Hiring Guides, From First Question to Clean Exit
The 10 guides we would send a founder before their first fractional hire, in the order you need them: decide, budget, contract, onboard and exit.
Most founders hiring a fractional executive have the same five questions. Do we need one yet? What will it cost? How do we write the contract? How do we get value in month one? What happens when it ends?
We went back through everything on the Fractionus blog and picked the guides that answer those questions with real numbers, checklists and worked examples. Here they are, in the order you will reach for them.
Stage 1: Decide If You Need One
1. Which Fractional Executive to Hire at Each Funding Stage
The role you need changes every time you raise. This guide maps it out: a CTO or CFO at pre-seed, a CMO or CRO at seed, a COO and people lead at Series A, data and IT leadership at Series B. Its best advice is to bring a fractional CFO in 6 to 12 months before a raise, while there is still time to fix the numbers.
Take this away: hire for whatever is blocking your next milestone right now.
2. Fractional CTO: What They Do and When You Need One
Written for non-technical founders. It lists five clear moments to hire a fractional CTO, including technical due diligence and a permanent CTO leaving. It is also honest about when a CTO will not help: if the real problem is culture or headcount, a new tech leader will not fix it.
Take this away: a fractional CTO owns direction and accountability. Writing code is someone else's job.
Stage 2: Work Out the Budget
3. Fractional Executive Rates by Role (2026)
Our most complete pricing guide. It gives monthly retainer ranges for eight roles across Australia, the US and the UK, and puts the true cost of a full-time hire next to each one, including super, employer NI and US benefits. It covers roles most guides skip, such as CISO and Chief of Staff.
Take this away: compare a retainer with the fully loaded cost of a hire in the same market. Base salary alone will mislead you.
4. How Much Does a Fractional CMO Cost in the US?
A close look at one role. It breaks CMO pricing down by retainer, day rate and hourly, and sets it against a full-time CMO base of about US$226k before benefits and recruiter fees. It closes with four questions to ask any candidate before you sign, including how the first 90 days will be measured.
Take this away: for most growing US companies, a fractional CMO lands around US$12k to $15k a month for 2 to 3 days a week.
5. Fractional CMO vs Agency vs In-House
Three options, three different products. An agency sells execution, an in-house CMO sells an embedded leader, and a fractional CMO sells senior strategy part time. The guide shows how much of a typical $15k agency retainer goes to agency overhead, and why companies with $5M to $50M revenue often get the most from a fractional CMO directing an agency.
Take this away: decide whether you are short on strategy or short on hands, then buy that.
Running an agency, consultancy, accounting or law firm? Our guide to the fractional CMO for professional services covers what changes when growth depends on partners and referrals.
6. Fractional Executive ROI
The guide to bring to your board. It adds up the full cost of a permanent hire (salary, on-costs, a recruiter fee of 20 to 30% and a 3 to 6 month search) and sets it against a monthly retainer. The worked example: a fractional CFO at $10k a month is $120k a year, against $290k for a full-time CFO in Australia.
Take this away: the delay of a permanent search is a real cost. Count it.
Stage 3: Get the Contract Right
7. Contract Terms Founders Get Wrong
Employee and consultant templates both break when the person works two days a week. This guide covers the three terms that cause the most trouble: scope, notice and equity. It suggests 90 days' notice with milestone exits, and equity scaled to time, around 0.2 to 0.6% over two years for a half-time CMO.
Take this away: write scope in three layers: the areas they own, strategy versus doing, and what is out.
8. Super and Payroll Tax on Fractional Executives (Australia)
For Australian businesses, the contract structure decides your tax bill. The guide walks through the ATO's three-part test for super, a worked example on a $12k monthly retainer, and the Payday Super change that starts on 1 July 2026. It ends with six questions to settle before you sign.
Take this away: contracting with the executive's company or trust usually means no super. Contracting with them as an individual can trigger it.
Stage 4: Run It Well, End It Well
9. Onboarding a Fractional Professional
One day a week means about four working days in month one, so there is no room for a slow start. This guide gives you the four decisions to make at kickoff (the goal, decision rights, rhythm and first win) and a first win for each role, such as a 13-week cash flow forecast from a CFO.
Take this away: agree on day 0 what they decide, what they recommend and what they escalate.
10. How to Offboard a Fractional Executive
The piece almost nobody writes. It sets out a four-layer handover (deliverables, decisions and the reasons behind them, work in progress, context) and a timed checklist from four weeks before the exit to 30 days after. Our favourite tip: a 10-minute recorded walkthrough is worth more than a polished deck.
Take this away: plan the exit in the original agreement, and start the handover four weeks out.
Ready to Start?
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Hire a fractional executive by Monday.
Tell us the role. Vetted leaders, matched in 48 hours.
Zero fees · 5,000+ vetted leaders
TL;DR Summary
→ We have published a lot on fractional hiring. These are the 10 guides we would send a founder before their first hire.
→ They follow the order you will need them: deciding, budgeting, contracting, then running and ending the engagement.
→ Each one comes with the single idea worth taking away, so you can skip straight to the one you need today.
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