Fractional FP&A vs. Fractional CFO

People often ask about the difference between Fractional FP&A and a Fractional CFO.

And — because in large companies FP&A typically reports to the CFO — it’s easy to assume that in a smaller company, a Fractional CFO would cover FP&A responsibilities too.

But this is where it’s important to pause and look more closely at the qualities each role requires.

Fractional CFO’s Shoulder a Broad Set of Responsibilities

Fractional CFOs are invaluable for companies that need:

• Coordination across legal, tax, compliance, and accounting

• Implementation and oversight of financial operations

• Support for investor and banking relationships

Even part-time, a Fractional CFO is expected to “own it all” — from payroll and vendor payments to financial reporting, banking, audits, and taxes. They cover a wide operational remit and ensure the financial function runs smoothly and compliantly.

They bring stability, credibility, and broad financial leadership — often serving as the company's financial face to the outside world.

This breadth is essential. But that naturally comes at the expense of depth in any one area — including FP&A.

Fractional FP&A Specializes in Forward-looking Analysis

When you hire a Fractional FP&A lead, you're not asking them to:

• Sign off on accounting policies

• Coordinate tax filings

• Deal with HRIS or benefits platforms

• Manage external audits

Instead, you're getting:

• Unbiased, grounded visibility into your business model

• Clear, reliable forecasts that tie to operational reality

• Decision support built for execution, not just presentation

• Scenario planning that makes tradeoffs visible and actionable

At Seahorse, our goal is to help you to understand your business better, prioritize the opportunities, make clear, confident decisions, and learn from every action.

We bring a mix of curiosity, analytical rigor, grounded optimism and creativity.

Seahorse Specializes in FP&A

I have enormous respect for accounting, tax, compliance and financial operations, and have led these functions at numerous startups — but they are very different to FP&A.

If you are looking for greater financial clarity and insight, I strongly encourage you to consider hiring Seahorse as a Fractional FP&A consultant. Our focus in this area provides you with C-level analytics at the fraction of the cost of a full time hire.

Book a free discovery call here.

Published: August 4, 2025