Virtual CFO Services In Reading

Clearer decisions, stronger funding cases and a plan your team delivers, with a senior CFO on site and online

A virtual CFO is a senior chief financial officer who works with your Reading business both on site and online, giving you strategic finance leadership without a full-time salary or hire. They join the management team, take responsibility for delivering the plan and help the directors decide as a director would. It is senior finance leadership, not bookkeeping or outsourced accounts.

Virtual, fractional, outsourced and part-time are different names for one service. The Fractional CFO guide sets out the full model, and our board-level support in Reading page lists every role together.

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What Does A Virtual CFO Do For A Reading Business?

A Secantor virtual CFO joins the management team of a Reading business and takes responsibility for its strategic finance, meeting you in person at the start and at regular points, and working with you online in between. The areas of support typically include:

  • Planning: a three to five year financial forecast model, built from profit and loss, balance sheet and cashflow and refreshed with the board as conditions change.
  • Funding and lenders: managing the relationship with the bank and other lenders, and preparing the case for new finance.
  • Performance: the measures that show how the business is really doing, with commentary on what to do about them.
  • Decisions on the move: a prompt, informed view from a named contact when a choice cannot wait for the next meeting.
  • Joined-up information: reporting that works for managers spread across more than one site or working from home.

Bookkeeping and accounts production are not part of the service and stay with your bookkeeper or accountant. Virtual CFO is another name for the same ongoing service as Fractional CFO, Part-Time CFO and Outsourced CFO, and each has its own Reading page.

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When Does A Reading Business Need A Virtual CFO?

A Reading business needs a virtual CFO when its leaders are spread across sites, work from home or split the week between Reading and London, yet still want a CFO involved in the decisions that matter. It also suits owners who want a timely answer on funding, planning or risk between board meetings, rather than waiting for the next scheduled session. The signs are covered in our guide to when an SME needs a CFO.

How A Virtual CFO Helps A Reading Business

Set against a full-time hire, a virtual CFO brings strategic experience at a lower fixed cost and with less pressure on the diary, because sessions are planned around the board cycle and many decisions can be taken online. Your named CFO already knows the numbers, so a question between meetings reaches someone who is in the picture rather than a new voice each time, and the experience of many owner-managed businesses comes with them. Where the finance function needs firmer day-to-day control, you can add a Part-Time Finance Director later.

A virtual CFO discussing investment options with an SME business owner

How A Virtual CFO Fits Around Your Business

Secantor opens with a conversation about where you want the business to go, then recommends the CFO who suits you, or more than one if you would like to choose. All of our advisors have held senior board roles themselves, and each is accredited by our directors. Your CFO meets you in person at the start and at regular points, joins the board cycle by video call, works from shared reporting and is reachable through a named contact. Throughout, they sit in your management team and take responsibility for the priorities you agree together.

What Does A Virtual CFO Cost In Reading?

A virtual CFO from Secantor costs £1,200 a day plus VAT and expenses in Reading. The days are agreed in advance and you have full flexibility to increase or decrease them to suit your business needs, so a busy quarter can have more time and a quieter one less. Our guide to what a fractional CFO costs in the UK gives wider context.

A virtual CFO interpreting financial performance with an SME management team
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Our 5-Point Commitment to You

✅ Expert Advice You Can Rely On: You'll work with qualified, experienced advisors who are focused on results.

✅ A Trusted Working Relationship: We select advisors who fit your culture, team and goals.

✅ Tailored Support for Your Business: No templates, just relevant, practical, hands-on input.

✅ Dependable, Consistent Delivery: We meet deadlines, keep promises and deliver lasting impact.

✅ Clear, Proactive Communication: No jargon. Just senior-level expertise, clearly delivered.

Working With Your Existing Team

A virtual CFO adds a senior strategic layer above your finance team, accountants and lenders, who carry on as they are. The CFO leads on funding, the forecast and the board, relies on the figures your own people produce and supports them where that helps. Secantor provides the senior finance layer rather than bookkeeping or outsourced accounts.

A virtual CFO creating a financial forecast model with an SME business owner

Choosing Between A Virtual CFO And Other Roles

A virtual CFO is the natural choice when the main questions are strategy and funding and you want that leadership delivered on site and online. If the first need is control of reporting and cash, a Part-Time Finance Director comes first. For a fixed project, deal or gap in leadership, an Interim CFO works to a defined period, and for an independent voice on the board, a Non-Executive Director is the role to consider. Our guide to Fractional vs Part-Time vs Interim CFO explains the differences between the models.

Starting With A Free Business Review

The Free Business Review costs a Reading owner nothing and commits you to nothing. We begin with a short call, then come to you to hear what the business is trying to achieve, and you receive our independent view together with our recommendation of a CFO who fits.

Next Steps

If you are weighing a virtual CFO for your Reading business, the easiest move is to talk it through. Book a discovery call with a Secantor Director, or begin with the Free Business Review if you would like our independent view first.

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What Should A Reading Owner Know Before Choosing A Virtual CFO?

What does virtual mean for a CFO?

It describes how the work is delivered, not how good it is. A Secantor virtual CFO works with you on site and online as a member of your management team, and the role itself is the same as a fractional, part-time or outsourced CFO.

Is a virtual CFO a consultant?

No. A consultant advises and then leaves. A virtual CFO from Secantor is accountable for delivering the financial plan, takes part in decisions as a director would, and stays involved until the work is done, whether in the room or on a call.

Will we still meet in person?

Yes. Your CFO meets you in person at the start and at regular points, and you agree together how much of the rest takes place online.

How do we reach the CFO between sessions?

Through a named contact. Questions on funding, forecasts or a decision that cannot wait go to the advisor who already knows your figures, by phone, video call or shared reporting.

Is a virtual CFO the same as a fractional, part-time or outsourced CFO?

Yes, these names describe the same ongoing service, and each has its own Reading page: Fractional CFO, Part-Time CFO and Outsourced CFO. Only an Interim CFO differs, because it is a fixed engagement.

Does a virtual CFO include bookkeeping?

No. Bookkeeping and accounts production stay with your bookkeeper or accountant, and the virtual CFO works above them on strategy, funding and the plan.

Not quite found the answer you need? Contact our team and we will get back to you personally.

Looking at other roles? See our Part-Time Finance Director and Non-Executive Director services in Reading.

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