The CFO’s Guide to M&A and Exit Planning

How does a permanent in-house CFO actually contribute to a UK business’s M&A or exit programme — and what should owners and Boards consider when deciding whether to recruit a transaction-experienced CFO ahead of an exit that is two or three years away?

UK businesses approaching a sale, exit or significant M&A activity face a specific senior finance leadership question that is genuinely consequential for transaction value. The permanent CFO leading the business through the 18-36 months before transaction is one of the most material contributors to the eventual outcome — preparing the business financially, building the management information that buyers will scrutinise, leading the relationships with banks and advisors that the transaction depends on, and shaping the commercial position the business presents to potential acquirers. CFOs without transaction experience can lead businesses well in steady state but often deliver disappointing transaction outcomes; CFOs with exit-relevant track record materially improve the eventual valuation and the smoothness of the process.

This creates a recruitment question for owners and Boards thinking ahead. When exit is two or three years away, is the existing CFO the right person to lead the business through to transaction? Should a transaction-experienced CFO be recruited specifically for the exit programme? What characteristics distinguish CFOs who deliver strong exit outcomes from those who don’t? And how does the CFO recruitment decision intersect with alternative arrangements — interim engagement, fractional support, advisory engagement — that might also address the senior finance leadership gap?

This guide sets out what permanent CFOs deliver through UK M&A and exit programmes — the 18-36 month preparation work that materially affects transaction outcome, the specific transaction-related disciplines, the recruitment decision when exit is approaching, the FD profile that suits exit-stage businesses, the post-deal integration work that protects the value the transaction creates, and the sector-specific considerations across UK exit contexts.

It is written from the perspective of FD Capital’s team — a specialist finance recruitment firm placing exit-experienced CFOs and FDs into UK businesses since 2018.

Call 020 3287 9501 or email recruitment@fdcapital.co.uk to discuss CFO recruitment for an M&A or exit programme.

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Why CFO Selection Matters Specifically for Exit-Stage Businesses

The CFO at the helm of a business going to exit is one of the most consequential single appointments the business makes. Strong appointments produce strong transaction outcomes; weak appointments routinely cost businesses 10-20% of valuation, sometimes more. The reasons specific to exit context are worth setting out directly.

Buyer scrutiny is sustained and sophisticated. M&A processes involve weeks or months of structured diligence by professional advisors who have completed dozens of comparable transactions. The CFO’s credibility under sustained scrutiny — answering technical questions accurately, defending forecast assumptions substantively, handling difficult diligence findings constructively — directly affects buyer confidence and therefore valuation.

Transaction structure has material economic implications. Locked-box versus completion accounts, working capital peg negotiation, debt-like items definition, earn-out structuring, warranty cap and indemnity scope. Each commercial term has substantial economic implications. CFOs without transactional experience often accept buyer-favoured templates; CFOs with experience negotiate terms that protect seller interests.

Pre-exit financial preparation cannot be done at the last minute. Audit-grade historical financials, EBITDA bridge with substantiated add-backs, working capital normalisation, customer concentration analysis, KPI infrastructure with stable definitions over time. Each takes 12-24 months to build properly. CFOs joining the business shortly before exit can address some preparation gaps but often cannot rebuild deficiencies that should have been addressed years earlier.

Stakeholder relationships matter through the process. Banks, audit firm, tax advisor, legal advisors, corporate finance advisor, key customers and suppliers — each may need to be engaged through the transaction. CFOs with established relationships and credibility navigate these conversations more efficiently than CFOs newly appointed to the business.

Management presentation is one of the most consequential events. Buyer management meetings determine whether buyers continue with their interest or step back. The CFO’s performance in these meetings — alongside the CEO’s commercial leadership — substantially shapes process outcomes. Experienced transaction CFOs prepare for these meetings deliberately and perform well; inexperienced CFOs often inadvertently damage the negotiating position.

Earn-out and rollover negotiations affect management economics. Where management equity rolls over into the new structure or earn-out arrangements form part of consideration, the negotiation of these structures has material implications for management’s eventual outcome. CFOs experienced with these negotiations protect management interests; inexperienced CFOs often accept buyer-favourable structures that disadvantage the management team.

The CFO’s contribution to transaction outcome typically substantially exceeds the difference in compensation between an experienced exit CFO and a less experienced alternative — making the recruitment decision economically straightforward when transaction is genuinely approaching.

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The 18-36 Month Pre-Exit CFO Preparation Programme

Strong exit outcomes typically reflect 18-36 months of structured preparation under CFO leadership. The work cannot be compressed materially without reducing transaction quality. Specific elements of the preparation programme include:

Audit-grade historical financials. Most UK businesses below the audit threshold haven’t been audited. Buyers expect audit-grade historical financials covering the last three years. The CFO commissions external accountancy work to produce the financial information pack buyers will rely on. This work takes 4-8 months and needs to be complete before process start.

EBITDA bridge with substantiated add-backs. EBITDA add-backs — items the seller argues should be excluded when calculating the multiple — are negotiation-intensive. Common add-backs include one-off legal costs, restructuring expenses, founder compensation differential, transaction-related costs. Each requires documentary substantiation. The CFO identifies legitimate add-backs and prepares the substantiation; over-claim destroys credibility under diligence.

Working capital normalisation. The working capital position at completion is a material commercial term. Buyers calculate normalised working capital — typically the average of monthly closing positions over the prior 12 months. The CFO ensures the working capital position is well-understood, anomalous months are explained, and the seller’s normalisation argument is defensible.

Forecast credibility. Sale price is heavily influenced by the forward forecast. Forecasts that look optimistic without credible support get discounted heavily in diligence. The CFO builds the forecast carefully, with driver-based logic that ties revenue projections to specific commercial assumptions, supported by recent trading history, stress-tested for downside scenarios.

KPI infrastructure stable over time. Buyers examine the historical KPI trail for evidence of disciplined reporting versus drift. KPIs that have remained stable across multiple years demonstrate reporting integrity. KPIs that have been redefined when underlying performance shifted produce uncomfortable diligence questions. The CFO ensures KPI definitions are stable and documented.

Customer concentration analysis. Most UK mid-market businesses have material customer concentration. Buyers examine concentration carefully — top 10 customers as percentage of revenue, top 3 customers, contractual versus implied commitment, renewal patterns. The CFO prepares this analysis honestly with explanations for any concentration the buyer will see.

Customer cohort analysis where applicable. For subscription, recurring revenue, or repeat-purchase businesses, customer cohort analysis demonstrates whether the underlying economics are healthy. New cohort retention curves, expansion revenue patterns, payback periods. The CFO builds cohort analysis as standard reporting that supports the diligence narrative.

Tax and structural cleanness. Pre-transaction tax planning — using available reliefs (Business Asset Disposal Relief at 10% for qualifying gains up to £1 million per individual lifetime allowance, with main rate capital gains tax applying above this threshold), optimising entity structure, addressing pre-deal restructuring needed — happens well before transaction begins. The CFO coordinates with tax advisors to ensure structure delivers seller’s intended outcome.

Cleaning up the financial record. Owner-managed businesses often carry items that don’t survive institutional scrutiny — directors’ loan accounts with significant balances, personal expenses processed through the business, vehicles or properties owned by the company that are essentially personal use, dividend versus salary balance designed for owner tax efficiency rather than commercial transparency. Each is fixable but takes time and needs resolution well before buyers engage.

Supplier and customer contract review. Material commercial contracts are diligenced by buyer legal advisors. Issues identified — change of control provisions, exclusivity clauses, IP terms, liability caps — affect transaction outcome. The CFO ensures contracts are organised, accessible, and where possible cleaned up before diligence begins.

For owner-managed businesses approaching exit see also our Business Exit Preparation service page and Fractional FD for M&A and Exit Planning guide.

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Strategic Recruitment of a CFO for Business Exit Preparedness

Where the existing CFO doesn’t have transaction experience and exit is genuinely approaching, the question of whether to recruit a transaction-experienced replacement becomes substantive. Several specific factors guide the decision.

How long until exit? If exit is 24+ months away, recruiting an experienced replacement makes economic sense — the new CFO has time to embed, prepare the business properly, and lead the eventual process. If exit is 12 months away, recruitment timing becomes tight and the existing CFO supplemented by experienced advisor or interim engagement may be more practical. If exit is 6 months away, replacement is rarely the right answer and external transaction support becomes the appropriate solution.

How experienced is the existing CFO? CFOs who have led completed sales, MBOs or significant M&A in prior roles bring transaction capability that doesn’t disappear when they change employers. CFOs whose careers have been entirely steady-state — even where they’ve been excellent operationally — typically lack the transaction-specific capabilities exit-stage businesses need.

Is the existing CFO part of the management equity arrangements? Where the existing CFO is rolling equity into the new structure or has earn-out participation, they have direct economic interest in the transaction outcome, which often produces strong engagement during the process. CFOs without economic participation may engage less intensely. The equity question affects whether existing CFO retention is the right answer.

How does the existing CFO respond to honest discussion? Difficult conversations between owners and existing CFOs about transaction capability sometimes produce constructive responses (the CFO welcomes external transaction support, accepts a new senior hire above them for the transaction, or sometimes leaves on good terms with planned succession). Where the existing CFO responds defensively, the recruitment decision becomes more complex but no less necessary.

What is the cost differential between existing CFO and transaction-experienced replacement? Transaction-experienced CFOs typically command 15-25% premium over comparable steady-state CFOs. The premium is invariably justified relative to transaction outcome — a £30 million sale that achieves £2 million of additional valuation through better preparation pays for any reasonable CFO compensation differential many times over.

What is the cost of mistake? Wrong CFO appointments at this stage produce damaged transaction outcomes that compound. Slow recruitment is preferable to wrong recruitment. Careful candidate evaluation, structured reference checking, and detailed engagement with the candidate’s transaction track record matter more than at any other stage of CFO recruitment.

What is the cultural risk? Bringing in a new CFO for the exit phase changes the existing management team dynamics. The change can be positive (new energy, transaction experience, fresh perspective) but also disruptive (disrupted relationships, transition period during which other priorities suffer). Owners need to weigh both effects.

FD Capital’s experience suggests that businesses recruiting transaction-experienced CFOs 18-30 months before exit consistently produce stronger outcomes than businesses retaining steady-state CFOs through the process. The economics are clear; the execution requires careful candidate selection.

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What to Look For in a CFO if You’re Planning an Exit Within 2-3 Years

The specific characteristics that distinguish exit-capable CFOs from generalist CFOs are visible if you know where to look. Recruitment processes that prioritise these characteristics produce stronger appointments.

Demonstrable transaction track record. Specific completed transactions — sales, MBOs, IPOs, significant M&A — where the candidate led the finance workstream. Verifiable through references with the corporate finance advisors, legal advisors, or buyers from the prior transactions. Generic claims of transaction experience without specific verifiable examples should be discounted.

Multiple completed processes. A single completed transaction is good evidence of capability; multiple completed transactions demonstrate consistent capability. CFOs with three or four completed exits typically perform better than CFOs with one, because the pattern recognition compounds.

Sector and stage relevance. Transaction experience in comparable businesses — similar sector, similar size, similar transaction type — is more relevant than transaction experience in dissimilar contexts. A CFO whose track record is FTSE 350 disposals isn’t necessarily the right candidate for a £40 million owner-managed business sale, and vice versa.

Buyer-side experience. CFOs who have been on the buyer side as well as the seller side of transactions bring useful perspective — they understand what buyers are looking for, what raises concerns in diligence, what supports valuation. Buyer-side experience is genuinely additive even where the next role is sell-side.

Sponsor relationships. CFOs with relationships in the PE sponsor community — through prior portfolio appointments, prior sponsor engagements, or sustained networking — bring direct working knowledge of how sponsors approach transactions. For businesses likely to sell to PE buyers, this experience is particularly valuable.

Strong corporate finance advisor relationships. CFOs who have worked closely with corporate finance advisors on prior transactions bring established relationships that accelerate process initiation. The advisor brought in for the new business often comes from the CFO’s network rather than independent search.

Balance of strategic and operational capability. The exit CFO needs to operate the business through the preparation period (operational dimension) while also leading the transaction (strategic dimension). CFOs whose backgrounds are purely strategic typically struggle with the operational side; CFOs whose backgrounds are purely operational typically struggle with the strategic side. Balance matters.

Communication ability under pressure. Transaction processes involve sustained pressure — Board scrutiny, buyer management meetings, lender conversations, advisor coordination, employee communication. Strong communication capability under pressure isn’t easily assessed in interview but is visible in references and in past transaction performance.

Cultural fit with management team. The exit CFO works closely with the CEO and management team through a stressful period. Cultural alignment matters more at this stage than in steady-state appointments where mismatches can be managed through structural separation.

Personal commitment to the timeline. CFOs who explicitly commit to staying through transaction completion and a defined post-deal period (typically 6-12 months) produce continuity that benefits the transaction. CFOs who are clearly moving to other opportunities during the preparation period create execution risk.

For wider context on senior finance recruitment see our Finance Leadership Recruitment & Hiring guide.

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Why Hiring the Right Executives Is Crucial for Exit Success

The CFO appointment is the most directly transaction-relevant senior hire, but exit success depends on the broader executive team strength. Buyers diligence not just the financial position but the management team capability — and management team weakness is one of the most common reasons strong commercial businesses fail to achieve their full valuation potential.

Specific roles that materially affect exit outcomes:

CEO and the second-tier leadership. Buyers want to see capable management who can continue running the business after acquisition (or who can support transition where the CEO is leaving with the deal). Management gaps below the CEO — strong CEO with weak operational layer — undermine confidence in the business’s ability to deliver the forecast.

Commercial leadership. Sales, marketing, customer success leadership. Buyers examine commercial team capability through performance review, retention analysis, and during management meetings. Weak commercial leadership signals risk to the forward forecast.

Operations leadership. Service delivery, supply chain, technology operations — depending on business model. Operational leadership weakness creates execution risk for buyers planning post-deal integration.

Technology leadership. Particularly in technology-enabled businesses, the CTO or VP Engineering is a major part of what the buyer is acquiring. Technology team capability and stability affect valuation.

HR leadership. For people-intensive businesses, HR leadership capability affects retention through transaction and post-deal. Weakness here creates risk during the most vulnerable period for talent retention.

Strong businesses approaching exit ensure each of these roles is filled with appropriate capability before transaction begins. Weaknesses identified late are typically too late to address through the transaction, and become valuation discounts rather than fixable problems.

FD Capital places senior finance leaders specifically; for executive recruitment beyond finance, the principle is the same: experienced executive search partners, structured candidate evaluation, careful reference checking. The standards that apply to the CFO appointment apply across the senior team.

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How CFOs Navigate Post-Acquisition Culture Shifts

The CFO’s role doesn’t end at completion. Post-acquisition integration — particularly cultural integration where the acquired business joins a buyer’s existing structure — is one of the most under-managed dimensions of M&A. Strong CFOs lead or substantially support the cultural integration work alongside the operational integration.

Specific contributions through cultural integration:

Honest assessment of cultural difference. Different businesses have different cultures — different communication styles, different decision-making patterns, different attitudes to risk, different approaches to governance. The CFO contributes to honest assessment of how the cultures actually differ rather than allowing platitudes about cultural fit to obscure the work that integration requires.

Reporting rhythm transition. Acquired businesses face new reporting expectations — buyer’s standard reporting format, buyer’s KPI definitions, buyer’s monthly close timetable. The CFO leads the transition from acquired company’s prior reporting rhythm to new owner’s rhythm without disrupting the management information the business needs to operate.

Authority and approval changes. Approval thresholds change post-acquisition. Capital expenditure that was within the CEO’s authority pre-deal may require buyer approval post-deal. Hiring authority, customer commitment authority, supplier commitment authority — each may shift. The CFO ensures management understand new authorities and operate within them.

Compensation and equity transitions. Existing employee compensation arrangements need transition to buyer’s framework. Equity arrangements (EMI options, share schemes) need handling at completion. New compensation arrangements (sometimes more, sometimes less generous than pre-deal) need communication. The CFO supports HR on the financial dimensions of these transitions.

Process and system changes. Integration often involves replacing accounting systems, payroll providers, banking arrangements, expense management tools. Each change carries operational risk. The CFO leads or supports the system changes deliberately rather than allowing them to happen reactively.

Retention through the most vulnerable period. The 6-18 months after deal completion is typically the highest-risk period for talent retention — uncertainty about the future, dissatisfaction with cultural changes, accelerated career consideration. The CFO contributes to retention strategy alongside HR and the CEO.

Communication discipline. Post-deal communication to employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders shapes how the integration is received. The CFO contributes to communication content and supports the consistent messaging the integration requires.

Earn-out monitoring where applicable. Where the deal includes earn-out arrangements, ongoing monitoring of metric performance protects management’s economic outcome. The CFO maintains the earn-out tracking infrastructure and engages with the buyer on any disputes.

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What to Consider When Selling an Online Business

Online businesses — ecommerce, SaaS, digital services, marketplace, content businesses — face specific exit considerations that CFOs in these businesses need to handle deliberately.

Customer data and privacy. Online businesses typically hold substantial customer data. Buyers diligence the data position carefully — UK GDPR compliance, ICO history, breach incidents, data processor arrangements, marketing consent records. The CFO ensures data position is documented and any historical issues are addressed before diligence rather than discovered during it.

Platform dependencies. Online businesses often depend heavily on specific platforms — Amazon, Shopify, Apple App Store, Google Play, Salesforce AppExchange. Concentration risk on a single platform is something buyers examine and that affects valuation. The CFO surfaces dependencies honestly and supports diversification where feasible before exit.

Marketing channel economics. Performance-marketing-driven businesses have specific commercial economics — channel-by-channel CAC, payback periods by acquisition source, dependency on specific platforms (Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, Amazon advertising). Buyer diligence examines whether channel economics are sustainable. The CFO prepares this analysis honestly with documented assumptions.

Subscription and recurring revenue economics. SaaS and subscription businesses face cohort analysis scrutiny — retention curves, expansion revenue, payback periods, NRR, GRR. The CFO ensures cohort analysis is built into standard reporting rather than reconstructed for diligence.

Technology architecture and IP. Online businesses are technology-intensive. Buyer technology DD examines code quality, architecture, technical debt, IP ownership (particularly contractor-developed code), security posture. The CFO coordinates the financial dimensions alongside CTO-led technical preparation.

International revenue treatment. Online businesses sell internationally from early stages. VAT treatment, transfer pricing, permanent establishment risk, withholding tax — each requires deliberate handling. The CFO ensures international tax position is clean before exit.

Working capital realities. SaaS businesses with annual prepaid contracts have negative working capital that affects deal mechanics. Ecommerce businesses with inventory and merchant services arrangements have specific working capital patterns. The CFO ensures working capital position is well-understood and the normalisation argument is defensible.

Customer churn and retention. Online business retention dynamics are visible in the data. Buyers examine churn carefully. The CFO prepares retention analysis honestly with explanations for any visible concerns.

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Permanent CFO vs Fractional, Interim and Advisor Alternatives for M&A and Exit

UK businesses approaching M&A and exit have several engagement model options for senior finance leadership through the transaction. The choice depends on specific factors.

Permanent CFO (this guide’s focus). The right answer when transaction is 18-36 months out, when the business needs sustained senior finance leadership through preparation and beyond, when economics support permanent compensation, and when the right candidate is willing to commit through the transaction. Most successful UK exits are led by permanent CFOs in place 18-36 months before completion.

Fractional CFO. The right answer when the existing senior finance team is reasonably capable but needs strategic supplementation, when the engagement timeline is shorter, or when economics don’t yet support permanent commitment. See our Fractional CFO for M&A and Exit Planning for the larger-business mid-market context, and Fractional FD for M&A and Exit Planning for owner-managed business context.

Interim CFO. The right answer when the existing CFO has departed at a critical moment, when transaction-specific full-time presence is required for a defined period, or when crisis circumstances during transaction require dedicated full-time senior finance leadership. See our Interim CFO for Crisis & Turnaround for the engagement model.

Transaction advisor. The right answer when the existing CFO is generally capable but lacks specific transaction experience, where bringing in a transaction-specific advisor (often a former corporate finance partner or experienced transaction CFO operating in advisor capacity) supplements existing leadership. Less common than the other models but appropriate in specific situations.

Combination approaches. Many transactions involve multiple engagement models in combination — existing CFO supported by transaction advisor, fractional CFO supplementing existing FD, interim cover during permanent search. The combinations work where each contribution is clearly defined and roles don’t overlap.

For PE-specific exit context see our CFO Value Creation in PE Portfolio Companies and Fractional FD: PE Exit & Due Diligence Support.

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The Senior Finance Recruitment Market for Exit-Stage Businesses

The UK market for transaction-experienced CFOs and FDs has specific characteristics that affect the recruitment decision and timeline.

Genuine transaction-experienced candidates are limited. The pool of CFOs with multiple completed UK exits is meaningful but not large. Many CFOs claim transaction experience but actual completed transaction track record is rarer. Specialist senior finance recruiters maintain mapped networks of candidates with verified track record.

London executive search has matured around senior finance. The London executive search market for senior finance roles has developed substantially over the last decade — from generalist firms occasionally handling senior finance to specialist firms focused entirely on this segment. The specialist firms maintain better candidate networks for senior finance specifically and conduct more rigorous candidate evaluation. For businesses recruiting transaction-experienced CFOs, specialist senior finance recruitment partners typically deliver better outcomes than generalist executive search.

Compensation expectations have shifted. Transaction-experienced CFOs in the UK currently command compensation packages that include base salary (typically £130,000-£200,000+ depending on business size), bonus opportunity (often 30-50% of base), and equity participation (typically the most consequential element of total compensation in PE-backed and exit-track businesses). Compensation packages need to be benchmarked against market rather than internal historical patterns.

Timeline matters. Senior finance recruitment for material CFO appointments typically takes 4-6 months from process start to candidate joining. Where exit is 24+ months away, this timeline works comfortably. Where exit is 12-18 months away, timeline becomes tighter and structured engagement with specialist recruiters from process start matters.

Reference rigour is essential. Transaction-experienced CFOs need to be referenced with the prior corporate finance advisors, legal advisors, and ideally with prior buyer-side counterparts. Generic referees who weren’t actually involved in the prior transactions provide less useful information than the transaction-specific referees.

Cultural assessment matters at this stage. The CFO joins the business at a sensitive moment — the existing management team is approaching the most consequential phase of their commercial lives. Cultural alignment between the new CFO and the existing leadership matters more than at most other appointment stages.

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Engaging an Exit-Experienced CFO with FD Capital

FD Capital places CFOs and FDs with completed UK exit and M&A track record into businesses approaching transactions. We understand that exit-stage CFO recruitment is specific — the gap between a CFO with completed transactions and a CFO with strong general capability but limited transaction experience is visible in transaction outcomes and is verifiable through reference checking.

Our candidate network includes CFOs and FDs whose recent careers include completed sales, MBOs, IPOs, and significant M&A in UK businesses across SaaS, ecommerce, marketplace, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services and other sectors. We match candidates based on sector relevance, transaction type alignment, business size compatibility, and cultural fit with the existing management team.

Adrian personally oversees senior placements at exit-stage and conducts candidate screening himself for material appointments. Initial introduction is typically within 48 hours for urgent requirements; full shortlist within ten working days for less time-pressured engagements where deeper candidate evaluation is appropriate.

Initial consultation is confidential and at no charge. Call 020 3287 9501 or email recruitment@fdcapital.co.uk to discuss a CFO or FD requirement for an M&A or exit programme.

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Related Reading

• Fractional CFO for M&A and Exit Planning — fractional CFO alternative for mid-market transactions
• Fractional FD for M&A and Exit Planning — fractional FD for owner-managed transactions
• Fractional FD: PE Exit & Due Diligence Support — PE-specific exit support at FD level
• CFO Value Creation in PE Portfolio Companies — PE hold-period value creation that precedes exit
• Fractional FD: Value Creation in PE Portfolios — FD-level PE hold-period
• CFO Strategic Leadership: The Complete UK Guide — strategic CFO leadership at scale
• The CFO’s Role in Fundraising & Investor Relations — fundraising context
• The CFO Career Path: Progression, Transitions & Skills — career development for CFOs
• Finance Leadership Recruitment & Hiring — senior finance recruitment process
• Business Exit Preparation — pre-sale readiness work
• Vendor Due Diligence Guide — VDD process
• Locked Box and Completion Accounts Guide — deal completion mechanisms
• Earn-Out Guide — earn-out mechanisms and structuring
• W&I Insurance Guide — warranty and indemnity insurance

FD Capital Recruitment Services

• CFO Recruitment — permanent CFO search
• CFO Executive Search — retained senior search
• Finance Director Recruitment — permanent FD search
• M&A CFO — permanent CFOs with M&A specialism
• Business Exit Preparation — pre-sale readiness support
• Private Equity CFO — CFOs for PE-backed portfolio companies
• Fractional CFO — fractional CFO recruitment
• Interim CFO — time-limited CFO cover

External References

• ICAEW — professional body for Chartered Accountants
• ICAEW Corporate Finance Faculty — professional resources on M&A and transaction support
• HMRC — UK tax framework including Business Asset Disposal Relief and capital gains tax on exits
• Companies Act 2006 — statutory framework for UK share sales and corporate reorganisations
• UK Corporate Governance Code — governance framework relevant to transaction-stage businesses

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