Finance manager or financial controller?

Both roles keep the finance running week to week. A finance manager keeps the records, runs payroll and files the VAT returns. A financial controller does all of that and also manages the cash: customers invoiced and chased, suppliers paid on time and a board pack produced every month.

What a finance manager does

• Bookkeeping every week, with each month closed within a few working days
• Payroll and expenses every month
• VAT returns from records that a lender, investor or auditor can rely on
• Xero and the apps around it set up and kept running

What a financial controller adds

• A monthly board pack you can send to your bank, investors or board
• Customers invoiced promptly and chased every week
• Supplier payment runs prepared for you to approve
• A cash alert when the bank balance drops below a level you set

Choosing between them

Start with a finance manager when the records need keeping up to date, payroll and VAT need doing on time, and you are content to chase customers and approve payments yourself.

Move to a financial controller when customers pay late, cash is tight, a lender or board wants monthly figures, or chasing customers and paying suppliers is taking up your week. On £480,000 of annual sales, bringing average payment from 62 days to 30 releases £42,082. The debtor days calculator works it out for your figures.

The cost of employing each

A year, 2026 to 2027	Finance manager	Financial controller
Gross salary, Robert Half median	£60,250	£70,000
Employer National Insurance	£8,288	£9,750
Employer pension	£1,321	£1,321
Cost of employing them	£69,859	£81,071
Buzz fee, + VAT	From £9,000	From £18,000

Salaries are the national 50th percentile in the Robert Half 2027 UK Salary Guide. Employer National Insurance is 15% of pay above the £5,000 secondary threshold. The employer pension is the 3% minimum on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 (GOV.UK; The Pensions Regulator). The finance team cost calculator works it out for a salary you choose.

When you need a finance director as well

A finance manager and a financial controller run the finance. A finance director writes the plan, owns the forecast and takes decisions with you at board level. If the business is raising money, preparing to sell or making a large decision, that is the role to add.