Fraconomy Rate Benchmark · Q4 2026

What a fractional executive costs in Singapore

The Fraconomy Rate Benchmark for fractional CFOs, CTOs, COOs and CMOs: what one or two days a week should cost, how we worked it out, and how to use it in a brief.

The Fraconomy Note · 28 September 2026

The benchmark

Monthly retainer in Singapore dollars, before GST. Operators on Fraconomy set their own rates; this is the range we expect a fair quote to fall in.

How we worked it out

1. Start with the full-time cost. We take what an experienced leader in the seat is paid in Singapore, from recruiter salary surveys and the Ministry of Manpower occupational wage data. We use the experienced end (the 75th percentile, or the 5 to 10 year band for CFOs), because a fractional executive has usually held the seat before.
2. Make it the real cost. Thirteen months of pay, plus employer CPF at 17 percent up to the SGD 8,000 ordinary wage ceiling that applies from 2026.
3. Turn it into a day. Divide by 230 working days, which is a year after public holidays and leave.
4. Add the fractional premium. Multiply by 1.2 to 1.5. The operator carries their own benefits, pays for the gaps between clients and takes the risk of a month-to-month contract. You get senior judgement without a hire you cannot undo.

A CFO example: about SGD 275,000 a year in pay, plus SGD 17,000 of employer CPF, is SGD 1,270 a day. One day a week is about 4.3 days a month, so SGD 5,500 at cost, or SGD 6,500 to 8,500 with the premium.

Why this matters now

Singapore companies are planning with less certainty than a year ago. Kyriba's CFO Risk Radar, run in June 2026, found business optimism among Singapore finance chiefs fell from 93 percent to 59 percent, the sharpest drop of the nine markets it covers. Robert Walters expects contract and project-based hiring to lead in 2026 as companies look for flexibility under cost pressure.

Our read: this is the year companies stop choosing between no senior leader and a full-time one. The middle option is one or two days a week of someone who has done the job before, bought for a defined outcome.

What moves a quote up or down

1. Days. The biggest driver. Agree days a week before you compare prices.
2. Complexity. More entities, markets and reporting lines mean more senior hours.
3. Regulation. Payments, lending, insurance and healthcare work carries more risk, and usually costs more.
4. Borders. Singapore plus another market adds tax, entities and travel. Say so in the brief.
5. Project or retainer. A raise or a system migration is often priced as a fixed project rather than a monthly fee.

How to use it in a brief

• Write the outcome you need in 90 days, not the title you think you need.
• Say how many days a week you can fund. That one number makes quotes comparable.
• Ask for two prices: a short first sprint with fixed deliverables, and the retainer after it.
• Check each quote against the benchmark, then against what the operator has delivered before.

Method inputs: Ministry of Manpower occupational wage data (June 2024, gross monthly pay excluding bonus); 2026 recruiter salary surveys for CFO pay; CPF contribution rates from 1 January 2026. Reviewed every quarter. We will add Fraconomy quote data, with sample sizes, as it builds.