Fractional and temporary management glossary

The recurring terms in Italian executive mandates, each defined in one line without consulting jargon. Written for founders, CFOs and boards evaluating a fractional manager in Milan, Rome or elsewhere in Italy.

Fractional manager

A senior executive working for a company part time on an ongoing basis, typically 2 to 8 days a month, with delegated authority and agreed numeric objectives.

Temporary manager

An external executive brought in full time for a defined period, usually 6 to 18 months, to handle a transition, a crisis or an extraordinary project.

Interim manager

The international term for a temporary manager; in Italy the two roles are identical in practice.

Fractional CEO

A part time chief executive who runs the company, owns cash and margin and reports to ownership and the board.

Fractional CFO

A part time finance director owning management control, the 13 week cash plan, reporting and bank and investor relations.

Fractional CMO

A part time marketing director owning positioning, channels, budget and generated demand.

Fractional CRO

A part time revenue leader owning pipeline, pricing, sales process and revenue targets.

Fractional COO

A part time operations director owning processes, supply chain, organisation and delivery times.

Mandate

The document defining objectives, authority, duration, days, cadence and price of a fractional or temporary engagement, signed before execution starts.

Monthly retainer

A fixed monthly fee covering an agreed minimum number of days, as an alternative to daily billing.

13 week cash plan

A weekly forecast of collections and payments over a quarter, the standard tool in liquidity stress and restructuring situations.

Piano industriale

The Italian multi-year business plan covering strategy, operating assumptions and financial projections, required by banks, funds and investors.

Generational transition

The handover of leadership, and often ownership, of an Italian family business from one generation to the next, separating ownership from management.

Turnaround

Restoring a loss-making or cash-stressed company to health, recovering margin and stabilising cash.

Temporary export manager (TEM)

A fixed-term manager tasked with opening foreign markets: country selection, channel, distributors and first customers.

EBITDA multiple

Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, used to value a company. Italian SMEs typically trade between 4x and 8x depending on sector, growth and owner dependency.