Fees
What does an interim manager cost?
Between €1,700 and €2,500 per day. What makes the difference is set out on this page – as are the cases in which I advise you against hiring me.
€1,700
Lowest daily rate · up to €2,500
- €1,700–1,900Interim sprint · per day
- €1,800–2,100Interim mandate · per day
Guide prices · as of October 2026
The short answer
Most providers answer this question with three paragraphs and no figure. Here are the figures. Three types of engagement, three ranges – where you fall within a range depends on four factors, set out directly below.
Interim sprint
€1,700 – €1,900
per day · 1 to 3 months
A position is vacant and the work has to continue. Or something is on fire, and someone has to stabilise the situation before decisions are taken.
Interim mandate
€1,800 – €2,100
per day · 3 to 12 months
Managing director, division head or programme lead on a temporary basis – with budget, line responsibility and reporting to the management board.
C-level programme
€2,100 – €2,500
per day · 12 months or more
Bank transformation across several institutions or divisions, with supervisory board involvement and a regulatory framework.
Prices for businesses, net plus VAT. Travel expenses at cost; travel time within Austria is included, in Germany and Switzerland half of it counts as working time. Guide values; the written proposal is authoritative. I invoice days worked, not capacity held in reserve. Prices as of October 2026. Errors and omissions excepted; subject to change.
Four factors
Why the range is so wide
Duration and predictability
The rate follows the responsibility, not the calendar. For the same role, a longer engagement costs less per day.
Scope of responsibility
An advisory role is different from a line function with signing authority, staff responsibility and liability. The rate follows the responsibility, not the calendar.
Regulatory framework
An engagement involving supervisory board reports, contact with auditors and reporting obligations requires documentation that an internal project does not. That is work, and it is priced in.
What your organisation provides
If figures, decision paths and a dedicated contact person are in place, I am productive in the first week. If they are missing, I obtain them – and you pay for days that benefit no one. This item is in your own hands.
Fixed price instead of day rate
If you want to know the amount in advance
Not every task needs an engagement lasting months. For three entry points, the amount is fixed before you commit.
Diagnostic sprint – compact
€19,500
Fixed price · 2 weeks · up to 5 interviews
One area, one question: what is really holding things up, in which order it should be tackled and what each step costs. The outcome is a document your organisation can continue working with, even without me.
Diagnostic sprint – full picture
€38,000
Fixed price · 4 weeks · up to 12 interviews
Several areas or locations, with a cost estimate per measure and a paper that has to hold up in front of the supervisory board. For institutions in which the diagnosis itself is already a decision.
Facilitated day
from €6,900
Base fee · one day · up to 8 participants
The least expensive way to test me before you consider an engagement. By the evening there are decisions with names and dates – or you know that we are not a good fit. Both are a result.
What is credited
If a diagnostic sprint leads to an engagement within three months, I credit half of the fee, up to a maximum of €10,000. If a facilitated session is followed by an engagement within three months, I credit the first off-site day in full. The conditions are set out under Fees & terms.
Multi-day off-sites: each immediately following day €3,500, each participant above eight €200 per day. A three-day strategy off-site with ten participants therefore comes to €15,100. From seventeen participants, a second facilitator is added; for this I prepare a separate proposal.
Prices and process for the other formats:
Straight talk
When you are better served elsewhere
A day rate of €1,800 is not a law of nature. There are experienced interim managers who work for €900, and some of them are very good. If price is your most important criterion, you will find a better offer than mine – and you should take it.
In three situations my rate does not pay off:
You need extra hands
If the task is clearly defined and simply needs someone to work through it, with me you pay for experience that nobody needs for this task. A staffing agency is the more honest and considerably cheaper answer.
You need an expert opinion for the minutes
If the task is to justify a decision to the outside world, the name of a large firm carries more weight in the supervisory board minutes than mine. That is not modesty, but an observation from twenty years in the business.
The decision has been made and you are looking for confirmation
I am not available for that. Not at this rate and not at any other. If you do not want to be contradicted, you are buying the wrong thing.
When bringing in someone from outside pays off at all:
The comparison
Expensive compared with what?
A day rate looks high as long as it stands on its own. Put it next to the alternative you are paying for anyway – and use your organisation’s figures, not mine.
Annual gross salary of the position × factor for employer on-costs ÷ actual working days
= daily cost of your own executive
On top of that come the months in which the position is vacant, the onboarding period and the risk of a wrong appointment that stays with you for two years. A temporary engagement carries none of these items. In return, it ends as soon as the task is done. That is the real difference, not the rate.
The most expensive option is usually neither of the two. It is called: two quarters of standstill, because nobody takes the decision.
The evidence
“Professional expertise, objectivity and reliability” – CRONBANK AG, employment reference 2013 (Translated from German). Five pieces of evidence on whether he delivers what he promises
You now know the price. The open question is the value.
Whether an engagement pays off for your organisation can be assessed in thirty minutes – free of charge and without any obligation. You describe the situation, I tell you whether I am the right person.