What Does a Fractional CFO Cost? Published Prices From 61 US Firms (2026)

The short answer: among US firms that publish their own prices, a fractional CFO starts at a median of $2,000 a month. The cheapest tier we found was $950 and the most expensive entry tier $5,500. The top tiers at the larger startup-focused firms start at $4,200–$5,250 a month. Cost guides usually quote a market range of $3,000–$12,000 a month, and fuller engagements with regular deliverables land in that range.

The finding: we checked the websites of 61 US fractional and outsourced CFO providers on October 6, 2026. Of the 59 we could load, only 14 of 59 (24%) publish their own CFO prices. The other 45 don't. Eleven of those show only a general "market range" instead, and seven of the 11 put the floor at $3,000.

The gap between $2,000 and $3,000 isn't a contradiction. The cheapest published tiers mostly buy access: a monthly call or a few hours of advice. The market range describes engagements that produce deliverables, such as a model, a forecast and a board pack. Before comparing two prices, check which of the two you're being offered.

How we checked

• The sample: providers selling fractional or outsourced CFO services in the US that appeared in Google results for six searches ("fractional cfo services", "fractional cfo pricing", "outsourced cfo services startups", "best fractional cfo firms", "fractional cfo for startups", "fractional cfo cost") and in "best fractional CFO" lists. That gave 61 providers.
• Excluded: marketplaces and talent networks, recruiters, non-US firms, and ControlFi.
• The rule: a firm counts as publishing prices only if its own website states its own fees. A blog post saying "fractional CFOs typically cost $3,000–$10,000" is a market estimate, not a price list, so it counts as no.
• "Partial": a single "starting at" figure, or only a one-off project price.
• The date: every site was checked on October 6, 2026. Prices change, and two sites wouldn't load.
• Limits: this is a sample of firms visible in search, not the whole market. Firms that publish prices may differ from firms that don't. Where a tier is described as "starts at", we report the starting figure.

The full data, with the page checked for each firm, is in the download below.

The firms that publish their prices

Prices as published on each firm's website, October 6, 2026. "From" means the firm states a starting price. Kept, theFinanceStack, Bennett Financials and Fox & Partners bundle accounting, so their prices aren't directly comparable with CFO-only fees.

Thirteen firms publish a monthly figure. Their entry prices have a median of $2,000. Excluding the four that bundle accounting, the median for CFO-only entry tiers is $1,750.

What the cheapest tier actually buys

The firms that describe their entry tier are clear about what it includes:

• Pilot's Basic plan ($1,750 a month) includes a monthly call with your CFO.
• Zeni's CFO Lite ($1,599 a month plus a $2,000 setup fee) covers budgeting, forecasting and a monthly one-hour strategy call.
• airCFO's Seed tier ($1,600 a month) includes eight hours of advice from a dedicated expert and monthly model updates.
• Ignite Spot prices by company size: $950 a month for $1–3 million of revenue, $1,500 for $3–5 million and $3,000 for $5–10 million.

That's real value for a founder who needs a sounding board and already has good books. It isn't the same product as a CFO who builds the model, runs the forecast and prepares the board pack every month. That work sits in the higher tiers and in the $3,000–$12,000 market range.

Before comparing two quotes, find out which product each one is: access, measured in calls and hours, or output, measured in deliverables.

Published price ladders by stage

Four startup-focused firms publish a full three-tier ladder, and their prices are close:

Monthly, as published October 6, 2026. Zeni adds a one-time setup fee of $2,000 or more. airCFO also offers pre-seed support from $400 an hour.

As a rough guide to budgeting:

• Pre-seed and seed: $1,600–$1,750 a month for a light tier with a monthly call or a few hours.
• Seed to Series A: $2,500–$3,150 a month for a middle tier.
• Heavier engagements: from about $4,200 a month, with fuller monthly deliverables or fundraising support. Burkland puts its typical engagement at about $19,000 to $50,000 a year.

Why most firms don't publish prices

Forty-five of the 59 firms (76%) don't publish a price. Most ask you to book a call or request a quote. The usual reason given is that scope varies too much: the state of your books, how complex the business is and whether a fundraise is coming all change the work.

That's a fair point, and it's why the published tiers are priced by hours or calls rather than by outcome. But it leaves buyers comparing a published $1,750 tier with a quote they haven't seen yet. Eleven of the firms that don't publish prices fill the gap with a general market range on their blog. Seven of those start the range at $3,000, which is why that number appears in so many cost guides.

Hourly rates

Only one of the 59 firms publishes a CFO hourly rate: airCFO, from $400 an hour for pre-seed companies.

Market estimates on firms' blogs commonly quote $150–$500 an hour; CFO Advisors, for example, gives "$150 to $500 per hour". Treat those as estimates, not prices.

Hourly billing suits a diagnostic or a short, defined project. For ongoing work, a monthly retainer against a defined scope is usually better for both sides, because hourly billing prices the time rather than the result.

UK day rates

UK finance leadership is usually priced by the day, and the title is often finance director rather than CFO. FD Capital, a UK fractional CFO recruiter, publishes:

FD Capital puts the total employment cost of a full-time CFO at £165,000–£290,000 a year.

Full-time CFO comparison

Every cost guide compares fractional fees with a full-time salary. The full-time figures firms publish vary widely:

• Graphite Financial: about $230,000 average US salary
• Pilot: "more than $250,000 per year"
• McCracken Alliance: $393,377 a year

The spread comes from measuring different companies. A median across all company sizes lands near the low end, while larger companies pay near the top. Salary is also only part of the cost: payroll taxes and benefits add about a quarter, before bonus and equity.

For a worked example of what a full-time CFO costs a startup in runway compared with a fractional one, see our guide to when to hire a CFO.

What moves your number

1. The state of your books. If they need fixing before anything can be built on them, that work comes first and adds to the cost.
2. Access or output. A monthly call and a monthly board pack are different products, priced accordingly.
3. Complexity, not size. One product in one entity is simpler than several products across countries, whatever the revenue.
4. A live fundraise or debt process. Tight timelines and investor scrutiny push the price up.
5. How often you need the CFO. Weekly involvement costs more than a quarterly review.
6. Accounting bundled or separate. Firms that include bookkeeping charge more, but you may not need a separate bookkeeper.

How to compare two quotes

1. "What exactly will I get, and by when?" A quote that can't name deliverables is selling time. A good answer looks like the deliverables we'd expect in the first 90 days.
2. "What happens if my books are a mess?" The right answer is an assessment first, then a scope.
3. "How many calls or hours does this tier include?" It tells you whether you're buying access or output.
4. "Is accounting included?" Compare like with like.

A quote well below the published ranges isn't necessarily bad, but it's a different product. Find out which one before deciding it's a bargain.

Download the data

The full dataset lists all 61 providers. For each one it gives whether the firm publishes its own CFO prices, the page we checked, the pricing model, the entry and top-tier prices, what the entry tier includes, whether accounting is bundled and the check date. You're welcome to use it, with a link to this page.

Download the data (.csv)