What will a fractional CFO cost me?Anywhere from $1,500 to $18,000 a month.
Core publishes its price: $5,000 a month for $3M-$10M companies, $7,500 for $10M-$20M. One catch to watch... most CFO quotes don’t include your books or your taxes. Ours do.
2 minutes. If it’s a fit, you pick a time with Barry. No obligation.
How much does a fractional CFO cost?
Published fractional CFO rates we reviewed in October 2026 ran $175-$400 an hour, or about $1,500 to $18,000 a month. Size and scope set where you land. Most of those quotes cover the CFO work only. Core charges $5,000 a month for $3M-$10M companies, and that includes bookkeeping, controller work and tax.
Prices checked October 2026. Reviewed by Barry Roach Jr., EA, founder of Core Accounting & Consulting Group.
Published fractional CFO rates start near $1,500 a month and top out around $18,000.
These are the published rates we reviewed from fractional CFO firms in October 2026. They came from websites, pricing pages and ads. We left the firm names out.
Plenty of firms don’t publish a price at all. So treat this as the part of the market you can see.
| How it’s priced | Published range | What we saw |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly | $175-$400 | Per hour of senior CFO time. |
| Monthly, entry level | From $1,500 | The lowest monthly offers we found. |
| Monthly, typical start | $2,000-$6,000 | Where most published starting prices landed. |
| Monthly, larger companies | $8,000-$18,000 | CFO work only. Books and tax are billed somewhere else. |
| One-time assessment | From $5,000 | One firm sells a paid review before the monthly work starts. |
Source: published rates we reviewed from fractional CFO firms in October 2026. Ranges are what firms advertise, not what every client pays.
The median financial manager earns $166,570 a year, before benefits.
That’s the median annual wage for financial managers in May 2025, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The group covers controllers, treasurers and finance officers, not only CFOs.
Salary is only part of it. In June 2026, benefits made up 30% of what private employers spent on compensation, per BLS employer cost data. And a full-time CFO still needs a bookkeeper and a tax preparer underneath.
Fractional CFOs bill three ways. Each one fits a different job.
Hourly, at $175-$400 an hour
Good for a one-time job with a clear edge, like reviewing a loan package. The catch is the meter. When every question costs money, you stop asking the small ones... and small ones are where problems start.
A monthly retainer
The common setup for ongoing work. A flat fee buys a set scope, often a cash forecast, a budget and a monthly review call. It’s predictable. Get the scope in writing, because two $5,000 retainers can buy very different months.
A project fee for a defined finish line
A budget build, a 13-week cash forecast, getting ready for a bank or a buyer. You know the price before you start. The weak spot is month four. A forecast nobody updates turns into a very nice PDF.
Core prices the monthly way, with the books and tax in the same fee. See how the CFO work handles hiring and cash decisions.
Seven things move a fractional CFO quote up or down.
- Revenue. More revenue usually means more people, more transactions and bigger decisions. Many published prices are tiered by revenue, including Core’s.
- How many entities you run. Each extra company adds a set of books, intercompany transfers and often another return.
- Transaction volume. Thousands of card swipes and processor deposits take longer to reconcile than a few hundred invoices.
- How far behind the books are. Nobody can forecast from books that stop in March. Catch-up work is often its own line. Core includes up to 12 months.
- Payroll in more than one state. Every state adds registrations, filings and reconciling.
- How often you meet. A quarterly check-in costs less than a monthly review call with email in between.
- Whether books and tax are in the fee. This is the big one. It’s also the line most CFO quotes leave out.
“And what do you cost overall anyway?”
Said to us on real calls. Names left out, words left in.
Overall is the right word. A CFO-only quote prices one seat. Someone still keeps your books, someone checks them and someone files your returns.
So fill in the blanks below from your own invoices. We won’t guess your numbers for you.
| On your books today | What it covers | Your monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeper | Categorizing, reconciling and closing the month | $ ________ |
| Controller review | Checking the balance sheet and accruals before anyone plans from them | $ ________ |
| CPA or tax preparer | Business and personal returns, estimates, any tax planning (annual fee divided by 12) | $ ________ |
| Fractional CFO quote | Forecast, budget, review calls | $ ________ |
| Your own hours | Carrying numbers between all of them | ____ hrs × $____ |
| Total | What finance really costs you each month | $ ________ |
Now put Core next to it. At $3M-$10M, $5,000 a month covers the first four lines. Your own hours drop to under 5 in month one and under 3 a month after that.
Core publishes its price. $5,000 a month covers the CFO, the books and the taxes.
| Annual revenue | Monthly fee | Per year | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| $3M-$10M | $5,000 | $60,000 | About 2% at $3M, 0.6% at $10M |
| $10M-$20M | $7,500 | $90,000 | About 0.9% at $10M, 0.45% at $20M |
| $20M-$50M | From $10,000 | From $120,000 | Set by scope on the fit call |
| $50M+ | Custom | Custom | CFO only; your team keeps the books and tax |
Below $50M, every tier gets the same four roles. The tiers follow revenue, not features.
- Bookkeeping, with books closed by the 15th and every account reconciled to its source
- Controller review of the balance sheet and accruals
- Business and personal tax planning and returns, for one operating entity plus the owners’ personal returns
- CFO advisory: a rolling cash forecast, an annual budget, an owner pay plan and a monthly review call
- Cleanup of books up to 12 months behind
- No onboarding fee
Some things get quoted separately, before you sign. That means more than one operating entity, multi-state payroll, catch-up beyond 12 months, or a move to QuickBooks Online. Payroll processing isn’t in the fee either. Keep your payroll company, or use the one we work with.
Terms: month-to-month from day one, with 30 days’ notice. No onboarding fee. And if we didn’t do the job to your standard, you can ask for your most recent month back. Month one or month 36.
A few limits, so you know now. We work in QuickBooks Online only, so everyone is in one file. We don’t run AP or AR, and we don’t do inventory, WIP or job costing. Under $3M in revenue, the fee is too big a share of what you bring in.
See the full finance department pricing and scope
Two quotes only compare once you know these eight things about the price.
For questions about the work itself, see what a fractional CFO should hand you every month. These are the money questions.
- Is there a setup fee or a paid assessment before month one?
- Is catching up the books included, and how many months behind?
- How many review calls and hours does the monthly fee buy?
- Am I billed for questions between calls?
- What happens to the price when revenue grows past the band I’m in?
- Are more entities or payroll in more than one state extra, and by how much?
- What’s the minimum term, and how much notice do I give to leave?
- If a month goes badly, is any of the fee refundable, in writing?
Then add the bookkeeper and the CPA to any quote that leaves them out. That’s the only way the totals line up.
Fractional CFO pricing questions, answered with numbers
Is a fractional CFO cheaper than a full-time CFO?
Usually, yes. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts median pay for financial managers at $166,570 a year (May 2025), before benefits. Published fractional CFO rates we reviewed ran about $1,500 to $18,000 a month. The top of that range can cost more than the median salary. Core’s $5,000 a month for $3M-$10M companies also covers the books and the tax work.
Why do fractional CFO prices vary so much?
Because the quotes aren’t selling the same month of work. A $1,500 offer and an $18,000 one differ in meetings, models and company size. Revenue, extra entities, transaction volume, books that are behind and multi-state payroll all push the price up. So does including books and tax. Core publishes one fee per revenue band, starting at $5,000 a month, so you can see what moves it.
Do fractional CFOs charge by the hour?
Some do. Hourly rates we reviewed ran $175-$400 an hour, which suits a one-time question or a short project. Ongoing work is more often sold as a monthly retainer, so you aren’t watching the clock before you call. Core doesn’t bill hourly. One monthly fee, from $5,000, covers the review call, email between calls, the books and the tax work.
Do fractional CFOs charge setup or onboarding fees?
Some do, so ask before you sign. One firm we reviewed sells a paid assessment from $5,000 before the monthly work begins. Catch-up bookkeeping is another line worth asking about. Core charges no onboarding fee, and cleanup of books up to 12 months behind is included. A bigger catch-up or a move to QuickBooks Online is quoted before you sign.
Is a fractional CFO tax deductible?
Generally, yes. Fees for accounting and financial advice are usually an ordinary and necessary business expense under Section 162 of the tax code. Your own facts still matter. Fees tied to buying a business or a major asset, for example, may have to be capitalized instead. At Core, the person who answers that is on the same team, led by Barry Roach Jr., EA.
What does Core’s price include that a CFO-only quote doesn’t?
The books and the taxes. Core’s fee is $5,000 a month for $3M-$10M companies. It covers bookkeeping closed by the 15th, controller review, business and personal tax planning and returns, and CFO advisory. A CFO-only quote covers the forecast, budget and review calls, and your bookkeeper and CPA get paid separately. Core’s returns cover one operating entity plus the owners’ personal returns.
Can I hire Core for the CFO work only?
Only above $50M in revenue. Below that, the CFO work comes with the bookkeeping, controller review and tax. The advice depends on books we closed and a tax plan we built. Above $50M, your own team keeps the books and handles tax. Core provides the CFO advisory at a custom price, set after a 30-minute fit call with Barry.
Fill in your own numbers. Then compare them to one fee.
You’ve got three honest options. Hire and manage the people yourself, keep the setup you have, or hand all four jobs to one team. If your numbers looked exactly like this six months from now, would that be okay?
See if we’re a fit →2 minutes. If it’s a fit, you pick a time with Barry. No obligation.