You’re evaluating fractional CFO services and the first question that hits is practical: how much time will this person actually spend on my business, and what will it cost? The answer directly impacts whether fractional support makes financial sense or if you’re better off hiring full-time or sticking with your current controller.
Most fractional CFOs work between 10 and 40 hours per month, costing anywhere from $3,000 to $15,000 monthly depending on your business complexity and growth stage. This guide breaks down exactly what drives those hours, what you get for your investment, and how to determine the right level of support for your revenue size and strategic goals. If you want the broader picture on scope and ROI, see our complete guide on what a fractional CFO is.
Typical Fractional CFO Hours per Month
Most fractional CFOs work between 10 and 40 hours per month, depending on your company’s size, complexity, and growth stage. Early-stage startups typically use 8–10 hours monthly for foundational financial work, while growth-stage companies require 15–25 hours for more complex operations, and established businesses preparing for exits might use 20–40 hours for strategic involvement and project-based work like fundraising or mergers and acquisitions.
The hours aren’t arbitrary. A $1.5M service business with stable operations will require far less fractional CFO time than a $7M SaaS company raising capital and scaling rapidly.
Common Hour Ranges: 5–10, 11–20, 21–40
At 5–10 hours per month, you’re getting minimal oversight for businesses with straightforward financials. This typically includes monthly financial reviews, basic cash flow monitoring, and quarterly tax planning check-ins. It works well for established service businesses that aren’t actively scaling or for companies with strong internal bookkeeping already in place.
The 11–20 hour range represents active growth support where your fractional CFO becomes a strategic partner in decision-making. This includes weekly financial reviews, growth modeling, KPI dashboard management, and proactive tax strategy that goes beyond basic planning. Most service-based businesses between $2M and $7M in revenue find this range hits the sweet spot between cost and strategic value.
At 21–40 hours per month, you’re getting comprehensive strategic leadership for complex operations, fundraising activities, or businesses preparing for acquisition. Your fractional CFO is deeply embedded in weekly leadership meetings, building detailed financial models, managing investor relations, and serving as your financial quarterback across all major decisions.
What Those Hours Cover Week to Week
The hours your fractional CFO works translate into specific deliverables that move your business forward. Each engagement is structured around the outcomes you need, whether that’s clarity on cash runway, confidence in your pricing strategy, or readiness for a capital raise.
Strategic Planning and Forecasting
Your fractional CFO builds financial models that show you exactly what it takes to hit your revenue targets. If you’re at $5M and want to reach $10M, they’ll map out the exact investment in people, systems, and working capital required, then show you whether that path is realistic or needs adjustment.
Cash flow forecasting becomes a weekly or biweekly exercise, giving you visibility 13 weeks out so you can make hiring and investment decisions with confidence rather than hope. They’re also running scenario models—what happens if you lose your biggest client, or if that new service line takes off faster than expected.
Tax Strategy and Cash Preservation
This isn’t year-end scrambling to find deductions. Your fractional CFO works with your tax advisor throughout the year to structure decisions that minimize tax liability while maximizing cash available for reinvestment.
They’ll evaluate entity structure, retirement plan contributions, equipment purchases, and cost segregation opportunities in real time as your business evolves. When you’re considering a major purchase or restructuring, they’re modeling the tax impact before you commit.
KPI Dashboards and Monthly Close
You’ll get a live financial dashboard that shows the metrics that actually matter for your business. For service businesses, that might be revenue per employee, project profitability, and cash conversion cycle. For SaaS companies, it’s MRR, churn, CAC payback, and runway.
The monthly close process becomes a strategic review, not just a historical record. Your fractional CFO will flag the single biggest constraint holding you back—whether that’s too many low-margin clients, declining booked calls, or overhead creeping up faster than revenue—and help you decide what to fix first.
Investor or Lender Reporting
If you’re raising capital or managing bank covenants, your fractional CFO handles all external financial communications. They’ll prepare board decks, investor updates, and lender compliance reports that position your business accurately and professionally. They also manage due diligence processes, ensuring your financial records can withstand scrutiny from investors, acquirers, or lenders.
Converting Hours to Cost: Average Monthly and Hourly Rates
Understanding the time commitment is only half the equation. You also want to know what that investment actually costs and how it compares to other options.
Average CFO Hourly Rate
Fractional CFO hourly rates typically range from $175 to $450 per hour, with most experienced strategic CFOs charging $250–$350 per hour. Rates vary based on the CFO’s experience level, industry specialization, and the complexity of work involved.
A fractional CFO focused primarily on financial reporting and basic analysis will be on the lower end, while one who leads fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, or complex tax strategy will command premium rates. Geographic location matters less than it used to. Most fractional CFOs work remotely and price based on value delivered rather than local market rates.
Fractional CFO Cost per Month
Monthly retainers typically range from $3,000 to $15,000 depending on hours and scope. A 10-hour monthly engagement at $300 per hour runs $3,000, while a 30-hour engagement at the same rate costs $9,000. Most service-based businesses between $2M and $7M in revenue invest $5,000–$8,000 monthly for 15–25 hours of strategic CFO support. If you want to see how these ranges map to real packages, review our pricing.
Annualized Cost Compared to Salary
A fractional CFO at $6,000 per month costs $72,000 annually. A full-time CFO with comparable experience typically commands $180,000–$300,000 in base salary, plus benefits, equity, and bonus structure that can push total compensation to $250,000–$400,000.
| Option | Annual Cost | Hours per Year | Flexibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fractional CFO (20 hrs/mo) | $72,000–$96,000 | 240 hours | Scale up or down monthly |
| Full-Time CFO | $250,000–$400,000 | 2,080 hours | Fixed commitment |
| Senior Controller | $120,000–$160,000 | 2,080 hours | Limited strategic scope |
The cost difference becomes even more pronounced when you factor in the opportunity cost of hiring the wrong full-time CFO or waiting six months to fill the position while your business needs strategic guidance now.
Pricing Models Used by Fractional CFO Firms
Fractional CFO firms structure their engagements in different ways, each with distinct advantages depending on your business needs and cash flow preferences.
Hourly Consulting Rates
Some fractional CFOs bill strictly by the hour, typically in minimum increments of 15 or 30 minutes. This model offers maximum flexibility for businesses that need occasional strategic input rather than ongoing support, perhaps you’re evaluating an acquisition or need help with a one-time fundraising process. The downside is unpredictability in monthly costs and the potential for the CFO to be less proactive since they’re only engaged when you reach out.
Flat Monthly Retainers
Most fractional CFO engagements operate on fixed monthly retainers that include a set number of hours and defined deliverables. You’ll pay the same amount each month regardless of whether you use every allocated hour, creating budget predictability and encouraging the CFO to be proactive rather than reactive. Retainer agreements typically include core deliverables like monthly financial reviews, KPI dashboards, and quarterly strategic planning sessions, with additional hours available at a predetermined rate if needed.
Project or Transaction Fees
For specific initiatives like fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, or financial system implementations, some fractional CFOs charge fixed project fees. A capital raise might be priced at $15,000–$50,000 depending on complexity, while sell-side M&A advisory could be structured as a fixed fee plus success bonus. Project-based pricing gives you cost certainty for major initiatives while keeping the CFO focused on outcomes rather than hours logged.
Factors That Change Required Hours and Cost
Several variables directly impact how many hours you’ll need from a fractional CFO and what you’ll ultimately invest in strategic financial leadership.
Industry Complexity
Highly regulated industries like healthcare and legal services require more CFO time due to trust accounting requirements, compliance reporting, and complex billing structures. A medical practice managing insurance reimbursements and multiple provider compensation models will need more hours than a straightforward consulting firm with simple time-and-materials billing.
SaaS and cybersecurity companies face revenue recognition complexity under ASC 606, requiring additional CFO time to ensure proper accounting treatment of subscriptions, multi-year contracts, and deferred revenue.
System Maturity and Data Quality
If your books are a mess, transactions uncategorized, bank accounts unreconciled, vendor bills piling up, your fractional CFO will spend significant time cleaning up before they can deliver strategic value. Companies with clean books and organized financial systems get more strategic insight per hour invested.
The quality of your existing tech stack matters too. Businesses using modern cloud accounting platforms like QuickBooks Online or Xero with integrated bill pay and expense management require less manual work than those running on desktop software or spreadsheets.
Growth Initiatives and One-Off Events
Preparing for a capital raise, acquisition, or major strategic pivot temporarily increases fractional CFO hours. A fundraising process might require an additional 20–30 hours over two to three months for financial modeling, pitch deck creation, due diligence preparation, and investor meetings. Similarly, launching a new service line, entering a new market, or making a significant acquisition requires additional financial modeling and scenario planning.
Supporting Finance Team Depth
The strength of your existing finance team directly impacts required fractional CFO hours. If you have a solid bookkeeper or controller handling day-to-day accounting, your fractional CFO can focus entirely on strategy, forecasting, and growth planning. Without that support, your fractional CFO will spend more hours on tactical work, reviewing bank reconciliations, ensuring bills are paid on time, managing payroll, leaving less time for the strategic work that drives real value.
Fractional CFO vs Full-Time CFO vs Controller Cost
Understanding the differences between financial leadership roles helps you make the right decision for your current business stage.
Salary and Benefits Differential
A full-time CFO costs $250,000–$400,000 annually when you include salary, benefits, equity, and employer taxes. A senior controller runs $120,000–$160,000 total compensation, while a fractional CFO delivering 20 hours monthly costs $72,000–$96,000 annually.
The real question is what you get for that investment. A full-time CFO gives you 2,000+ hours annually but might be underutilized if your business doesn’t yet have the complexity to justify that level of engagement. A controller handles accounting and reporting well but typically lacks the strategic experience to lead growth planning or capital raises.
Flexibility and Scalability of Hours
Fractional CFO arrangements scale with your business in ways full-time hires can’t. When you’re at $3M in revenue, 15 hours monthly might be perfect. As you grow to $8M and prepare for acquisition, you can increase to 30 hours without going through a hiring process. You can also scale down during slower periods or after major projects complete, preserving cash without the difficult conversations that come with restructuring full-time roles.
Opportunity Cost of Delayed Decisions
The biggest cost isn’t always the salary. It’s the revenue you don’t capture and the mistakes you make while operating without strategic financial guidance. If waiting to hire a full-time CFO means you miss a growth opportunity, make poor pricing decisions, or overpay on taxes by $100K, the delay cost far exceeds the investment in fractional support. A fractional CFO can start within weeks, not months, giving you immediate access to strategic guidance when you need it most.
How Many Hours Do You Need at $1M, $5M, and $10M Revenue
Revenue size isn’t the only factor, but it’s a reliable starting point for estimating fractional CFO needs across different business stages.
Minimum Viable Support at $1M
At $1M in revenue, you typically need 8–12 hours monthly focused on financial foundations and basic strategic planning. Your fractional CFO will ensure your books are accurate, establish a simple KPI dashboard, implement basic cash flow forecasting, and coordinate with your tax advisor on quarterly planning. The focus at this stage is building the financial infrastructure that supports growth, clean accounting processes, reliable reporting, and visibility into your unit economics.
Growth-Mode Support at $5M
Between $3M and $7M in revenue, most businesses need 15–25 hours monthly as complexity increases and growth opportunities require more sophisticated financial analysis. Your fractional CFO is now deeply involved in growth strategy, evaluating new market opportunities, modeling service line profitability, managing more complex tax strategies, and potentially preparing for outside capital. You’re likely managing a larger team, dealing with more sophisticated clients, and making decisions with higher stakes.
Exit-Ready Support at $10M
At $10M+ in revenue, businesses typically invest 25–40 hours monthly in comprehensive CFO services, particularly if preparing for acquisition or managing investor relationships. Your fractional CFO is leading financial strategy across the organization, managing complex reporting requirements, coordinating with legal and tax advisors on transaction planning, and ensuring your business is positioned for maximum valuation. The work at this stage is sophisticated, building detailed financial models for buyers, managing due diligence processes, optimizing working capital, and structuring deals that maximize after-tax proceeds.
Choosing a Strategic Partner, Not Just a Cost Cutter
The fractional CFO market includes two distinct types of professionals, those who focus primarily on cost reduction and financial cleanup, and those who drive growth and enterprise value creation. When evaluating fractional CFO candidates, ask questions that reveal their orientation toward growth versus cost-cutting.
Ask them to walk you through how they’d help you grow from $5M to $10M in revenue. A growth-focused CFO will immediately start asking about your business model, margins, capacity constraints, and market opportunity. Ask about their approach to tax planning. Look for answers focused on preserving cash for reinvestment, not just minimizing current-year liability.
Growth-oriented fractional CFOs demonstrate several consistent characteristics. They lead with questions about your vision and goals, speak in terms of investment and growth rather than just cost control, and have experience with transactions and scaling. They build forward-looking models that show you the path to your goals, and they understand your specific industry dynamics.
At Bennett Financials, we take the data and structure how to grow companies, working with owners on expansion rather than just cost reduction. When a business owner says they want to hit $10M from $5M, we build out exactly how to get there, mapping cash requirements, people investments, and the specific path forward.
If you’re ready to work with a fractional CFO who sees their role as your navigator rather than just your accountant, let’s talk strategy.
FAQs About Fractional CFO Hours and Costs
Do fractional CFO hours increase during tax season?
Most fractional CFOs maintain consistent monthly hours since tax planning happens year-round, though some may increase hours for tax preparation if that’s part of their service scope.
Can hours decrease once automation is in place?
Hours may shift from routine tasks to strategic work as automation handles basic processes, but total engagement often remains similar as focus moves to higher-value activities.
How fast can I scale fractional CFO hours if my business grows suddenly?
Most fractional CFO firms can adjust hours within a billing cycle, allowing businesses to increase support quickly during growth phases or special projects.
