When to hire a full-time CFO

I’m a fractional CFO, so you might expect me to say you never need a full-time one. You do, eventually. For most companies it happens somewhere between $20m and $40m in revenue, or at around 150 people. The size matters less than the signs. These are the five I watch for in my own clients.

Five signs it’s time

1. Decisions can’t wait for my days. A fractional CFO works on fixed days. That’s fine while most finance work can be planned. Once a pricing call, a lender question or a big contract needs an answer the same afternoon, every week, waiting starts to cost more than a salary.

2. You’re running two big processes at once. A raise, an acquisition and a first audit are each a part-time job. One at a time works on a retainer. Two in the same quarter usually doesn’t.

3. The finance team is four people or more. A team needs a manager who is there every day to unblock, review and develop people. Fixed days aren’t enough for that.

4. You’ve needed more than 8 days a month for three months running. At my rates, 8 days a month on a 12-month term is $10,440. You’re paying a real salary for someone who still isn’t there on the other 13 working days. That’s the point where the model stops serving you.

5. Your board or lead investor asks. Some events need a named, full-time CFO: an IPO track, a large debt facility, or a sale where buyers will want to interview your finance lead. When the board raises it, take it seriously.

The maths

A fully loaded CFO in New York in 2026 costs about $320,000 a year. That’s a $240,000 salary, a 15% bonus and around $44,000 of benefits and payroll tax: $26,700 a month. On top of that comes equity, often 0.5% to 1.5% at Series B, and a search fee that is commonly 25% or more of first-year cash pay.

A fractional CFO at 4 days a month on a 6-month term costs $5,510 a month. The difference is about $21,000 a month. Before you hire, ask what that $21,000 would buy instead. Often the answer is a strong controller.

Hire a controller first?

Many companies that think they need a CFO actually need a controller. If the pain is in execution (a slow close, late payables, messy payroll), a controller fixes it every day, at roughly half the cost of a CFO. Keep the fractional CFO for strategy, the board and investors. That pairing carries most companies from Series A to Series B.

What to have ready before you search

• A 24-month brief. What will this person do: raise a Series C, prepare for an audit, buy a competitor? Write it down. It becomes the job spec.

• Clean books. Twelve months of closed, reconciled accounts. A good candidate will ask to see them.

• A reporting line. Do they report to the CEO? Do they sit on the leadership team? Will they attend every board meeting?

• An equity budget, agreed with your board before the first interview, not after the last.

• A 90-day handover plan from whoever does the job now, with the models, the close checklist and the logins.

How it ends well

When my clients reach this point, I write the job spec, join the final interviews and hand over everything in a documented state. Then I leave. A company that’s ready for a full-time CFO is the best result a fractional CFO can have.