10 Best Fractional CFO Companies for Startups (2026)

Your lead investor asks for a 24-month forecast. Your board wants to know why burn went up. Your bookkeeper closes the month, but nobody owns what comes next. That's usually when founders start looking at fractional CFO companies. This guide compares ten of them: who each one suits and what each one publishes about price. Full disclosure: we're one of the ten, and we put ourselves first. Judge us by the same rules as the rest.

It depends on the job. For a raise, where the model, deck and investor story need one owner, Waveup. For a startup CFO with published prices, Burkland, Pilot or Graphite. For accountants and a CFO in one firm, Kruze. For a vetted freelancer, Paro or Toptal. For a profitable service business, Bennett Financials. For a CFO bench across US cities, CRI CFO Hub.

Fractional CFO companies compared at a glance

They fall into four groups. Startup finance firms like Burkland, Pilot, Graphite and Kruze sell CFO time next to bookkeeping and tax. Networks like Paro and Toptal match you with a freelance CFO. Outsourced teams like Escalon, Driven Insights and CRI CFO Hub run more of the finance function. Advisory firms like Waveup tie the CFO work to a raise or a deal.

The 10 best fractional CFO firms for startups in 2026

We started with the firms that rank and get cited for fractional CFO searches. Then we checked each one on its own website in October 2026. We kept firms with a clear offer for startups or small companies. We also mixed the types, so you can match one to your job. In our work on 500+ financial models, fit with your stage matters more than size.

1. Waveup: CFO work built around a raise

Full disclosure: this is our list. Waveup is a London-based fundraising and growth advisory. Since 2014 we've been behind $3B+ raised for 600+ startups. Along the way we've built 500+ financial models. We've done 500+ valuations too, plus the decks that go with them.

Our fractional CFO services usually grow out of a project, like a raise or a model. We own the model, the board pack and investor reporting. We prepare the materials for the next round too. We don't do bookkeeping; we work on top of your bookkeeper or controller. The CFO work is covered by our monthly retainer, not billed as a separate fee.

Best for — Series A and B founders who want the model, deck and investor story from one senior team.

2. Burkland: startup CFO plans with published prices

Burkland is a San Francisco finance firm for startups. Its CFOs cover models, budgets, cash management, fundraising support and board reporting.

CFO plans start at $1,600 a month for early-stage companies. Higher tiers add fundraising support, board work, audit support and exit planning. Burkland puts a typical engagement at about $19K to $50K a year. If you're not ready for a monthly CFO, it also sells project work.

Best for — venture-backed startups that want a startup-native CFO and a clear price.

3. Pilot: a CFO on top of your books

Pilot is a US accounting firm for startups and small businesses that also sells CFO time. Every CFO engagement starts with an operating model of your business. Then you pick a level: Foundation, Strategic Support or Embedded Partner.

CFO plans start at $1,750 a month. The top level adds weekly meetings, Slack access and live help with a fundraise or an acquisition. Pilot says 300+ companies work with its CFOs today. Its CFO clients have raised $10B+ in total.

Best for — startups and small businesses that want clean books and a CFO from one provider.

4. Kruze Consulting: accountants and a CFO under one roof

Kruze is a San Francisco CPA firm for venture-backed startups. Its fractional CFOs build models, budgets and forecasts. They also manage burn and get your financials ready for VC due diligence.

Kruze works with funded Delaware C-corps that have raised at least $500K in venture capital. It covers pre-seed to Series C. Its clients have raised over $15 billion in VC funding, it says. CFO meetings run monthly or quarterly, and CFO prices aren't published.

Best for — US VC-backed startups that want their accountants to own the forecast too.

5. Graphite Financial: one finance team for VC-backed startups

Graphite is an outsourced accounting and finance team for VC-backed startups. Its finance service covers models, forecasts, board and investor reporting, and fractional CFO support. Accounting, tax, payroll and HR sit with the same team.

Finance starts at $2,000 a month on its pricing page. Accounting starts at $1,500 a month. The final price comes after a business review and a scoping exercise.

Best for — VC-backed startups that want accounting and a CFO from the same people.

6. Escalon: finance, HR and tax from one partner

Escalon runs outsourced finance, HR and tax for growing companies. Its outsourced CFO covers forecasting, budgeting, management reporting and board presentations. It says it has served 20,000+ organizations since 2006.

Bookkeeping starts at about $695 a month on its pricing page. A dedicated controller or CFO comes in the Pro plan, which is a custom quote.

Best for — startups that want one outside team for finance, HR and tax.

7. Paro: pick a vetted freelance CFO

Paro is a network of freelance finance experts. Its AI platform matches you with a CFO, usually in days. It says it accepts less than 2% of applicants. All its experts are US-based, with 15 years' experience on average.

Its CFOs work on fundraising, growth strategy, process fixes and deals, and 60% have startup experience. Prices aren't published; Paro says cost depends on scope and the CFO's experience.

Best for — US companies that want to pick one experienced CFO for a defined job, without a firm around them.

8. CRI CFO Hub: a CFO bench across US cities

CFO Hub now trades as CRI CFO Hub, a division of Carr, Riggs & Ingram Capital. It lists locations in San Diego, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and three more US cities. Its CFOs cover planning, models, capital raises, M&A and compliance.

It says companies with $1M to $50M in revenue get the most from it, and it also serves funded startups. Its CFOs typically have a CPA, an MBA or similar, and 15+ years of CFO experience. It can usually start within a week of a discovery call. Prices aren't published.

Best for — funded startups and mid-size US companies that want a CFO with an accounting group behind them.

9. Driven Insights: outsource the whole finance team

Driven Insights runs your whole finance team: bookkeeping, a controller and a CFO at the top. You can start controller-led and add CFO time as you grow. Its sectors include SaaS, recurring-revenue businesses and growing small and mid-size companies.

Prices come in a custom proposal after a consultation.

Best for — growing SaaS and subscription companies that want to hand over the whole finance function.

10. Bennett Financials: one flat fee for service businesses

Bennett Financials is a fractional CFO and tax firm founded in 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. It works with US service businesses doing $2M–$20M in revenue. Its 120-day setup installs clean books, tax strategy, forecasts and a KPI dashboard.

It publishes one price on its pricing page: $5,000 a month. That covers bookkeeping, tax returns, tax planning and monthly CFO meetings.

Best for — profitable US service businesses that want books, tax and a CFO for one fee.

Also worth a look: Toptal and FocusCFO

Toptal is a freelance network that says it accepts fewer than 3% of applicants. It says you can typically hire a fractional CFO in about 48 hours, with a trial of up to two weeks. Rates aren't published.

FocusCFO works with owner-led small and mid-size businesses. Its CFOs join your leadership team and plan for long-term business value. Prices aren't published.

How much does a fractional CFO cost?

Published startup plans start at $1,600 to $2,000 a month, or about $19,000 to $24,000 a year. All-in plans cost more: Bennett Financials charges $5,000 a month with bookkeeping and tax. Most firms quote after a call. A full-time CFO costs far more; Salary.com puts the US average salary at $438,905 a year.

Say you're a seed-stage SaaS company with a Series A planned for next year. Burkland's Core plan starts at $2,500 a month, or $30,000 a year. A full-time CFO at the Salary.com average costs about 15 times that in salary alone. Add bonus, benefits and equity, and the gap grows.

The government's figure is lower but still high. The BLS counts CFOs among chief executives, whose median wage was $213,990 in May 2025. That covers companies of every size, so a startup CFO may earn less. The gap stays wide either way.

In 2026, most firms on this list still don't publish a CFO price. What moves the price is scope. More hours, more entities, a raise, an audit or a sale all add cost. Bundling matters too: Bennett's fee includes bookkeeping and tax, while Burkland prices its CFO plans separately from accounting. Compare what each quote covers, not just the monthly number.

When does a startup need a fractional CFO?

Usually when a big money decision is coming and nobody owns the numbers. Typical triggers are a raise in the next 6–12 months or a board that wants budgets and forecasts. Tight runway or a deal, like debt, an audit or a sale, counts too. If your books are late, fix bookkeeping first. If you only need a model, hire a modeler.

Burkland says most founders bring one in to raise capital, scale fast or make complex financial decisions. That matches what we see. For a venture-backed startup, the trigger is usually an event, not a revenue line. A seed company planning its Series A can need a CFO more than a profitable business twice its size.

If the books are the problem, start there. Our list of accounting software for startups is a good first step. If you need one model for a raise, a modeling firm costs less than a monthly CFO. You can also see what a finished model looks like in our financial model examples.

How do you choose a fractional CFO firm?

Start with the job: a raise, monthly reporting, a messy close or a deal. Then check that the CFO has done that job at a company like yours, at your stage. Ask who does the work and how many hours you get. Make sure you keep the model and the files, and agree how the engagement ends.

Here's what CFO-grade work before a raise can look like. A UK fintech app came to us ahead of its late seed round. Its growth plan and its finances didn't connect, and investor conversion was low. In two weeks we built a model with cohort analysis, a customer acquisition plan and dashboards. We tuned it to the capital efficiency metrics investors were screening on: burn multiple, magic number and CAC payback. The company then raised a £3M late seed round led by top-tier UK funds. Read the case.

Two more checks. Most firms on this list are built for US companies. If you're in the UK or Europe, ask whether they know your tax rules, currency and time zone. Then ask what you'll have when the engagement ends. A good fractional CFO leaves behind a model and a board deck format. Your next hire should be able to keep the monthly investor update running from day one.

Fractional CFO, FP&A or bookkeeper: which do you need?

A bookkeeper records what happened: transactions, reconciliations and the monthly close. FP&A looks ahead: budgets, forecasts, models and variance against plan. A fractional CFO decides what to do with both: cash, hiring, pricing, the raise and the board. Most startups need a bookkeeper first, FP&A second and a CFO only when the stakes rise.

In our work, many founders who look for a fractional CFO need FP&A first. That means a model, a budget and a monthly review against plan. Our startup budget template covers the budget. A KPI dashboard covers the monthly review. For a fixed project instead of a monthly fee, see our FP&A consulting.