Pricing · Fractional CFO · By application
Fractional CFO pricing. A senior retainer, scoped to the work.
A fractional CFO isn’t priced like bookkeeping. It’s a senior retainer — $3,000–$8,000+ a month — that buys judgment, not transaction volume. The retainer is scoped per engagement after a free discovery call, with the exact number in writing. Engagements are accepted by application, with limited capacity each quarter.
Fractional CFO: $3,000–$8,000+/month · monthly retainer · by application, limited capacity per quarter · scoped per engagement after a free discovery call · the exact retainer in writing · fixed retainer, no hourly · advisory only — not tax filing, not audit/assurance.
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Fractional CFO pricing, in five questions.
How much does a fractional CFO cost?
$3,000–$8,000+/month, as a fixed monthly retainer — not hourly. The retainer is scoped per engagement after a free discovery call, with the exact number confirmed in writing before you commit. Engagements are accepted by application, with limited capacity each quarter.
What drives the monthly retainer?
Depth of involvement, not transaction volume. The number is set by how often you need strategic finance in the room, how many entities sit under you, whether a fundraise, board, or lender is in play, and the cadence and depth of the reporting and forecasting you need.
How is fractional CFO pricing different from bookkeeping pricing?
Bookkeeping is priced on transaction volume — accounts, entities, the size of the monthly close. A fractional CFO is priced on judgment: forecasts, board packages, and decisions that don’t scale with transaction count. A low-volume startup raising a round can need more CFO time than a high-volume business that just wants quarterly steering.
Is a fractional CFO the same as a tax accountant?
No. A fractional CFO is advisory and strategic finance — it is not tax filing and not audit or assurance. The CFO coordinates with your CPA or EA, who handle returns and attestation; the retainer doesn’t replace a licensed tax professional.
Why is the fractional CFO accepted by application?
Senior strategic capacity is finite. TechBrot accepts a limited number of CFO engagements each quarter, by application, so each one gets real depth. The discovery call tests fit in both directions; acceptance isn’t guaranteed, and when an engagement is accepted the retainer scope is delivered in writing first.
What a fractional CFO costs.
A fractional CFO at TechBrot is a monthly retainer of $3,000–$8,000+, accepted by application with limited capacity each quarter. Unlike bookkeeping — which is priced on transaction volume and the size of the close — the CFO retainer is priced on judgment and depth of involvement: how often you need strategic finance in the room, how many entities sit under you, whether there’s a fundraise, board, or lender in play, and the cadence of the reporting and forecasting you need. The retainer is fixed, not hourly, and scoped per engagement after a free discovery call — the exact number in writing before you commit. This is advisory work: it is not tax filing and not audit or assurance, and it coordinates with your CPA rather than replacing one. Acceptance isn’t guaranteed; senior engagements are limited.
Judgment, not transaction volume.
Bookkeeping pricing is volume math. Count the transactions, the bank and credit accounts, the entities, the payroll runs — the fee tracks the size of the monthly close. The work is largely the same shape every month, so it prices cleanly as a recurring fixed fee.
A fractional CFO is the opposite. The deliverable isn’t a reconciled ledger — it’s decisions you can defend: a forecast a lender will trust, a board package that survives questions, a pricing or hiring call backed by unit economics, a cash runway you can act on before it’s a crisis. None of that scales with transaction count. A 30-transaction-a-month startup raising a seed round can need more CFO time than a 2,000-transaction business that just wants someone steering the quarter.
So the retainer is priced on the depth of involvement the business actually needs, not on how busy the books are. That’s also why it’s accepted by application: senior strategic capacity is finite, and the engagement only works when the scope is honest on both sides.
Four things move the monthly number.
Where you land in the $3,000–$8,000+ range is set by depth, not by how many transactions clear — these are the factors the discovery call surfaces.
How often finance is in the room
A light-touch quarterly cadence sits at the low end of the band; a CFO embedded in weekly operating decisions, hiring calls, and pricing sits at the high end. You pay for presence and judgment, not hours logged.
How many entities sit under you
A single operating company is simpler than a holdco with subsidiaries, intercompany flows, or multi-state structure. More entities mean more consolidation, more moving parts, and a higher retainer.
Who’s relying on the numbers
A fundraise, an active board, or a lender covenant raises the stakes — the forecasts, scenario models, and reporting have to survive outside scrutiny. That depth of work pushes the retainer up.
How often, how deep the reporting runs
Monthly board packages, rolling 13-week cash forecasts, and live KPI dashboards take more sustained work than a quarterly review. The cadence and depth of the reporting you need shape the number.
Where engagements tend to land.
Illustrative only — not quotes, not real clients. Your retainer is scoped per engagement after the discovery call and confirmed in writing.
| Situation | Depth of involvement | Where it tends to land |
|---|---|---|
| Early-stage startup, single entity, preparing a raise | Forecasting, scenario models, and an investor-ready data room; mostly project-cadence around the round | $3,000–$4,500+/mo |
| Growing operating company, steady cadence | Monthly close oversight, KPI reporting, cash-flow strategy, and quarterly planning | $4,500–$6,000+/mo |
| Multi-entity or board/lender-driven business | Consolidated reporting across entities, board packages, covenant tracking, and embedded operating involvement | $6,000–$8,000+/mo |
Ranges are representative and never a quote. Every retainer is fixed, scoped per engagement after a free discovery call, and confirmed in writing — engagements are accepted by application, with limited capacity per quarter.
Why this engagement is accepted by application.
Senior strategic finance can’t be mass-produced. A fractional CFO carries a small number of engagements at a time because the role demands real context — on your numbers, your decisions, and the people relying on them. To protect that depth, TechBrot accepts a limited number of CFO engagements each quarter and takes them by application.
The discovery call is where the fit is tested in both directions: what you need, what capacity exists, and whether a fractional CFO is even the right answer (sometimes the honest answer is cleanup-and-bookkeeping first, then advisory later). Acceptance isn’t guaranteed. When an engagement is accepted, the retainer scope is delivered in writing — the exact monthly number, the cadence, and the deliverables — before anything begins.
Advisory, not tax or audit.
A fractional CFO retainer is advisory and strategic finance: forecasting, cash-flow strategy, KPI and board reporting, scenario and fundraise modeling, and the financial judgment behind operating decisions. It is delivered as a fixed retainer against a written scope — never hourly.
It is not tax filing and not audit or assurance. TechBrot does not file your returns or issue audited financials; the fractional CFO coordinates with your CPA or EA, making sure the strategy and the books are ready for them, but tax and attestation stay with the appropriate licensed professional. If you don’t have a CPA, the engagement helps you work with one — it doesn’t replace one.
Four steps to a number in writing.
Free discovery call
30 min · no obligation
Written scope
within 3 business days
Retainer, in writing
no hourly billing
Engagement begins
named advisor
Where to go next.
The Fractional CFO service
The flagship engagement in full — what a fractional CFO does, the deliverables, and how the retainer is scoped. Start here if you’re weighing the work itself.
Fractional CFO serviceAll TechBrot pricing
The canonical fixed-fee overview — every service and range in one place, including where fractional CFO sits beside bookkeeping and QuickBooks work.
Pricing overviewAdvisory services
The wider advisory practice the CFO retainer draws on — financial strategy, forecasting, KPI reporting, and cash-flow management.
Explore AdvisoryQuestions about fractional CFO cost.
How much does a fractional CFO cost per month?
What determines where my retainer lands in the range?
Why is fractional CFO priced differently from bookkeeping?
Why is the fractional CFO accepted by application?
Does the fractional CFO retainer include tax filing or an audit?
Is the retainer hourly, and are there long-term contracts?
How do I get an exact fractional CFO quote?
Is TechBrot affiliated with Intuit Inc.?
Start here
Apply for a fractional CFO engagement.
Start with a free discovery call. If the fit is right and capacity allows, you get a written retainer scope — the exact monthly number, in writing, before you commit. By application; acceptance isn’t guaranteed.