What an outsourced finance team actually costs

"A fraction of the cost" is easy to say and hard to picture — so let's put real numbers to it. The mistake most founders make is comparing a salary to a retainer. The honest comparison is the loaded cost of an in-house hire against a retainer that already includes everything.

The hidden cost of hiring in-house

A salary is only the headline. On top of it sit benefits, payroll taxes, paid time off, software licences, recruiting fees and management overhead — typically another 25–40%. A controller on a $185,000 salary can cost well over $240,000 fully loaded, before you account for the risk of that single person leaving.

What the same coverage costs outsourced

A retainer covering bookkeeping, a controller and tax compliance often lands at a fraction of one senior in-house salary — because you are buying fractional time from several specialists, not a full-time seat for each. For most growing companies the saving works out north of 80%.

When in-house still makes sense

If your finance function is large and highly specialised, or you need someone physically in the building every day, an in-house team can be the right call. For nearly everyone else — startups through mid-market — outsourced delivery gives more expertise for less money.

Want your own figure? Our savings calculator models it in seconds — in your market's currency.