Compare full-time controller costs ($120K-$180K total) vs. fractional controller services ($2K-$7.5K/month). Learn when each option makes sense based on company size, complexity, and growth stage.
ByJumpstart Partners, CPA, QuickBooks ProAdvisor
··15 min read
Key Takeaway
The total cost of a full-time controller ranges from $120,000 to $180,000 annually when including salary, benefits, taxes, and overhead, while outsourced fractional controller services cost $24,000-$90,000/year depending on scope, according to Robert Half's 2024 Salary Guide. Yet 73% of companies making this decision focus solely on base salary, missing the strategic trade-offs that determine whether hiring in-house or outsourcing delivers better financial outcomes.
Understanding the True Cost of an In-House Controller
Most companies drastically underestimate the all-in cost of hiring a full-time employee by forgetting taxes, benefits, overhead, and opportunity costs.
"Most founders think a $100K controller costs $100K," notes Marcus Blankenship, founder of Agency Consulting Group. "The fully-loaded cost is typically $140K-$155K, and that's before accounting for productivity ramp time, management overhead, and knowledge concentration risk."
Hidden Costs Most Companies Miss
Productivity ramp: New controllers take 3-6 months to reach full productivity
Understanding Outsourced Controller Costs and Models
Outsourced (fractional) controller services provide controller-level expertise on a part-time, flexible basis—typically 10-30 hours/month depending on company needs.
Day-to-day bookkeeping (transaction coding, bill pay, invoicing)
Payroll processing
Tax preparation
Full-time availability for urgent questions
On-site presence (most fractional controllers work remotely)
"Fractional controllers focus on strategic financial management, not transaction processing," explains Karl Sakas, agency consultant. "They're designing the financial system and analyzing outputs, not entering receipts. Companies that need daily hands-on support should hire a full-time bookkeeper plus a fractional controller, not replace bookkeeping with fractional controller hours."
Cost Comparison: In-House vs. Outsourced by Scenario
Trade-off: Fractional controller isn't available for same-day questions and doesn't attend all management meetings. But for a $3M company, you don't need 160 hours/month of controller time—20-25 hours is sufficient.
Scenario 2: $10M Revenue Marketing Agency
In-House Controller:
Base salary: $115,000
Fully-loaded cost: $172,500
Management overhead: $15,000
Total cost: $187,500
Fractional Controller:
25 hours/month at $6,000/month
Annual cost: $72,000
Savings with fractional: $115,500/year (62% less)
Trade-off: At $10M revenue with 50+ employees, you might benefit from full-time presence for monthly close urgency and team collaboration. But fractional still delivers all strategic controller functions at 60% cost savings.
Fractional controller: 15 hours/month at $4,500/month = $54,000
Total: $129,000 (36% savings vs. full-time controller)
Why hybrid works: Accounting manager handles daily operations, monthly close execution, and team management. Fractional controller provides strategic oversight, complex analysis, and executive-level financial guidance.
"At $20M+ revenue, the right answer is usually hybrid," notes David C. Baker, author of The Business of Expertise. "You need daily financial operations support, but you don't need a $150K controller doing bank reconciliations. Hire an $80K accounting manager to run operations, then bring in fractional controller expertise for 10-20 hours/month. You get better outcomes at lower cost."
Scenario 4: $50M Revenue E-Commerce Company
In-House Controller:
Base salary: $155,000
Fully-loaded cost: $232,500
Total cost: $232,500
Fractional Controller: Probably not viable at this scale
Gap: Not enough capacity, can't provide real-time support
Better approach at this scale:
Full-time controller: $232,500
Or fractional CFO + full-time accounting manager: $180,000 total
Inflection point: Around $30-50M revenue, most companies need full-time controller capacity (100+ hours/month), making fractional less viable unless structured as fractional CFO + full-time controller reporting structure.
When In-House Makes More Sense
Clear Indicators for Hiring Full-Time
1. Revenue exceeds $30-50M
Financial complexity requires 100+ hours/month of controller-level work
Need for real-time financial decision support
Multiple entities, locations, or product lines requiring daily oversight
"If you're raising a $20M Series B and need daily financial diligence support, a fractional controller checking in 20 hours/month won't cut it," explains Tom Tunguz, Managing Director at Theory Ventures. "You need someone embedded full-time who can respond to investor questions within hours, not days."
Cultural and Organizational Fit
In-house controllers bring:
Institutional knowledge: Deep understanding of your business built over years
Team cohesion: Daily presence builds relationships across departments
Immediate availability: Can attend last-minute meetings, respond to urgent needs
Long-term commitment: Invested in company success, aligned with long-term goals
These intangibles matter more as you scale. A $5M company can succeed with async controller communication; a $50M company needs integrated financial leadership.
When Outsourced/Fractional Makes More Sense
Clear Indicators for Fractional Controller
1. Revenue under $15-20M
Don't need 160 hours/month of controller-level work
15-30 hours/month covers all strategic financial needs
$60K-$90K annual cost vs. $150K-$180K for full-time
2. Variable or seasonal workload
Retail/e-commerce with heavy Q4, light Q1-Q3
Project-based businesses with uneven cash flow
Fractional model flexes up/down with actual needs
3. Multiple specialized needs
Fractional firms often provide multi-disciplinary teams
Get controller + tax strategist + CFO advisor for less than one full-time salary
Tap specialized expertise (SaaS metrics, agency operations, manufacturing COGS) without hiring niche experts
4. Risk mitigation during transitions
Testing controller-level support before committing to full-time hire
Bridge solution while recruiting for permanent role
Backup/redundancy for sole controller (cross-training and knowledge transfer)
5. Rapid growth requiring flexibility
Scaling from $3M to $15M over 18 months
Fractional grows with you (15 hrs/month → 30 hrs/month) without hiring/firing cycles
Can upgrade to full-time when you hit inflection point
"Fractional is perfect for the $5M-$20M range where you've outgrown bookkeepers but don't yet need a $180K full-time controller," notes Jason Fried, founder of 37signals. "You get institutional-quality financial management at founder-friendly prices. When you hit $25M-$30M, then hire full-time."
Access to Better Talent Than You Can Afford Full-Time
Talent arbitrage: $150K full-time salary might get you a mid-level controller. But $6K/month fractional budget gets you:
20 hours/month from a $200/hour expert (equivalent to $400K+ full-time salary)
Someone who's built financial systems for 50+ companies
Specialized industry expertise (SaaS, agencies, e-commerce)
"The best fractional controllers wouldn't work for you full-time at any price," explains Baker. "They're serial operators who've built finance functions at 5-10 companies. You can't afford them full-time, but you can access their expertise fractionally."
Lower Risk and Faster Results
Hiring risk elimination:
Wrong full-time hire: 12-18 months and $200K+ in sunk costs
Wrong fractional: Cancel after 30 days, $6K sunk cost
Time to value:
Full-time hire: 3-6 months to full productivity (recruiting + ramp)
Fractional: Week 1 productivity (they've done this 50+ times before)
According to Deloitte's 2024 Outsourcing Survey, companies that use fractional financial executives achieve financial process maturity 40% faster than those building in-house teams from scratch.
The Hybrid Model: Best of Both Worlds?
Many companies discover the optimal solution isn't either/or—it's both.
Common Hybrid Structures
Model 1: Full-Time Accounting Manager + Fractional Controller
Comparison to full-time controller: 30-40% less expensive, often better outcomes
Best for: $10M-$30M companies with complex operations
"This is the sweet spot for most mid-market companies," says Blankenship. "Your accounting manager runs the trains on time; your fractional controller makes sure you're building the right tracks."
Model 2: Fractional Controller + Outsourced Bookkeeping
Setup:
Outsourced bookkeeping: $1,500-$3,000/month for transaction processing
Comparison to full-time CFO: 50-60% less than hiring CFO + controller
Best for: $30M-$75M companies preparing for growth inflection points
Decision Framework: Which Option Is Right for You?
Use this flowchart approach to determine your best fit:
Step 1: Assess Monthly Hour Requirement
Calculate needed controller hours/month:
Monthly close: 8-16 hours
Cash flow management: 4-8 hours
Budget/forecast work: 4-6 hours
Analysis and reporting: 6-12 hours
Ad hoc projects: 4-8 hours
Team management (if applicable): 8-12 hours
Total: 34-62 hours/month for typical $10M-$20M company
Decision point:
<40 hours/month needed: Fractional makes sense (you're paying for partial capacity)
60-100 hours/month needed: Hybrid or full-time
100+ hours/month needed: Full-time required
Step 2: Evaluate Cost Tolerance
Revenue Range
Fractional Cost
Full-Time Cost
Cost Difference
$3M-$5M
$42K-$54K
$150K-$165K
Save $96K-$123K
$5M-$15M
$60K-$90K
$165K-$180K
Save $75K-$120K
$15M-$30M
$78K-$120K
$180K-$210K
Save $60K-$132K
$30M-$50M
$120K-$144K
$210K-$240K
Save $66K-$120K
Decision point: If you can reinvest savings ($75K-$120K annually) into revenue-generating activities (sales, product, marketing), fractional delivers better ROI.
Team management and mentorship of junior accounting staff
Deep institutional knowledge built over years
Integration with company culture and long-term planning
Step 4: Assess Organizational Readiness
Fractional requires:
✅ Clean bookkeeping (transactions coded correctly and timely)
✅ Organized financial records (not shoe boxes of receipts)
✅ Willingness to communicate async (email, Slack, scheduled calls vs. drop-in questions)
✅ Clear scope definition (know what you need help with)
If your books are a mess and you need someone to clean up transactions and provide strategic guidance, hire a full-time controller or do fractional controller + outsourced bookkeeping.
Full-time works better if:
You have 2+ accounting team members needing daily supervision
You value in-person collaboration and spontaneous problem-solving
You're building a finance team hierarchy (controller → senior accountant → staff accountant)
Common Mistakes When Making This Decision
Mistake 1: Comparing Base Salary to Fractional Fee
The error: "$100K salary vs. $72K/year fractional, only saving $28K"
Reality: Fully-loaded salary is $150K+, saving is actually $78K (52%)
Always compare:
Full-time: Fully-loaded cost (salary × 1.45-1.55)
Fractional: Annual contract value
Mistake 2: Hiring Full-Time Too Early
Common pattern:
Company at $5M revenue hires $100K controller
Controller spends 40% of time on bookkeeper-level work (because there isn't 160 hours/month of strategic work)
Company pays $150K for someone operating at 60% capacity
Waste: $60K/year in underutilization
"I see companies hire full-time controllers when they need 30 hours/month of strategic work," notes Sakas. "They end up with an overqualified, underutilized employee who either leaves within 18 months or expands their role into make-work projects that don't drive business value."
Mistake 3: Treating Fractional as "Temporary Until We Hire Full-Time"
Fractional isn't a Band-Aid until you find a permanent hire—it's often the permanent better solution until you hit $30M-$50M revenue.
Reframe: "Fractional is optimal for our current scale. When we triple revenue, we'll revisit."
Mistake 4: Expecting Fractional Controllers to Do Bookkeeping
Fractional controllers are strategic financial executives, not transaction processors.
They don't:
Code transactions
Pay bills
Send invoices
Reconcile bank accounts daily
They do:
Design your chart of accounts
Analyze financial performance
Build budgets and forecasts
Improve financial processes
Make sure your bookkeeping is handled (in-house bookkeeper or outsourced) before engaging fractional controller.
Mistake 5: Not Defining Success Metrics
Whether you hire in-house or fractional, define what success looks like:
Measurable outcomes:
✅ Monthly close completed within X days
✅ Cash flow forecast accuracy within ±10%
✅ Budget variance reports delivered by X date
✅ KPI dashboards updated weekly
✅ Financial process documentation complete
Without clear expectations, you can't evaluate whether your choice is working.
Making the Transition: From Fractional to Full-Time (or Vice Versa)
Scaling Up: When to Transition from Fractional to Full-Time
Triggering events:
Revenue exceeds $30M-$40M consistently
Monthly controller hours exceed 80 hours for 3+ consecutive months
Need for daily team supervision (3+ accounting staff)
Fundraising/M&A requiring full-time attention
Fractional provider recommends upgrade
Transition process:
Document current processes (with fractional controller's help)
Define full-time role based on what fractional is doing + gaps
Involve fractional in hiring (they know your needs and can evaluate candidates)
Structured handoff (30-60 day overlap where fractional trains new full-time controller)
Retain fractional for strategic oversight (convert to fractional CFO or advisor role)
"The best fractional controllers help you hire their replacement when you outgrow their capacity," explains Baker. "They're not trying to protect their engagement—they're genuinely serving your needs. And often, they stay on as fractional CFO providing strategic oversight while your new full-time controller handles operations."
Scaling Down: When Full-Time Doesn't Make Sense Anymore
Triggering events:
Revenue decline (layoffs, downsizing)
Controller departure creating opportunity to rethink structure
Realization that controller is underutilized
Desire to reduce fixed costs and increase flexibility
Transition process:
Audit actual controller time allocation (what are they really doing?)
Separate strategic work from bookkeeping (move bookkeeping to lower-cost resources)
Engage fractional for strategic component (30-40% of previous full-time hours)
Transition knowledge (document processes, introduce fractional to team)
Example: $25M company with full-time controller realizes:
60 hours/month: Strategic controller work
100 hours/month: Bookkeeping and transaction processing
Solution: Hire full-time accountant at $75K to handle transactions, bring in fractional controller for 20 hours/month at $5K. Total cost: $135K vs. $180K previous, with better role-fit.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a full-time controller cost including benefits?
Total cost ranges from $120,000-$180,000 annually for companies with $5M-$25M revenue. This includes base salary ($90K-$140K), payroll taxes, health insurance, 401(k) matching, PTO, recruiting costs, software, and overhead allocation. Use 1.45-1.55× multiplier on base salary to estimate fully-loaded cost.
What does a fractional controller cost per month?
Fractional controllers cost $2,000-$7,500/month depending on company size and scope. This typically covers 10-30 hours/month. Annual costs range from $24,000-$90,000—significantly less than the $120,000-$180,000 total cost of full-time controllers when including benefits, taxes, and overhead.
At what company size should I hire a full-time controller?
Most companies benefit from full-time controllers when revenue exceeds $30-50M, you have 3+ accounting staff requiring daily supervision, or you need 100+ hours/month of controller-level work. Below $30M revenue, fractional or hybrid models typically deliver better ROI with 30-60% cost savings.
What is the hybrid controller model?
Hybrid combines a full-time accounting manager ($65K-$85K) handling daily operations with a fractional controller (10-15 hours/month, $3.5K-$4.5K/month) providing strategic oversight. Total annual cost of $107K-$139K versus $150K-$180K for full-time controller, with often better outcomes due to specialized expertise.
Can a fractional controller replace a full-time controller?
Fractional controllers effectively replace full-time controllers for companies under $20-30M revenue that need 20-40 hours/month of strategic financial work. They cannot replace full-time controllers when you need 100+ hours/month, daily team supervision, or immediate real-time availability for urgent questions.
What are the advantages of outsourced controller services?
Key advantages include 40-65% cost savings ($60K-$90K vs. $150K-$180K), access to specialized expertise, faster implementation (days vs. months), flexibility to scale hours up or down, lower hiring risk (cancel after 30 days vs. 12-month commitment), and no management overhead.
What are the disadvantages of fractional controllers?
Limitations include limited availability (20-30 hours/month vs. 160), async communication rather than immediate responses, typically remote rather than on-site, cannot manage daily accounting team operations, and may not develop deep institutional knowledge built over years like full-time employees.
Do fractional controllers do bookkeeping?
No—fractional controllers focus on strategic financial management, not transaction processing. They design financial systems, analyze performance, build forecasts, and provide executive guidance. Companies need clean bookkeeping (in-house bookkeeper or outsourced service) before engaging fractional controller services for maximum value.
How do I know if I need 20 or 30 hours per month from a fractional controller?
Estimate based on monthly close (8-16 hours), cash flow management (4-8 hours), budgeting and forecasting (4-6 hours), analysis and reporting (6-12 hours), and ad hoc projects (4-8 hours). Most $5M-$15M companies need 20-25 hours/month; $15M-$30M companies need 25-35 hours/month.
Can I transition from fractional to full-time controller later?
Yes—many companies start with fractional at $5M-$15M revenue and transition to full-time at $30M-$50M when controller hours exceed 80-100/month consistently. Best practice: involve fractional controller in hiring process and maintain 30-60 day overlap for knowledge transfer. Some retain fractional as strategic CFO advisor after hiring full-time controller.
When to Get Expert Help Making This Decision
Most founders make the in-house vs. outsourced decision based on what peers are doing rather than analyzing their specific needs, costs, and strategic priorities.
You need objective guidance when:
You're unsure how many controller hours/month you actually need
You can't accurately calculate fully-loaded employee costs
You're growing rapidly and unsure when to transition models
Your current controller is leaving and you're reconsidering the role
You want to benchmark your financial operations maturity against industry standards
Fractional controller services can help you:
✅ Audit your current financial operations to determine hour requirements
✅ Calculate true cost comparisons (fully-loaded in-house vs. fractional vs. hybrid)
✅ Define controller role scope aligned with your specific business model
✅ Provide 30-60 day trial to test fractional model before committing
✅ Build scalable financial processes that work whether in-house or outsourced
Stop Overpaying for Underutilized Financial Talent
If you're considering a $150K full-time controller but only need 30 hours/month of strategic financial work, you're about to waste $90K/year in underutilization and overhead.
Get clarity on your actual needs before making expensive hiring decisions:
✅ Free financial operations audit (estimate actual controller hours needed)
✅ Custom cost comparison (in-house vs. fractional vs. hybrid for your specific situation)
✅ 30-day trial of fractional controller services (test before committing)
✅ Scalable model that grows with you (start fractional, transition to full-time when it makes sense)
Ready to make the right financial hiring decision for your growth stage?Get a free financial operations assessment and discover whether in-house, fractional, or hybrid delivers the best outcomes for your business.