Fractional vs Full-Time Hire
Most people are too shy to talk real numbers at a trade show.
Not this guy.
He stood across from me, leaning on the booth stand that was covered with my green, Munitz & Co. branded tablecloth. He got straight to the point:
"I am a general contractor, we make $12M a year. Give me the real numbers, is it worth it for me to hire you instead of getting someone in-house?"
At $12M going the fractional route can be huge cost-saver. I helped him break it down.
The Quick Math
A full-time CFO costs about $200,000 a year, and fractional costs $4,000 to $30,000 a month.
Hiring in-house comes with a salary, plus employer costs like payroll taxes and benefits. According to Payscale, the median base salary for CFOs in the US is $155,000.
Working with a fractional construction CFO will cost a $12M contractor about $100,000 per year. Notably, this fee includes additional services such as financial controls, accounting, and bookkeeping.
On the back of a napkin that sounds like big savings.
But I'll break it down below, and give you a free tool to play around with your own numbers.
What a Full-Time Construction CFO Costs, Salary and All
Let's open with the base salary.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) lists the median salary for a financial manager at $166,570. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $94,310, and the highest-paid 10% earned more than $323,270. Payscale, updated as of October 2026, has data specifically for CFOs and lists the median salary at $155,000, with the top 10% earning $249,000.
A CFO with niche experience in construction can demand an even higher salary.
I'll be conservative and use Payscale's figures.
Now let's add the employer costs to come up with the all-in number it'll actually cost you.
BLS also tracks what employers spend on top of wages. In June 2026, employers spent an average of $54.00 an hour to employ a full-time private-sector worker. Wages were $36.97 of that, and benefits were $17.03, or 31.5 percent of the total. About $4.40 of those benefits was paid time off, which a salary already covers, so I left it out. What remains is roughly 31 percent on top of salary.
Basically, every $100,000 in salary costs about $131,000.
For the median CFO, that $155K salary costs you about $200K practically.
What a Fractional Construction CFO Costs
Many fractional CFOs publish prices from $5,000 to $10,000 a month, or $60,000 to $120,000 a year.
Our fee is built differently. It covers the whole finance function, not only CFO advice: cash planning, retainage tracking, WIP reporting, accounts payable and receivable, bookkeeping, and financial controls.
The fee is a flat monthly amount that grows with the size and complexity of the company. In our practice it is about $4,000 a month for a smaller company, and all the way up to about $30,000 a month for a $200M+ company.
Try it for Yourself
Use the top slider to set the salary you would pay a full-time CFO, and the bottom slider to set your company's revenue.
At the median salary, a fractional engagement costs less than a full-time CFO alone until revenue reaches somewhere between $50M and $100M.
But as I mentioned, this is not an apples to apples comparison. Hiring a construction CFO firm can save you more than a single salary.
One Fee, Several Salaries
At $10M and above, the work of a finance function does not fit in one role. A company usually needs someone to keep the books, someone to run the close and the reports, someone to keep up with compliance, and someone to look at the whole picture and plan.
Here is what those roles cost in-house, including the full employer cost:
Which One Fits for You
A fractional CFO tends to fit when:
- You need CFO-level work, such as forecasting cash, pricing jobs, and keeping your bonding company comfortable, but not 40 hours a week of it.
- Your books close late, or you cannot see margin by job.
- You pay several people who each see a piece of the finances.
A full-time CFO tends to fit when:
- Finance decisions come up every day, not every week.
- You run several entities.
- Lenders or investors need someone in the room every week.
- Revenue has passed about $200M. At that point we usually tell clients it makes more sense to build a finance department in-house, and we help them do it.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a construction CFO cost?
At the Payscale median salary for CFOs, a full-time CFO costs about $200,000 a year all-in. A fractional team costs about $4,000 to $30,000 a month depending on revenue, and covers bookkeeping, payroll, job costing, and tax work along with CFO advisory.
What does a fractional construction CFO cost per month?
About $4,000 a month for a smaller company, and up to about $30,000 a month for a $200M+ company. The exact fee depends on revenue, jobs, employees, vendors and customers, and the number of entities.
Is a fractional CFO worth it for a contractor?
For most companies between $10M and the point where daily decisions need a full-time person, a fractional engagement costs less than the same work done in-house, and it gives you someone responsible for the whole picture.
When should a contractor hire a full-time CFO?
When finance decisions come daily, when you run several entities, or when lenders and investors need someone in the room every week. For many companies that point arrives around $200M in revenue.
Talk to Us
If you want to see what this would cost for your company, Book a Call.
You can also read more about our fractional CFO for construction companies service, or two related posts: Outsourced CFO vs Full-Time CFO: What's Right for a $10M+ Contractor and From Bookkeeper to Strategic Partner: When Your Contractor Business Actually Needs a CFO.
Sources
- BLS, Financial Managers
- Payscale, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Salary
- BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026
- Forecastr, Fractional CFO Cost
- BLS, Accountants and Auditors
- BLS, Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
- BLS, Compliance Officers
