Tool · cost
See what a part-time exec saves you.
Pick a seat. Set the hours you need. You see the cost of a fractional leader next to a full-time hire.
A full-time hire costs more than the salary. You also pay taxes and benefits. This tool adds them for you.
This example uses 10 hours a week. Pay for the hours you use. Keep the rest of your cash for growth.
Your numbers
Starts at 10 hours. The range is 1 to 40.
Fractional Jobs posts a middle half of $192 to $250 an hour. Go Fractional posts a middle range of $125 to $220 an hour.
The starting count is 8 session days, for year 1. Use 5 for a later year.
Starts at $166,570, the May 2025 median wage for financial managers.
1.48 adds taxes and benefits to the salary.
Percent of base pay. Starts at 0%.
Recruiting fee starts at 0%. Turn it on and type the percent you will pay. This tool does not assume a search fee.
The cost
12-month cost
$9,750 a month at 10 hours a week.
You keep $129,524. That is 53% of the full-time cost.
Full-time costs less only past 21.1 hours a week.
Where these numbers come from
- Hourly rate
- $225 an hour is the posted median. The middle half of posted rates is $192 to $250. Fractional Jobs: where to hire a fractional CFO (2026)
- Also cited
- Go Fractional reports an average of $177 an hour, with a middle range of $125 to $220. Go Fractional CFO rates
- Full-time base
- $166,570 is the median annual wage for financial managers (11-3031) in May 2025. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: financial managers
- Taxes and benefits
- Multiply salary by 1.48. In the June 2026 release, wages were 67.5% of employer cost for management, business, and financial jobs in private industry. BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, table 4
Questions founders ask
What does a fractional CFO cost next to a full-time CFO?
At 10 hours a week and $225 an hour, a fractional CFO costs $9,750 a month. That is $117,000 a year. A full-time financial manager at the middle wage costs $246,524 a year once taxes and benefits are added. You keep $129,524. That is 53% of the full-time cost.
What does the full-time cost include?
A full-time hire costs more than the salary. You also pay taxes and benefits. The tool multiplies base pay by 1.48 to add them. Bonus starts at 0%. A recruiting fee starts at 0%. Add either one when you will pay it.
When does a full-time CFO cost less?
Full-time costs less only past 21.1 hours a week at these starting numbers. This example uses 10 hours a week. Pay for the hours you use.
How do the seven seats differ in this tool?
CFO, CMO, COO, CTO, and HR use an hourly rate. An EOS Integrator uses a monthly retainer. An EOS Implementer uses a day rate and a count of session days. Each seat starts from a public number. You can change every number.
Where do the starting numbers come from?
Fractional rates come from posted rates. Full-time pay is the middle wage on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics page for that job. The 1.48 tax and benefits figure comes from the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release. Each source is linked under the calculator.
The answers above use the CFO starting numbers. Change the seat in the calculator to see the others.