Finance Cost Benchmark
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Quiz namequiz-slug
finance-cost-benchmark-q1
Firmographic
What does your finance function cost you per month today (salary, fees, tools combined)?
Under £1k
£1k – £3k
£3k – £6k
£6k – £12k
£12k+
finance-cost-benchmark-q2
Firmographic
Who currently does your finance?
Bookkeeper only
Junior in-house hire
Senior in-house hire
External accountancy firm
No one, currently
finance-cost-benchmark-q3
Diagnostic
How would you rate the output relative to what you're paying?
Paying a lot for very little output
Paying more than it feels worth
Roughly fair for what we get
Good value for what we get
Excellent value — punches well above its cost
finance-cost-benchmark-q4
Diagnostic
How senior is the advice you're currently getting?
None — purely transactional bookkeeping
Basic advice occasionally
Some strategic input
Regular strategic input
CFO-level strategic partnership
finance-cost-benchmark-q5
Diagnostic
How aware are you of what a full-time equivalent hire would actually cost?
Have no idea
Roughly aware
Know the approximate market rate
Know exactly, have benchmarked it
Know exactly, and have a cost-benefit view of alternatives
finance-cost-benchmark-q6
Diagnostic
Are you paying for skills you don't fully use, or missing skills you need?
Definitely missing key skills
Some gaps
Roughly the right mix
Good mix, minor gaps
Exactly the right mix of skills for our stage
finance-cost-benchmark-q7
Diagnostic
How flexible is your current setup if needs change quickly?
Not flexible at all — fixed cost regardless of need
Some flexibility, but slow to adjust
Can adjust with notice
Fairly flexible
Scales up or down easily as needs shift
finance-cost-benchmark-q8
Diagnostic
Do you know what 'good' looks like for finance at your stage, to benchmark against?
No idea
Vague sense
Some benchmarking done
Benchmarked against similar companies
Actively benchmarked and reviewed regularly
finance-cost-benchmark-q9
Diagnostic
How much management time goes into managing your finance person or team?
A lot — constant oversight needed
More than I'd like
Some, but manageable
Minimal
None — fully self-managing
finance-cost-benchmark-q10
Diagnostic
If you could redesign your finance function from scratch today, would you keep it as is?
No — would completely change it
Would make major changes
Would make some changes
Would make minor tweaks
Yes — wouldn't change a thing
Finance Cost Benchmark
finance-cost-benchmark
Overpaying, Underserved
You're likely paying real money for a level of output well below what's available at a similar cost.
This is usually the easiest gap to close quickly
A fractional model could improve output without increasing cost
Worth a direct cost comparison against alternatives
Paying More Than You Should
The value equation isn't quite right — you're carrying more cost or less capability than you need.
Small adjustments here often unlock meaningful savings
Worth benchmarking against what similar-stage companies pay
A hybrid or fractional setup could close the gap
Fair Value, Room to Optimise
Your current setup is reasonable, with a few specific areas where you could get more for the same spend.
You're not being badly served — just not maximised
Targeted upgrades would likely pay for themselves
Worth a benchmarking conversation to confirm
Well-Optimised
Your finance function already represents strong value — the opportunity now is scale, not cost.
You're ahead of most companies at your stage
Worth stress-testing this as you grow
Consider what 'good value' looks like at 2–3x your current size