The same work, priced three ways: hired, outsourced, or as one Countabl engagement that scales with you. Open any figure to see how it is built.
Each group is one seat. Check what you need it to do; the prices update as you go.
Base salaries are BLS medians, May 2025. Type over any of them for your market.
Monthly fees for each seat bought from an outside firm. Edit the range to match quotes you have in hand.
Every figure traces to a public source or to a stated Countabl judgment. Open any row.
Each seat is priced at the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median for its occupation, May 2025: bookkeeping clerks for the AP / AR and bookkeeper seats, payroll clerks, accountants and auditors, financial managers for the controller and CFO seats, and financial analysts for FP&A. BLS does not measure CFOs separately, so that seat is a floor to raise for your market.
Payroll tax and benefits are added once, to total payroll, at 42.9%, the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation ratio for private industry, June 2026, where benefits averaged $14.07 an hour against $32.82 in wages. It covers payroll taxes, insurance, retirement and paid leave, and is a different bundle from the 40% in our hiring calculator, which also carries tools, space and recruiting. Every salary and the rate itself are editable under “Adjust.”
At a founder-led company one person commonly holds several seats. When at least two seats of a common combination are selected, the page prices them as one hire at the highest-paid seat plus a scope premium (15% by default). That is Countabl’s staffing judgment, not a BLS figure; the honest cost usually sits between the combined figure and the specialist figure shown beside it.
Monthly fees from published 2026 pricing guides: outsourced bookkeeping, fractional controllers and fractional CFOs. A bookkeeping firm prices the books plus AP, AR and payroll as add-ons, so those seats add up; a fractional controller or CFO is one engagement that covers the seats beneath it, so the widest range you need is the one that applies. The size you pick narrows each range to the slice a business that size tends to be quoted. Every range is editable under “Adjust.”
Finding the person. A controller search runs weeks, and the good ones are already employed. Recruiting fees, your own time in interviews and the months the seat sits empty are real, and none of them are in the salary.
Managing the seat. Someone has to set the priorities, review the work and answer the questions. If that someone is you, the cost is your attention, and you are the most expensive person in the building.
Cover when they are out. One person is one point of failure. Vacation, illness and notice periods all land on a close that still has to happen on the same date.
The wrong hire. A seat that does not work out costs the salary paid, the months lost and the mess left in the books, which is usually the expensive part.
The Countabl figure is the tier on our Services page whose scope covers your selection, at its published price. Foundation is cash-basis bookkeeping priced on two things: the size of the business, measured by monthly operating expenses, and the scope, books alone or books with bills and payroll. Over $100K of monthly expenses it is scoped on a call. Accrual books, a controller-grade close or a forecast step you up to Active Cash Management, and CFO judgment to Fractional CFO; both are priced on revenue and shown at their “from” price. It is the only Countabl price on this page, and the engagement scales up or down as the business does.
Every capability on this page, delivered as one engagement rather than a payroll line: nobody to recruit, manage, cover or replace. Bring the number above and we will tell you in thirty minutes which tier fits and exactly what it would cost.