Quick answer: A seed-stage startup's finance stack costs about $500 to $3,000 per month all-in without a CFO, and about $5,000 to $13,000 per month with a part-time fractional CFO. Software is the cheap layer, usually $150 to $700 a month for a 5 to 15 person team at list prices as of October 2026. The real cost sits in services: bookkeeping at $250 to $2,500 a month and fractional CFO support at $4,000 to $10,000 a month typical. This StartupCFO report is built entirely from public vendor pricing pages, listed in the Sources section below.
Vendors quote their own line item in isolation, and advisors quote bundles without showing the parts. This report adds it up. Every software price below comes from the vendor's official pricing page, checked in October 2026. Service ranges use the figures we publish across this site. None of it is our own client data; it is a synthesis of what is already public, organized the way a founder actually has to budget it.
The Headline Numbers
Most startups spend far more on finance services than on finance software, at every stage. Here is the all-in monthly picture, with annual compliance costs spread across twelve months:
| Stage | Typical team | Software | Bookkeeping and accounting | CFO support | All-in per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed | 1 to 4 | $0 to $150 | $250 to $500 | None | About $300 to $800 |
| Seed (no CFO) | 5 to 15 | $150 to $700 | $250 to $2,000 | None | About $500 to $3,000 |
| Seed (part-time CFO) | 5 to 15 | $150 to $700 | $500 to $2,000 | $4,000 to $10,000 | About $5,000 to $13,000 |
| Series A | 15 to 50 | $700 to $2,500 | $1,500 to $2,500 | $6,000 to $15,000 | About $8,500 to $20,000 |
| Series B | 50 to 150 | $2,500 to $8,000 | In-house controller or $2,500+ outsourced | $10,000 to $20,000 fractional, or a full-time CFO | About $15,000 to $35,000+ |
Each all-in figure includes roughly $100 to $400 a month of amortized compliance (franchise tax, registered agent, 409A, tax filings). A full-time CFO at Series B costs $200,000 to $400,000 a year in cash compensation, or roughly $17,000 to $33,000 a month before benefits and equity, which is why many Series B companies still run a fractional model.
The ranges are wide on purpose. Transaction volume, the number of states you employ people in, and whether you sell annual contracts (which pushes you to accrual accounting) move a company from the bottom of a band to the top faster than headcount does.
Cost by Layer: Software
Software for a seed-stage company usually totals $150 to $700 a month, because several categories now have credible $0 plans. All prices below are monthly list prices, as of October 2026, from each vendor's official pricing page.
| Layer | Vendor and plan | List price |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting | QuickBooks Online Simple Start / Essentials / Plus / Advanced | $38 / $85 / $140 / $340 per month |
| Accounting | Xero Early / Growing / Established (US) | $27 / $59 / $97 per month |
| Accounting | Zoho Books Standard / Professional / Premium / Elite | $20 / $50 / $70 / $150 per month (lower if billed annually) |
| Payroll | Gusto Simple / Plus / Premium | $49 + $6 per person / $80 + $12 per person / $180 + $22 per person |
| Payroll and HR | Rippling | Quote-based; publicly advertised from about $8 per employee per month for the base platform, with payroll and other modules priced separately |
| Payroll (PEO) | Justworks PEO Basic / PEO Plus | $79 / $124 per employee per month |
| Cards and spend | Ramp / Ramp Plus | $0 / $15 per user per month plus a platform fee |
| Cards and spend | Brex Essentials / Premium | $0 / $12 per user per month |
| Banking | Mercury / Mercury Plus / Mercury Pro | $0 / $29.90 / $299 per month |
| Bill pay | BILL Essentials / Team / Corporate | $49 / $65 / $89 per user per month, plus $0.59 per standard ACH payment |
| Bill pay | Ramp and Mercury bill pay | Included on the $0 plans |
| Cap table | Carta Launch | Free for small cap tables; paid tiers are quote-based |
| Cap table | Pulley Startup / Growth | $1,200 / $3,500 per year (Pulley is shutting down; see below) |
A few notes that change the math:
- Accounting software runs $27 to $340 a month at list. Xero Early at $27 is the floor and QuickBooks Online Advanced at $340 is the ceiling; a typical 5 to 15 person seed company runs QuickBooks Online Essentials or Plus at $85 to $140. If you need approval chains for bills, standalone BILL starts at $49 per user per month on top of that.
- Promotional pricing is not your budget. QuickBooks currently advertises 50% off for three months and Xero 80% off for three months. Budget at list price, because month four arrives on schedule.
- Per-person payroll fees are the line that scales. Gusto Simple at 10 people is $109 a month. Gusto Plus at 40 people is about $560 a month. Multi-state employment is often what pushes a company from Simple to Plus.
- PEO pricing is not comparable to payroll software pricing. A PEO such as Justworks bundles payroll with benefits access, workers' comp, and HR compliance, priced per employee. At 20 people, $79 per employee is about $1,580 a month, against about $200 for Gusto Simple. The PEO can still be worth it if it lowers your health insurance premiums, but compare total cost including benefits, not the software line.
- Pulley will cease operations on December 8, 2026, according to a notice on its own website, with an assisted migration to Carta. If you are on Pulley today, budget for a cap table migration this quarter. If you are choosing a cap table tool now, the realistic options are narrower than they were a year ago.
For more on what each tool does and when to upgrade, see our finance stack overview.
Cost by Layer: Services
Services are 70% to 90% of a startup's finance spend once a company hires a bookkeeper and any form of CFO support. These ranges are the ones we publish across this site and match what the market quotes publicly.
| Service | Typical monthly cost | What drives the price |
|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeping | $250 to $2,500 | Transaction volume, number of accounts and entities, cash vs. accrual basis |
| Fractional CFO | $2,000 to $20,000 ($4,000 to $10,000 typical) | Hours per month, board cadence, fundraising activity |
| Tax return preparation | Annual, not monthly; amortized into the compliance line | Number of states, R&D credit, international activity |
| Full-time CFO | $200,000 to $400,000 per year in cash comp, more at growth stage | Market, stage, equity mix |
Bookkeeping has the widest band because it tracks activity, not headcount. A pre-seed company with one bank account and twenty transactions a month sits at the bottom. A seed company with annual contracts, deferred revenue, and three payment processors can reach the top. Our startup bookkeeping cost guide breaks the bands down in detail.
Fractional CFO pricing is driven by hours. A light engagement of 10 to 15 hours a month sits at the low end; a company actively raising or preparing for its first audit can need 25 to 40 hours. Our fractional CFO cost page shows how hours map to monthly retainers.
Cost by Layer: Compliance
A Delaware C-corp startup should budget about $1,500 to $10,000 a year in recurring compliance costs before tax return preparation, and much more if it pays the wrong franchise tax bill. These are the annual line items, with sources:
| Line item | Annual cost | Due | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware franchise tax | $175 minimum (Authorized Shares method) or $400 minimum (Assumed Par Value Capital method) | March 1 | Default invoices can show about $85,000 for 10 million authorized shares; recalculate before paying |
| Delaware annual report fee | $50 | March 1 | $200 penalty for filing late, plus 1.5% monthly interest on unpaid tax |
| Registered agent | About $50 to $300 | Annually | Harvard Business Services lists $50 per year; Northwest lists $125 per year |
| 409A valuation | $1,000 to $2,500 bundled with a cap table platform; $3,000 to $7,500 independent | Every 12 months and after material events | Required before granting options |
| Form 1099-NEC filings | $0 through the IRS IRIS portal; paid e-file services charge per form | January 31 | Threshold rises to $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025 |
| R&D credit study | About $3,000 to $10,000 | With the timely filed income tax return | Qualified small businesses can apply up to $500,000 per year against payroll taxes |
| State minimum taxes | Varies; California's minimum franchise tax is $800 | With the state return | Applies if you are registered or doing business in that state |
The Delaware franchise tax line deserves its own warning. Delaware's default invoice uses the Authorized Shares method, and a typical startup with 10 million authorized shares sees a bill of about $85,000. Under the Assumed Par Value Capital method, which factors in issued shares and total gross assets, most early-stage startups owe somewhere between $400 and a few thousand dollars. Run your numbers through our Delaware franchise tax calculator before March 1.
The 409A line has the widest spread of any compliance item. Our 409A valuation cost guide explains when the bundled option is fine and when an independent appraiser is worth paying for.
The R&D credit is the one compliance cost that usually pays for itself. The election to apply it against payroll taxes must be made on Form 6765 attached to a timely filed original return; it cannot be made on an amended return. A $5,000 study that unlocks a five-figure payroll offset is one of the better returns in the whole stack.
Stage by Stage
The stack does not change much from seed to Series A; the volume running through it does, and the services layer grows with it.
Pre-seed: about $300 to $800 per month
Software can be nearly free: $0 plans at Mercury and Ramp, Carta's free Launch tier, $27 to $38 a month for Xero Early or QuickBooks Online Simple Start, and $61 a month for Gusto Simple with two founders on payroll. The real costs are basic bookkeeping ($250 to $500 a month) and the first compliance bills. The common mistake here is not overspending; it is skipping bookkeeping and paying far more for cleanup at seed.
Seed: about $500 to $3,000 per month without a CFO
A 5 to 15 person seed company typically runs QuickBooks Online Essentials or Plus ($85 to $140), Gusto Simple or Plus ($79 to $260 at this headcount), Ramp or Brex on a free plan, Mercury, and either Carta's free tier or a paid cap table plan. That puts software at $150 to $700 a month.
Bookkeeping moves up to $500 to $2,000 a month as transaction volume grows and investors start asking for monthly financials. Add amortized compliance and the all-in lands at about $500 to $3,000 a month.
Seed with part-time CFO: about $5,000 to $13,000 per month
The same stack plus a fractional CFO at $4,000 to $10,000 a month typical, usually added when preparing for a Series A or building a board pack. Integrated providers can come in below the sum of parts here, which is worth comparing (see our pricing for one example).
Series A: about $8,500 to $20,000 per month
Software climbs to $700 to $2,500 a month. The drivers are per-person payroll fees at 15 to 50 people, a paid cap table plan, per-user spend tools (Ramp Plus at $15 per user, Brex Premium at $12 per user), and possibly BILL at $49 to $89 per user if your AP workflow needs approval chains that the free bill pay tools do not cover. Accounting software still rarely exceeds QuickBooks Online Advanced at $340 a month.
Services grow faster: accrual books and a board-ready monthly close push bookkeeping to $1,500 to $2,500, and CFO support to $6,000 to $15,000 a month.
Series B: about $15,000 to $35,000+ per month
At 50 to 150 people, payroll alone can run $1,000 to $3,500 a month on Gusto Premium ($180 plus $22 per person) or a comparable Rippling configuration. Many companies add an FP&A tool, a procurement workflow, and an in-house controller. The major decision is whether to hire a full-time CFO at $200,000 to $400,000 in cash compensation or keep a senior fractional CFO at $10,000 to $20,000 a month.
What Founders Overpay For
The biggest overpayments are not software subscriptions; they are default invoices, premature upgrades, and hiring too senior too early.
| Overpayment | What it costs | The cheaper alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Paying Delaware's default franchise tax invoice | About $85,000 for 10M authorized shares | Recalculate under the Assumed Par Value Capital method; often $400 to a few thousand dollars |
| Full-time CFO at seed | $200,000 to $400,000 per year in cash comp | Fractional CFO at $4,000 to $10,000 per month typical |
| QuickBooks Online Advanced before you need it | $340 vs. $140 per month for Plus, about $2,400 per year | Upgrade when you need custom roles, workflows, or higher user counts |
| BILL seats for simple AP | $49 to $89 per user per month | Ramp or Mercury bill pay, included on $0 plans |
| PEO pricing for a team that does not need its benefits | $79 to $124 per employee per month | Payroll software at $6 to $12 per person plus the base fee, with benefits sourced separately |
| Independent 409A when a bundled one would do | $3,000 to $7,500 | $1,000 to $2,500 through a cap table platform, for routine annual refreshes |
| Premium banking plans with unused features | $299 per month for Mercury Pro | Mercury's $0 plan covers most seed companies |
| Skipping bookkeeping until a raise | Cleanup projects that cost a multiple of the monthly fee | $250 to $500 per month from day one |
| Missing the R&D payroll credit election | Up to $500,000 per year of payroll tax offset forgone | A $3,000 to $10,000 study, elected on a timely filed return |
A few unnecessary tier upgrades can add $500 or more a month at seed, but the expensive mistakes are one-time: a misread franchise tax invoice or a missed credit election costs more than years of software.
How to Use These Numbers
Budget your finance stack as a percentage of burn, not as a list of tools. At seed, an all-in finance stack of $500 to $3,000 a month is usually 1% to 5% of a typical monthly burn. With a part-time CFO it often lands at 5% to 15%. If you are well above those bands, the overpayment table is the place to look first. If you are well below them, check whether you are actually closing your books every month.
Then calendar the annual bills (Delaware on March 1, 1099-NEC by January 31, the 409A renewal date) and price services against hours, not titles.
Methodology
This report combines three kinds of data:
- Software prices are monthly list prices from each vendor's official US pricing page, checked in October 2026. We used list prices, not promotional or annual-billing discounts, unless noted. Where a vendor publishes no price (Rippling, Carta paid tiers, enterprise plans), we say so rather than estimate.
- Service prices (bookkeeping, fractional CFO, CFO compensation) use the ranges published across StartupCFO's pricing guides, which reflect publicly quoted market rates.
- Compliance costs come from official government sources (Delaware Division of Corporations, IRS, California FTB) and published provider prices.
Stage totals assume a US-based Delaware C-corp, a single legal entity, domestic employees, and team sizes in the ranges shown. Compliance costs are spread across twelve months. Totals are rounded. None of the figures come from our own client base, and prices change often; check the vendor pages below before you sign anything.
Sources
Prices as of October 2026.
Accounting software
- QuickBooks Online pricing: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing/
- Xero US pricing: https://www.xero.com/us/pricing-plans/
- Zoho Books US pricing: https://www.zoho.com/us/books/pricing/
Payroll and HR
- Gusto pricing: https://gusto.com/product/pricing
- Rippling pricing: https://www.rippling.com/pricing
- Justworks pricing: https://www.justworks.com/pricing
Spend, cards, and banking
- Ramp pricing: https://ramp.com/pricing
- Brex pricing: https://www.brex.com/pricing
- Mercury pricing: https://mercury.com/pricing
Bill pay
- BILL pricing: https://www.bill.com/product/pricing
- Ramp and Mercury bill pay: see the Ramp and Mercury pricing pages above
Cap table and 409A
- Carta pricing: https://carta.com/pricing/
- Pulley pricing and shutdown notice: https://pulley.com/pricing and https://pulley.com/
Compliance
- Delaware franchise tax and annual report: https://corp.delaware.gov/frtax/
- Harvard Business Services registered agent: https://www.delawareinc.com/ourservices/appoint-registered-agent/
- Northwest Registered Agent: https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/registered-agent
- IRS Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC: https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099mec
- IRS IRIS free 1099 e-filing: https://www.irs.gov/filing/e-file-information-returns-with-iris
- IRS qualified small business payroll tax credit for research: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/qualified-small-business-payroll-tax-credit-for-increasing-research-activities
- California Franchise Tax Board, corporations: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/business/types/corporations/index.html
The Bottom Line
A seed-stage finance stack costs about $500 to $3,000 a month without a CFO and about $5,000 to $13,000 with one, and software is the smallest part of either number. Budget for the people and the deadlines first; the tools have converged on cheap or free entry plans.
