Virtual CFO services give growing companies senior finance leadership without the cost of a full-time executive. A good outsourced CFO builds the forecast, prepares the board pack, steers fundraising or a sale, and makes sure the accounting underneath is reliable. Most firms work on a monthly retainer for a set number of hours, and many also offer controller, bookkeeping and tax support so that the CFO is working from clean numbers. This list covers firms that offer fractional CFO services as a defined practice, from venture-backed startup specialists to national networks serving established private companies.
We reviewed each firm’s own website for a live CFO offering, its headquarters, founding history, leadership and scale, and left out firms that only provide bookkeeping or that publish no verifiable detail about who they are. Pricing models vary widely and change often, so we have not listed fees; expect most providers to scope a retainer after a discovery call. The order below favors depth of CFO practice and clarity about who each firm serves. Rankings reflect that review, not payment.
Top Virtual CFO Services In 2026
| Company | Best For | Headquarters | Core Services |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burkland | Venture-backed startups from pre-seed to growth | San Francisco, California, USA | Fractional CFO, accounting, tax, HR |
| Kruze Consulting | VC-funded startups that want a CPA firm | San Francisco, California, USA | Startup accounting, tax, fractional CFO |
| vcfo | Middle-market companies in Texas and Colorado | Austin, Texas, USA | Fractional CFO, controller, HR, transaction advisory |
| CFO Selections | Pacific Northwest companies and nonprofits | Bellevue, Washington, USA | Fractional CFO, controller, executive search |
| Escalon | Startups and foreign-owned US subsidiaries | Dover, Delaware, USA | Outsourced CFO, accounting, HR, tax |
| Phoenix Strategy Group | Founder-led companies planning an exit | United States (operators across 48 states and DC) | Fractional CFO, FP&A, M&A and capital raising |
| Graphite Financial | Venture-backed SaaS, AI and CPG startups | Miami, Florida, USA | Outsourced accounting and finance, CFO support |
| B2B CFO | Owners of established privately held companies | Chandler, Arizona, USA | Fractional CFO and exit advisory for owners |
| NOW CFO | Small and mid-size businesses needing CFO plus staffing | Salt Lake City, Utah, USA | Fractional CFO, controller, accounting staffing |
| Bookkeeper360 | Small businesses bundling bookkeeping, tax and CFO | United States | Bookkeeping, tax, payroll, fractional CFO |
1. Burkland
Burkland has served startups since 2004 and lists its office in San Francisco. The firm says more than 800 startups trust it, and that its clients have raised over 25 billion dollars in venture funding.
Its fractional CFO practice covers fundraising support, founder-friendly budget builds and, when the time comes, support for transitioning to a full-time CFO. Because accounting, tax and HR sit in the same firm, a startup can hand over its whole back office in one engagement. Burkland segments its work by startup type, including AI, SaaS and fintech. For founders who expect to raise several rounds, that continuity from first model to full-time CFO hire is the main reason to shortlist it.
Services and expertise: Fractional CFO, financial planning and fundraising support, accounting, tax, HR, NetSuite and ERP implementation.
2. Kruze Consulting
Kruze Consulting is a licensed CPA firm based in San Francisco that specializes in venture-funded startups. It reports more than 800 startup clients and over 15 billion dollars in funding raised by those clients.
Alongside accounting and tax filings for VC-backed companies, Kruze offers fractional CFO and advisory work and financial modeling services, and publishes free startup financial models, a CEO salary report and banking research for founders. For startups that want their outsourced CFO, tax preparer and bookkeepers under one licensed firm, it is a natural shortlist pick. Its published content is also a good way to judge the firm before engaging, since the models and benchmarks show how it thinks about startup finance.
Services and expertise: Fractional CFO and advisory, financial modeling, startup accounting, tax returns and R&D credits for VC-backed companies.
3. vcfo
vcfo was founded in Austin in 1996 and is headquartered in Austin, with teams in Dallas, Fort Worth, Denver and Houston, and remote support for clients elsewhere. It reports an average of 25 years of experience among its CFOs.
The firm embeds CFO, controller and HR leaders with growing and middle-market businesses, and adds transaction advisory for companies preparing for a sale, acquisition or capital raise. Nearly three decades in the fractional model make it one of the longer established virtual CFO firms in the US. Companies in Central Texas, North Texas and Colorado get the added benefit of local leaders who can be on site when needed.
Services and expertise: Fractional CFO, fractional controller, HR consulting, transaction advisory and exit preparation.
4. CFO Selections
CFO Selections was founded in 2002 by finance executive Tom Varga and is based in Bellevue, Washington. What began as a small Pacific Northwest practice has grown into a network of more than 300 financial consultants.
The firm offers fractional CFOs and controllers as well as permanent finance executive search, and has formed Ensemble Partners as a family of brands that includes ASP for fractional accounting and Valtas Group for nonprofit leadership transitions. That range is useful for companies that may start with a part-time CFO and later need help hiring a permanent one. Its network size also means it can usually match a consultant with direct industry experience rather than assigning whoever is available.
Services and expertise: Fractional CFO, controller services, nonprofit financial leadership, finance and accounting executive search.
5. Escalon
Escalon has operated since 2006 and lists its global headquarters in Dover, Delaware, with an office in Santa Monica, California. The firm says it has served more than 20,000 organizations across industries and growth stages.
Its outsourced CFO and accounting offer is aimed at companies that need investor-grade numbers: monthly close, GAAP financials, board reporting, and revenue and stock compensation accounting under ASC 606 and ASC 718. A notable specialty is foreign-owned US subsidiaries, where Escalon handles entity setup, multi-currency accounting and cross-border reporting for parents in many countries. Startups that want one vendor for finance, people operations and compliance will find its coverage broad enough to avoid juggling providers.
Services and expertise: Fractional CFO, monthly close and GAAP reporting, audit readiness, tax, HR and payroll, cross-border subsidiary accounting.
6. Phoenix Strategy Group
Phoenix Strategy Group describes its team as full-stack finance and revenue operators for founder-led companies, with a track record dating to 1998. Partners David Metzler, John Zdanowski and Ethan Lu lead the firm, and its site reports more than 240 portfolio companies, more than 100 M&A transactions, over 5 IPOs and more than 200 million dollars raised in the last 12 months.
The firm’s fractional CFO work is closely tied to transaction outcomes: it helps owners prepare a business for sale, find buyers and equity partners, raise venture or debt financing, and structure deals with tax outcomes in mind. It also offers bookkeeping, data engineering and HubSpot implementation, and says it supports clients from single-digit revenue to more than 100 million dollars. Owners with an exit on the horizon will find this mix of CFO work and deal experience useful.
Services and expertise: Fractional CFO, FP&A, bookkeeping and accounting, investment banking and M&A advisory, capital raising, data engineering.
7. Graphite Financial
Graphite Financial provides outsourced accounting and finance for venture-backed startups and lists its address in Miami, Florida. Chief Executive Officer Chris Mossa previously founded CPM Advisory and served as CFO at Advizr.
The firm focuses on SaaS, AI and consumer brands, and publishes practical templates such as a month-end close checklist, a cash flow forecast template and a CPG payback period model. Its leadership draws on experience scaling companies including HelloFresh and Amazon, which suits founders who want a finance team that understands growth-stage metrics. The CPG payback model in particular signals real familiarity with consumer brand economics, which many startup-focused firms lack.
Services and expertise: Outsourced accounting, fractional CFO and FP&A, cash flow forecasting, month-end close, investor reporting.
8. B2B CFO
B2B CFO has been in business since 1987 and is led by founder and CEO Jerry L. Mills from its home office in Chandler, Arizona. It describes itself as the nation’s largest Entrepreneurial CFO firm.
Each professional in the firm is an equity owner and averages more than 20 years of experience, and the average client relationship lasts about six years. The firm combines fractional CFO work with its own B2B CFO process and industry benchmark software, which makes it a fit for owner-led companies focused on profitability and long-term exit planning rather than venture fundraising. The equity-owner structure also tends to mean senior, experienced CFOs rather than junior staff working under a single partner.
Services and expertise: Fractional CFO, profitability and cash flow improvement, industry benchmarking, exit and succession planning.
9. NOW CFO
NOW CFO is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and reports more than 20 years of experience, more than 20 locations and over 15,000 clients. It notes on its site that it is not a CPA firm.
The firm combines fractional CFO and controller services with accounting support and staffing, so a business can fill gaps from bookkeeping through CFO-level strategy with one provider. Client testimonials on its site describe help with internal controls, including uncovering payroll fraud and retraining staff, which reflects its hands-on operating focus. Its broad location network is useful for companies that prefer a CFO who can meet in person as well as work remotely.
Services and expertise: Fractional CFO and controller services, accounting and bookkeeping support, internal controls, finance and accounting staffing.
10. Bookkeeper360
Bookkeeper360 has provided bookkeeping, tax and fractional CFO support since 2012 and describes itself as a financial technology company. Its recognition includes two Xero Awards and three appearances on the Inc. 5000, and it says it has been named a leading online bookkeeping solution by NerdWallet, Forbes and Entrepreneur.
The firm’s model is a single outsourced finance team covering bookkeeping, tax, payroll, HR and fractional CFO services, supported by its own app with real-time dashboards and direct messaging to the bookkeeper and CFO team. It publishes bundled packages that combine bookkeeping, tax and CFO support, which makes costs easier to predict for small businesses taking their first step up from basic bookkeeping to an outsourced CFO.
Services and expertise: Fractional CFO, bookkeeping, tax preparation, payroll and HR, bill pay and invoicing, real-time financial dashboards.
How To Choose Virtual CFO Services
Do You Need A CFO Or A Better Bookkeeper? Many companies shopping for virtual CFO services actually have a reporting problem underneath. If the books close late or are not on an accrual basis, start there, because no outsourced CFO can forecast reliably on bad data. Our review of QuickBooks Online pros and cons is a useful check on whether your accounting system is holding you back. Most providers on this list can fix the bookkeeping first and layer CFO work on top once the numbers are dependable.
Does The Firm Know Your Stage? A venture-backed SaaS startup preparing a Series A needs different skills from a 30-year-old family business preparing for a sale. Ask a fractional CFO firm how many clients it serves at your stage and in your industry, and request a sample board pack or model. If funding is the immediate goal, these tips on seizing funding opportunities help frame what your CFO should prepare. A strong candidate will explain how it handled a situation like yours, not just list services.
Are Licensed CPAs Involved? Not every virtual CFO firm is a CPA firm, and that matters if you need attest work, tax filings or technical accounting opinions. Ask who signs off on financial statements and verify individual licenses through the NASBA CPAverify database.
What Does The Engagement Actually Include? Clarify hours per month, which meetings the CFO attends, who owns the forecast, and whether bookkeeping, tax and payroll are included or billed separately. The US Small Business Administration’s guidance on managing finances is a good reference for the basics any outsourced CFO should have in place.
How Will You Transition Later? A virtual CFO firm should make it easy to scale up, scale down or hire a full-time CFO when the time comes. Ask how documentation, models and system access are handed over, and whether the firm helps recruit a permanent replacement. The best engagements leave behind a documented close process, a living forecast and dashboards your team can maintain, so that the value of the work outlasts the contract.
Conclusion
For venture-backed startups, Burkland, Kruze Consulting and Graphite Financial lead this list, each pairing fractional CFO work with startup-grade accounting. Escalon adds broad back-office coverage and a specialty in foreign-owned US subsidiaries, while Phoenix Strategy Group is the stronger fit for founders who want CFO support tied directly to an exit or capital raise.
For established private companies, vcfo, CFO Selections, B2B CFO and NOW CFO offer experienced fractional leadership with different regional strengths and service mixes, from transaction advisory to executive search and staffing, and Bookkeeper360 gives small businesses a bundled entry point. Whichever virtual CFO services you choose, match the firm to your stage, confirm who is licensed, and get the scope in writing.
If you want to add your company to this list, drop us a line or submit a form in the Best Choices section. After a thorough review, we’ll decide whether it’s an appropriate addition.
