Scaling up sounds exciting, aspirational, even like a dream and for many business owners it is - at first.
More revenue, more recognition, more opportunity. But somewhere along the way, you realise something’s gone off. The numbers are getting harder to track. Decisions feel riskier. And what used to work quite simply doesn’t anymore.
It's likely at this very point in your business journey that whilst turnover may be rising and profits increasing, a lack of necessary systems, processes, and potentially even commercial advice means the very growth you've worked so hard to attain now feels worryingly out of control.
You see what allowed you to keep a track of the numbers in the start-up phase may no longer work in fast growth. Warning signs of this usually include:
Such scenarios often lead most ambitious founders to ask a pivotal question:
'Do I need to hire a Finance Director?'
It's a logical solution to the challenge albeit there’s a potential catch. Depending on your business, hiring a Finance Director (FD) might not necessarily be the the smartest or most cost-effective move. In this blog post we assess the real cost of hiring a FD and compare it to working with a Strategic Business Advisor. By reading on you'll get a better feel for what the right decision could be for your commercial circumstances.
Click on the relevant link to go through to that section of the blog.
An FD is a senior executive responsible for an organisation's financial operations. The're in charge of the financial health of a business by undertaking planning through budgeting and forecasts, managing risks and compliance, and reporting on performance.
They can work full-time or part-time depending on the position and business in question. They'll usually be based in-house and will collaborate closely with the Founder and any other members of the leadership team to help them marry up the finances to the overall strategy.
The role can be broken down into the following areas:
a) Financial planning and forecasting
b) Management reporting and insight
c) Risk and cash flow management
d) Strategic support
e) Other
Their role ultimately is to interpret the numbers and performance into actionable business intelligence.
A question to ask yourself based on where your business is in its growth phase, do you need all of that right now? See section 7 to help you figure out the answer.
Below are some guideline costs and calculations for hiring a full-time in-house FD.
| Category | Amount |
| Base salary | £70,000 - £120,000 per year |
| Employer National Insurance + Pension | 20% additional |
| Recruitment costs | £5,000 - £15,000 up front |
| Tools, training, and support | £3,000 per year |
To provide context, there are 4 main elements that can influence the total cost of employing a full time employee including a FD:
Employers' National Insurance Contributions (NICs) - you'll pay 15% NICs on earnings that are above £5,000 per annum.
Pension contributions - you're legally required to have employees on a pension scheme with a minimum 3% contribution by you as the employer, but given the position in question expect to budget for more for this.
The cost of any benefits - any employment perks such as private healthcare or gym memberships are going to be covered by you. Doing so may also mean you incur NICs on those benefits.
Overhead costs - employing people often means renting an office and purchasing, or leasing, the necessary equipment for them to do their work, plus utility bills so that the office can function.
As you can see, it all adds up to a significant investment especially when you're in the early growth phase of your journey.
The alternative is to potentially go another route whereby you hire a part-time FD. This would work whereby:
Applying a similar criteria means the cost of this option is likely to be in the range of £18,000 - £48,000 per year.
Unlike an FD who’s embedded in your team, a Strategic Business Advisor (also referred to as an outsourced Financed Director) offers high-level financial insight without so much of the overhead. They offer the same strategic benefits but at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time executive.
The cost benefits are such that they are well suited to SME businesses. Often the dynamics of such organisations don't necessarily justify investing in a full time person in this role every day. Financial guidance, particularly in decision making will however, remain a requisite. That's where taking on an advisor in this capacity, from a firm such as Wellers, can provide you with all the benefits of an FD or CFO whilst offering greater flexibility without the time and cost commitments.
You can think of strategic business advisors as a blend of:
At Wellers, clients that make use of our strategic advisory offering can receive a mix of:
The typical annual cost for this is usually in the range of £6,000 – £24,000.
A CFO is the most senior financial leader in a business and usually part of the executive team. Their responsibility is to shape the long-term financial strategy, help drive up the value of the business, and undertake preparation and financial readiness for high-stakes events such as an exit, an Initial Public Offering (IPO), or acquisitions.
The CFO role typically emerges after the 'advanced growth stage' (as defined in the Shirlaws Stages model, see next section) when your business is maturing. This is when the organisation is structurally complete, scaling strategically, and preparing for external scrutiny — such as listing on a stock exchange or positioning for a disposal.
Businesses bring in a CFO when they need board-level leadership over:
Most start-ups and scale-ups therefore won't likely need a CFO. However, businesses at a certain level of maturity later on in the growth curve, given the demands placed on the finance function will potentially employ both a FD and a CFO.
The typical annual cost for a CFO will be in the range of £165,000 - £300,000.
Before you decide on recruiting a Finance Director, we'd suggest you map out where your business currently is. Try using the 'Stages Model' below courtesy of Shirlaws. Doing so can provide both clarity and context as to your current position on the business journey.
The model can then inform the strategic and emotional challenges you're likely to face, along with the things you'll probably need to prioritise to continue growing. Each phase is divided by internal brick walls that represent barriers to the next stage of growth. When you hit them strategy tends to stop working, stress builds, and profits may flatline.
What got you to the brick wall won't likely get you beyond it. The walls are therefore signals to change how the business is run. Depending on where you're at on the growth curve can inform what you actually need. That's why to help you with this we've outlined below the financial support options you're likely to need at each stage.
As you can see in the below table, the strategic business advisor option can save you 50%+ of a part-time FD, and over 80% of a full-time FD. It all depends on your circumstances, what you need, and how fast you envisage you'll scale-up.
| Feature / factor | Full-time FD | Part-time FD | Business advisor |
| Annual investment | £95,000 - £165,000 | £18,000 - £48,000 | £6,000 - £24,000 |
| Best for business phase (using the Stages Model) | 3. Advanced growth | 2. Growth | 1. Start-up 2. Growth 3. Advanced growth |
| Forecasting & planning | Yes ✅ | Yes ✅ | Yes ✅ |
| Hands on day-to-day tasks | Yes ✅ | Depends | No ❌ |
| Strategic support | Yes ✅ | Yes ✅ | Yes ✅ |
| Board presence | Yes ✅ | Yes ✅ | Depends, when needed |
| Set up complexity | High ⬆️ | Medium 🔄 | Low ⬇️ |
| Scalability | ❌ - Unless you build an internal team around them | Potentially, depends on budget for a team | Yes ✅ |
Some growing businesses choose to hire a Finance Manager, Bookkeeper, and Admin Assistant over time that then forms an internal finance department.
Whilst this can offer more control, it comes with complications, namely:
The problem is this can lead to a situation where you end up with people doing finance tasks but there's no one to lead the finance strategy.
That's exactly where a strategic business advisor can fill the gap both flexibly and affordably.
Below is a table that can act as a rough guide to the kinds of advisory services you'll need and when on your business journey. It's definitely not all encompassing, that's impossible as every business has subtleties that make them different.
Instead this is to get you thinking as to where you're at and what you might possibly need moving forward. Planning is after all critical in business, for forewarned is forearmed!
| Business stage & recommended option | Likely requirements |
|
1. 'Start-up' Strategic business advisor |
Initial set up of the business requires basic bookkeeping and light advisory. Decision making is quick being based on proof of concept, urgency, and cash flow:
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2. 'Growth' Strategic business advisor or Part-time FD |
Business is likely to consider needing investment. Decision making is deliberate and considered meaning insight not just input is needed. Same services as above but emphasis on growth and scaling up requires:
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3. 'Advanced growth' Strategic business advisor or full-time FD |
Growth will have accelerated to the point of feeling potentially uncontrolled. The benefits of investments may be realised. Increasingly complex reporting requirements, pressure to maintain growth, combined with additional pressures of managing staff, customers and the back office demand:
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4. Maturing for an exit Full-time FD or CFO |
The need is for management skills both in terms of employees and customer relationships, it's a case of investment in increasing skill levels and focusing on platform strategies as well as accelerating growth.
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If you’re wondering whether to hire a finance director, build an internal team, or explore business advisory services, then let’s talk. We can help you:
This post was created on 28/01/2026.
Please be aware that information provided by this blog is subject to regular legal and regulatory change. We recommend that you do not take any information held within our website or guides (eBooks) as a definitive guide to the law on the relevant matter being discussed. We suggest your course of action should be to seek legal or professional advice where necessary rather than relying on the content supplied by the author(s) of this blog.
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