How Much Should You Actually Spend on Accounting and Finance?

Most founders have no idea what “normal” looks like here. They either underspend and fly blind, or overpay and still can’t get a straight answer about their margins. Both are expensive in different ways.

So here is a real benchmark you can hold your business up against.

The short answer: 1 to 4 percent of revenue

Across the research, from APQC’s benchmarking database to Consero and a stack of industry cost guides, the pattern is consistent. Small and mid-size businesses spend roughly 1 to 4 percent of revenue on the entire finance and accounting function, and the percentage goes down as you grow.

That “entire function” matters. This is not just your bookkeeper’s invoice. It is everything it takes to run finance: recording transactions, closing the month, financial statements, reporting, tax, the software, and the people, whether in-house, outsourced, or a blend.

Where healthy businesses land

A quick ladder, with the dollars each works out to per month:

Under $1M: about 3% of revenue, roughly $1,250 a month. Essentials territory.

Around $1M: about 2.5%, roughly $2,100 a month.

Around $2M: about 2%, roughly $3,300 a month.

Around $5M: about 1.5%, roughly $6,250 a month. A common entry point for CFO support.

Around $10M: about 1.2%, roughly $10,000 a month. Fractional CFO territory.

Around $20M: about 1%, roughly $16,700 a month.

Around $30M: about 0.9%, roughly $22,500 a month.

For reference: the best-run companies get the finance function under 0.7 percent of revenue, and the largest, most efficient operations hit 0.4 to 0.6 percent. On the other end, the worst performers pay 1.8 percent or more for the same work done inefficiently.

Why CPG brands sit at the higher end

If you are a consumer brand, do not anchor to the 1 percent figure. CPG finance is genuinely more work, and the benchmark reflects it.

Trade spend can eat 15 to 25 percent of revenue and has to be tracked deal by deal. Your cash cycle stretches 90 to 150 days between paying for inventory and collecting from retailers. Inventory and cost of goods have to be accurate or your margins are fiction. And revenue recognition across retail and DTC adds real complexity.

Generic bookkeeping does not touch any of that. So a $5M CPG brand is far more likely to land at 1.5 to 2 percent than at 1. That is not overpaying. That is paying for people who understand how your business actually makes money.

The number is total cost, not just a firm’s fee

This is the part founders miss. The percentages above are what it costs to run finance, whether you build it in-house or outsource it.

Build it in-house and you are paying salaries plus software. A single full-time controller runs $150K or more, and that is before a CFO, a bookkeeper, or the tools. For a business under $20M, that math rarely works, which is exactly why outsourcing wins: you get the whole function, from clean books up to CFO-level strategy, for less than one senior hire.

How to read your own number

Total up everything you spend on finance and accounting per year, divide by revenue, and see where you fall.

If you are under the range, you are probably underinvesting, and it usually shows up as late closes, surprise cash crunches, and decisions made on gut instead of numbers.

If you are over the range and still flying blind, that is not “finance is just expensive.” That is a systems and partner problem. You are paying for effort, not clarity.

The goal is not to spend the least. It is to spend the right amount and actually get something for it: books you trust, cash you can see coming, and margins you can defend.

Thryve is the accounting and advisory team built for CPG and founder-led brands. We manage over $158M in CPG revenue, and we price in the open. If you want a straight answer about what your finance function should cost, book a free consultation at thryvetogether.com/contact.