Finance operations

Financial controller vs outsourced finance function: which does your business need?

Both fix the same problem, which is that nobody senior owns your numbers. They fix it in very different ways, and at very different costs.

By Anna Stafford, Founder, AI Accounts

What does a financial controller actually do?

A financial controller owns the day to day running of the finance function. That means month-end close, management accounts, reconciliations, cash reporting, budgeting input, managing any bookkeeping or purchase ledger staff below them, and being the internal point of contact for anything financial.

What a controller is generally not is a strategist. They report the numbers accurately and on time. Pricing strategy, funding growth, profit extraction and scenario modelling usually sit above the role, which is where a finance director or CFO comes in. This matters because many owners hire a controller expecting strategic input, then find they have bought excellent reporting and still have nobody to think with.

What is an outsourced finance function?

An outsourced finance function is the same set of jobs delivered by a team outside your business. The bookkeeping, payroll, reconciliations, management accounts and reporting are all handled, and senior finance input sits on top of it, without any of it depending on one person’s contract.

The practical difference is layering. Instead of buying one person at one level, you buy the level of skill each task needs: routine processing handled at the right cost, technical work handled by qualified accountants, and judgement provided by someone senior who knows your business.

What does a financial controller really cost in 2026?

More than the salary. Here is the arithmetic most hiring decisions skip.

Cost	Typical range	Notes
Base salary	£55,000 to £85,000	SME financial controller, outside central London. London and group roles run well above this.
Employer National Insurance	15% above £5,000	Charged on earnings above the secondary threshold.
Pension	3% minimum	Auto-enrolment minimum employer contribution.
Recruitment fee	15% to 25% of first-year salary	One-off, and payable again if the hire does not work out.
Equipment, software, training, cover	Varies	Plus the owner’s time managing the role.

Taken together, the true cost of an employee in the UK generally lands between 1.25 and 1.4 times base salary once mandatory and common on-costs are included. On a £75,000 controller, that means budgeting somewhere in the region of £94,000 to £105,000 a year, before the recruitment fee. It is a real number, and it is the number to compare against, not the headline salary.

Which is right for your business?

The direct answer: it depends on whether the work fills a full-time role, and whether one skill level covers what you need. Here is the comparison side by side.

	Financial controller	Outsourced finance function
Annual cost	Roughly £94,000 to £105,000 all in on a £75,000 salary, plus recruitment	A monthly fee, scaled to the work actually needed
Range of skills	One level, whatever that salary buys	Layered, from processing to qualified sign-off to CFO input
Strategic input	Usually limited, the role is reporting-focused	Included at the CFO tier
Holiday, sickness, resignation	Your problem, and the work stops	Covered by the team
Time to productive	Two to six months including notice periods and recruitment	Weeks
In the building daily	Yes, and that is a real advantage	No, though contact is regular and scheduled
Flexibility	Fixed cost, hard to reverse	Tier moves up or down as the business changes
Systems knowledge	Depends entirely on the individual	Built in, across many businesses

When a financial controller is genuinely the right call

Sometimes it is, and it would be dishonest to suggest otherwise. Hire one when:

1. The volume justifies itThere is a full week of finance work every week, not a busy few days around month-end.
2. You need someone physically presentStock, site-based operations, cash handling or a large team needing daily finance contact.
3. You already have finance staff to manageA bookkeeper and a purchase ledger clerk need a manager, and that is a job in itself.
4. The work is genuinely specialist to youUnusual contract structures or sector rules where deep, constant familiarity with your business beats breadth.
5. You can absorb the riskYou can afford the fixed cost, the notice period, and a second recruitment fee if it does not work out.

When outsourcing wins

Outsourcing is usually the better answer when the problem is the quality and timeliness of your numbers rather than the quantity of finance work. Specifically, when you need month-end reporting to be reliable, you want someone senior to talk decisions through with, the workload is uneven across the month, or you are not confident enough about the next twelve months to add a fixed six-figure cost.

It also wins on the risk question. A single hire is a single point of failure. If your only finance person resigns in the middle of a year-end, the knowledge leaves with them.

Is there a middle option?

Yes, and it is common. Many businesses keep a bookkeeper or finance assistant in-house for daily transactional work and outsource the layer above: management accounts, reporting, technical compliance and senior input. You get someone in the building for the day to day, without paying controller money for reporting that can be delivered more cheaply and to a higher standard elsewhere.

That hybrid is often the cheapest route to reliable numbers, and it is worth pricing before you commit to a full-time senior hire.

Frequently asked questions

Is a financial controller the same as a finance director?

No. A financial controller owns the accuracy and timeliness of the numbers. A finance director or CFO owns what the business does about them: pricing, funding, hiring plans and profit extraction. Some controllers grow into the strategic role, but you should not assume the hire includes it.

At what turnover should I hire a financial controller?

There is no fixed threshold, and turnover is the wrong test. The right test is whether there is a full-time job to do. A £3m business with simple, repeatable transactions may not fill the role, while a £1.5m business with complex contracts and stock might. Count the hours of finance work in a normal month before you count revenue.

Can an outsourced finance function work with my existing bookkeeper?

Yes, and it often does. A common arrangement is that your bookkeeper handles daily entry and we take on the reporting, reconciliation, compliance and senior input above that. Your existing person keeps their job and gets proper support.

What happens if we outgrow the outsourced model?

Then you hire, and the handover is straightforward because the systems, processes and reporting already exist and are documented. Building the finance function properly first makes the eventual hire easier and cheaper, because you are recruiting into something that already works rather than asking someone to build it from nothing.

Is outsourcing cheaper than hiring?

Usually, but that is not the main argument. The stronger point is that a monthly fee buys a range of skill levels, while a salary buys one. Compare the full employment cost, not the headline salary, and compare what each option actually covers.

What is the difference between a financial controller and a bookkeeper?

A bookkeeper records transactions. A financial controller owns the whole finance process: they check the bookkeeping is right, close the month, produce management accounts, manage cash reporting and answer for the numbers. If your bookkeeping is accurate but nobody turns it into information you can act on, that gap is the controller’s job.

Is a fractional CFO the same as an outsourced finance function?

No. A fractional CFO is senior strategic input on a part-time basis, and it assumes your reporting already works. An outsourced finance function includes the underlying work as well: bookkeeping, payroll, reconciliations and management accounts, with CFO input layered on top when you need it. Buying a fractional CFO while your monthly numbers are unreliable is the most common sequencing mistake.

How long does it take to recruit a financial controller?

Realistically two to six months. Advertising and shortlisting takes four to six weeks, interviews and offers a few more, and a controller in post will usually owe one to three months’ notice. Then allow a further two to three months before they are genuinely productive in your business. If you need reliable numbers this quarter, recruitment will not deliver them.

How much does an outsourced finance function cost?

It is charged as a fixed monthly fee, and it depends on transaction volume, how many people you pay, whether you need management accounts, and whether you want senior input on top. The useful comparison is against the full employment cost of a hire rather than the salary. Our pricing page sets out the tiers.

Can an outsourced finance function handle payroll, VAT and year-end as well?

Yes. That is the point of a function rather than a service. Bookkeeping, payroll, VAT returns, management accounts, year-end accounts and Corporation Tax all sit in one place, which removes the handoffs between a bookkeeper, a payroll bureau and a year-end accountant that cause most errors and delays.

What are the risks of having only one person in finance?

Three. The work stops when they are off, so month-end slips around holidays and sickness. The knowledge sits in one head, so a resignation takes your processes with it. And nobody checks their work, which is both an error risk and a fraud risk. Separation of duties is difficult to achieve with a single finance employee.

Last updated 21 August 2026. Salary and employment cost figures are 2026 market ranges and vary by sector and location. This article is general information, not advice for your specific circumstances.