I understood early on how valuable advisory services are to businesses.
That’s why, when I was running an accounting firm, I included virtual CFO services even in our earliest pricing plans.
But while I knew how valuable these services were…
You’ll see above that there was a big problem…
I had no idea how to price these services.
I did a lot of tweaking after that, but when I finally got the pricing down, I was able to multiply our revenue per client.
It even helped make the firm attractive to a big investor, leading to a nice sale just five years after I started it.
And in this article, I’m going to show you how much virtual CFOs charge and how much you should charge.
I’ll even show you how to set profitable prices for your firm. 🙂
Let’s go!
How Much Do Virtual CFOs Charge?
The value drivers of virtual CFO services are typically monetary.
They deliver a ton of value through deliverables like:
- Budgeting
- Cash flow management and planning
- Financial modeling
- Financial strategy and coaching
- Strategic planning sessions
- Etc.
Virtual CFOs do a lot of things to help a client improve their profitability, which is why you might see them charge significantly more than firms that only offer compliance services.
To show you how much virtual CFOs charge on average, I’ll pull some numbers from the 2025 Accounting and Tax Pricing Benchmark that I helped Ignition produce.
According to the report, over 50% of the respondents charge at least $1,500/month.
So, does that mean you should charge at least $1,500 per month and call it a day?
You can.
But I don’t recommend you do.
Not when you can price at least twice as much as that.
How Much Should You Charge?
I didn’t share the data above so you could copy the pricing figures.
Yes, that was a benchmark.
But I want you to beat that benchmark.
Because if you ask me, you can charge a lot more.
And you should because you’re creating more than $2,500 worth of value to your client each month.
Many firm owners think there’s some kind of formula behind virtual CFO costing.
There isn’t.
That’s why you saw in the data above how spread out the pricing ranges are for virtual CFO services.
It’s also why there are firms that charge upwards of $2,500.
(Even in the five-figure range.)
So, how much should you charge for virtual CFO services?
My answer to this is to look at things from a different perspective.
Instead of thinking of a hard number based on what other firms do or what is supposed to be “average”…
Think about the ROI.
Setting a price never starts with you but with the client.
Here’s an example:
If a client is making a profit of $100,000 per month and you’re helping them increase that by 10%, then you’re creating $10,000 of value for them every month.
In this scenario, you can set a price of $3,000 to $4,000 per month.
The challenge here is understanding the value you bring to clients and determining the maximum amount that you can charge for that value.
(More on that later.)
How to Set Your Virtual CFO Pricing in 3 Steps
Yes, only three steps.
And no, there are no overly complex formulas.
Step 1: Understand Your Prospect’s Situation
The most common pricing approach to virtual CFO services is fixed fee.
This is reflected in the Ignition report I mentioned above, where respondents were asked how they priced their CFO services.
Now, fixed fee pricing isn’t a bad approach.
It doesn’t require you to create custom plans for different clients, and it leads to more predictable revenue.
However, it can lead to situations where multiple clients aren’t paying for the value they’re receiving (i.e., you’re delivering $10,000 services to a client paying $1,500/month).
I want you to look at the 21.5% that used value pricing.
Why?
Because that’s the method that allows you to maximize your revenue per client.
And I’m confident it’s also the method used by the ones charging upwards of $2,500.
If you know me, you’re probably not surprised about my fondness for value pricing. 🙂
If you haven’t heard of value pricing before, it’s a pricing method I learned from Ron Baker — I highly recommend his book.
So, in order to maximize revenue per client, you need to leverage value pricing…
But in order to do that, you need to understand your prospect’s situation!
While this may sound complicated, it isn’t.
The key here is to not overwhelm the prospect with your services or how good you are for them.
Instead, make the conversation about them.
Identify their pain points and find out where they want to be.
(So you can connect your services to that later.)
To achieve this, ask questions!
Here are a few that you could swipe:
- How would you describe your current financial situation?
- In an ideal scenario, what specific outcomes are you looking to achieve in your business?
- What is preventing you from reaching your ideal situation?
- What would a successful engagement with us look like?
Again, forget about selling during this stage.
Your goal here is to collect as much information as you can about the prospect’s unique situation so that you can build your value proposition around that later.
Step 2: Assess the Value You’re Providing
Now that you’ve gathered all this information from your prospect, it’s time to connect the dots.
Think about how your virtual CFO service addresses their specific pain points:
- Are you helping them avoid financial challenges like a cash flow crisis that could cost them $50K in emergency financing?
- Are you building financial models that will help them secure a $500K loan?
- Are you implementing systems that will save them 20 hours a month of financial stress?
This is where you calculate the real value you’re delivering.
Don’t think about the hours it takes you or what other firms charge.
Forget about hiring costs, technology expenses, and everything else that helps you do your work.
Why?
Because, like I shared on LinkedIn, clients don’t care about any of that.
They care about the impact your services will have on their business.
Now, here’s the part that makes a lot of accounting firm owners uncomfortable…
(Because it’s not analytical and we love our spreadsheets.)
You need to think of the maximum number you can charge that makes you happy.
Yes, I’m asking you to pull a number out of thin air.
Let me give you an example.
You’ve gathered from the client that they’re making $500K a year in revenue.
Through your discovery call, you’ve learned that with better cash flow management, strategic planning, and financial operations support, you can help them reach $1M.
If your desired maximum price is $10,000/month, that’s justifiable.
You’re helping them double their revenue, so that’s a no-brainer for them.
The key is to stop thinking about what feels “reasonable” based on industry averages…
And start thinking about what’s reasonable based on the value you’re creating for this specific client.
That said, it is impossible to hit the bullseye in terms of how much your client will pay.
This is where the next step comes in.
Step 3: Create a Three-Tiered Plan Based on That Value
Now that you’ve identified the value you’re providing, it’s time to package it into deliverables.
Instead of selling “virtual CFO services,” you’re going to package specific deliverables that your clients can actually see and understand.
(Keep reading.)
Packaging your deliverables makes it crystal clear what clients are paying for, which makes them much more comfortable saying yes to higher prices.
But like I said earlier, it’s impossible to land on the perfect price.
Which is why you create three pricing tiers.
Take a look at this example from Delegate CFO — they charge weekly instead of monthly, though:
With three tiers, you’re letting prospects self-select based on their budget and needs instead of hoping you guessed the right price.
Here’s an example of what can happen when you only have one service package:
You quoted a prospect with a $5,000/month plan, but their budget is $3,000.
You immediately lose a client because you’re out of their budget.
This can also apply the other way around.
You might have quoted a prospect $3,000…
But in reality, they were willing to pay as much as $8,000, which means you just lost out on $5,000.
With three tiers, you’re letting prospects self-select based on their budget and needs instead of hoping you guessed the right price.
(I wrote an entire guide on tiered pricing if you want to dive deeper into this.)
Here’s how to build your three tiers…
First, you need to identify your deliverables.
Write out every specific, tangible thing your virtual CFO clients receive.
For simplicity’s sake, let’s say you offer these four services:
- Financial health reviews
- Budget analysis & planning sessions
- Cash flow forecasting (13-week rolling forecast)
- Financial strategic planning session
Now, based on these services, we can start building your tiers.
Gold Tier
Let’s go back to the desired $10,000/month revenue earlier.
This is a premium price point for a premium plan.
Now, $10,000/month might sound expensive in isolation.
But when you’re helping a client double their revenue from $500K to $1M, preventing a cash flow crisis that would cost them $50K in emergency financing, or optimizing their operations to improve profitability by 15%…
You can sell it — you can learn how to do that effectively in my guide to selling accounting services.
Again, it is critical to communicate the value this tier delivers well.
Not all of your clients will choose Gold.
But the ones who do will be your most profitable relationships and the ones where you make the biggest impact.
(Plus, Gold will serve the purpose of being a price anchor for your lower tiers.)
Using our example deliverables, here’s what your Gold tier might look like:
| Deliverable | Gold ($10,000) | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial health reviews | Monthly | ||
| Budget analysis & planning sessions | Quarterly | ||
| Cash flow forecasting (13-week rolling forecast) | Weekly updates | ||
| Financial strategic planning session | Quarterly | ||
| Unlimited ad-hoc strategic guidance | X | ||
| Monthly business coaching sessions | X |
You can also include a service or two exclusive to this plan to make it stand out even more.
For example, you might add “Unlimited ad-hoc strategic guidance” or “Monthly business coaching sessions.”
This premium add-on creates clear separation from your lower tiers and justifies the higher price.
When prospects see the Gold tier first, the Silver and Bronze tiers feel like better deals by comparison, even though they’re still priced profitably for you.
Silver Tier
Your Silver tier is where most of your clients will land.
This is your sweet spot.
The key to building a profitable Silver tier is reducing the frequency of your deliverables, not eliminating them entirely.
If your Gold tier includes monthly financial health reviews, you’re going to reduce that to quarterly.
Weekly cash flow forecasting?
Make it bi-weekly.
This means that while you’re reducing the price, you’re also reducing the time commitment, so you’re protecting your capacity.
If your Gold tier costs $10,000/month, the Silver can be something like $5,000/month.
Here’s what that might look like with our example deliverables:
| Deliverable | Gold ($10,000) | Silver ($5,000) | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial health reviews | Monthly | Quarterly | |
| Budget analysis & planning sessions | Quarterly | Semi-annually | |
| Cash flow forecasting (13-week rolling forecast) | Weekly updates | Bi-weekly updates | |
| Financial strategic planning session | Quarterly | Semi-annually | |
| Unlimited ad-hoc strategic guidance | X | ||
| Monthly business coaching sessions | X |
Notice what we’re doing here?
The client still gets all the core deliverables, just less frequently.
You’re still delivering massive value, but you’re cutting your time commitment roughly in half.
You can also withhold highly premium services from this tier to distinguish it further from Gold.
Things like unlimited ad-hoc guidance or monthly business coaching stay exclusive to Gold, which makes that top tier even more attractive for clients who need maximum support.
Bronze tier
Your Bronze tier is your entry point.
This is your most basic tier, designed specifically to protect your time while still delivering real value.
Here’s what a lot of firm owners get wrong about the Bronze tier…
They make it so bare-bones that it’s not actually attractive to anyone.
The Bronze plan should still help clients reach their goals, just not as intensely as the other two plans.
And it should still be a significant upgrade from their current situation.
If they’re currently flying blind with zero financial visibility, even quarterly reviews and monthly cash flow updates will transform how they run their business.
You can price Bronze at something like $2,500/month.
Here’s what that might look like with our example deliverables:
| Deliverable | Gold ($10,000) | Silver ($5,000) | Bronze ($2,500) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial health reviews | Monthly | Quarterly | Quarterly |
| Budget analysis & planning sessions | Quarterly | Semi-annually | Annually |
| Cash flow forecasting (13-week rolling forecast) | Weekly updates | Bi-weekly updates | Monthly updates |
| Financial strategic planning session | Quarterly | Semi-annually | |
| Unlimited ad-hoc strategic guidance | X | ||
| Monthly business coaching sessions | X |
Notice that Bronze clients still get all four core deliverables.
They’re just getting them at the minimum viable frequency.
This protects your capacity while still giving them a legitimate path to better financial management.
When prospects see all three options together, Bronze looks like a steal compared to doing nothing.
Bonus Step: Do a Costing Sanity Check
Charging $10,000/month for virtual CFO services can feel uncomfortable.
(I get it.)
Your services are worth the price, but if you’re struggling to be comfortable with the prices you really want to charge, this exercise can help.
Here’s how it works:
List out every deliverable in your plan along with the estimated hours it takes per month.
For the internal cost per hour, use what you’d pay a senior financial professional to do this work (typically around $150/hour).
Let’s use our Bronze tier as an example.
| Deliverable | Hours per month | Internal cost per hour | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial health reviews (quarterly) | 2 hours | $150/hour | $300 |
| Budget analysis & planning sessions (annually) | 1 hour | $150/hour | $150 |
| Cash flow forecasting (monthly updates) | 4 hours | $150/hour | $600 |
| Financial strategic planning session (annually) | 1 hour | $150/hour | $150 |
| Ad-hoc email support | 3 hours | $150/hour | $450 |
| Total | 11 hours | $1,650 |
The total internal cost is $1,650/month.
Apply your desired profit margin on top of that.
For Bronze, I recommend setting at least 50%, so let’s use that: $1,650 × 50% = $2,475/month.
You’re charging $2,500/month for the Bronze plan.
That’s pretty close to your cost-plus-margin number, which means you’re pricing appropriately.
Now, I did say I recommend 50% to be the minimum desired profit margin…
Which means you can go higher.
Let’s use the $5,000/month Silver tier for the next example.
| Deliverable | Hours per month | Internal cost per hour | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial health reviews (quarterly) | 3 hours | $150/hour | $450 |
| Budget analysis & planning sessions (semi-annually) | 2 hours | $150/hour | $300 |
| Cash flow forecasting (bi-weekly updates) | 6 hours | $150/hour | $900 |
| Financial strategic planning session (semi-annually) | 2 hours | $150/hour | $300 |
| Ad-hoc email support | 4 hours | $150/hour | $600 |
| Total | 17 hours | $2,550 |
Let’s assume that you want a profit margin of 70% on your Silver tier.
The total internal cost is $2,550/month, and with a 70% margin:
$2,550 × 1.7 = $4,335/month.
That’s pretty close to the $5,000/month you are charging.
Finally, there’s the Gold tier.
This is where you don’t hold anything back.
This is your most premium service, thus, it should command the most premium pricing level.
Let’s do the Gold tier example.
| Deliverable | Hours per month | Internal cost per hour | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial health reviews (monthly) | 5 hours | $150/hour | $750 |
| Budget analysis & planning sessions (quarterly) | 3 hours | $150/hour | $450 |
| Cash flow forecasting (weekly updates) | 8 hours | $150/hour | $1,200 |
| Financial strategic planning sessions (quarterly) | 3 hours | $150/hour | $450 |
| Unlimited ad-hoc strategic guidance | 5 hours | $150/hour | $750 |
| Monthly business coaching sessions | 3 hours | $150/hour | $450 |
| Total | 27 hours | $4,050 |
For this Gold tier, suppose your desired profit margin is 100%.
(Yes, it is high, but this is why the Gold tier is reserved for perfect-fit clients!)
$4,050 with a 100% profit margin comes down to $8,100/month.
That’s about $1,900 below the $10,000/month you want to charge, but again, remember:
Clients are value-sensitive, not price-sensitive.
$10,000/month isn’t cheap, but it can still be a great deal if you’re helping a business save multiples of that every month.
Start Pricing Your Virtual CFO Services Better
That’s a wrap!
It’s time to stop guessing how much to charge for virtual CFO services and start charging based on the actual value you’re delivering.
Remember: everything starts with the client.
You can’t price effectively if you don’t understand what the client actually needs.
If you can nail the discovery call and communicate value to prospects well, you’ll set yourself up for success.
Now, I’d like to hear from you.
What’s holding you back from charging premium prices for your virtual CFO services?
And if you’re already charging premium prices, what was the breakthrough that helped you get comfortable with those numbers?
Let me know in the comments!
