Pricing for fractional FP&A is one of those topics that's hard to find straight answers on. Most people writing about it are either selling something or being vague enough to avoid commitment. Here's what the market actually looks like.
The hourly range
Experienced fractional FP&A professionals generally fall in the $150 to $275 per hour range. Senior operators with specific domain expertise — healthcare finance, SaaS modeling, or pre-IPO experience — push higher depending on scope and complexity. The range reflects genuine differences in experience level, not just negotiating posture.
Below $150 you're typically looking at less experienced practitioners or offshore arrangements. Above $300 you're usually in fractional CFO territory where the scope has expanded beyond FP&A.
How most engagements are actually structured
Hourly billing is less common than it sounds. Most fractional FP&A work gets structured as a monthly retainer, and for good reason.
Monthly retainers for consistent support typically run $3,000 to $10,000 per month. The lower end covers a few hours a week for model maintenance, board prep, and ad hoc questions. The higher end is closer to a part-time embedded role where the person is actively running the planning process and managing deliverables. Complex engagements — full planning cycles, fundraise support, or building a finance function from scratch — go beyond that range.
The real comparison isn't hourly vs salary
The comparison founders should be making is fractional FP&A versus a full-time junior hire. A junior FP&A analyst at a Series A or B company costs $100,000+ fully loaded, including salary, benefits, payroll taxes, and recruiting fees. You get 40 hours a week of someone who is still building their skills.
A fractional arrangement in the $5,000 to $8,000 per month range gives you 15 to 20 hours a week of senior execution. The output per dollar is often better, and you're not carrying fixed headcount through slow periods.
That math doesn't always favor fractional. If the role genuinely needs 40 hours of embedded operational work, a full-time hire might make more sense. But for companies that need senior judgment more than headcount, the comparison is closer than most people expect.
Pricing varies more by scope than by time
The other thing worth understanding is that fractional FP&A pricing isn't purely time-based. A clean model rebuild or board package has a different price than owning the full annual planning process. The latter involves more coordination, more judgment calls, and more accountability — and it's priced accordingly.
Be specific about what you need when you're getting quotes. Vague scope produces vague pricing, and the gap between what you expected and what you get is usually where the frustration comes from.