Pricing
Pricing That Reflects a Relationship, Not a Feature List.
EFS doesn't sell a fixed bundle of features — it provides a financial relationship that gets deeper as your business does. Here's roughly where that starts, what actually shapes the number, and how to tell which level fits you now.
Four Different Things You Could Be Paying For
Not all financial support costs the same, because it isn't providing the same thing. It helps to be clear about the difference before looking at a number.
Software Alone
A tool that records what happened. It doesn't tell you what it means, and it won't catch what you didn't know to look for.
A Basic Bookkeeper
Keeps the books current and organized — genuinely useful, but the relationship usually stops there. No tax strategy, no advisory view, no connection to the bigger decisions.
A Connected EFS Relationship
Accounting, payroll, tax preparation, tax strategy, and advisory working from the same numbers, held by the same team — not five separate vendors reconciling separately.
Fractional Financial Leadership
Executive-level thinking — forecasting, capital planning, growth strategy — brought in when decisions have outgrown a recurring advisory conversation, without a full-time hire.
Three Depths of the Same Relationship
01 — Foundation
Get the Financial Foundation Right.
Starting at $750/month
Built around the complexity of your business — the actual investment scales with transaction volume, payroll needs, entity structure, reporting requirements, and how much support the relationship requires. Foundation is a relationship level, not a fixed bundle; the real scope is established during onboarding.
Accounting & Bookkeeping, Payroll, and Tax Preparation
This is the right starting point when your books, payroll coordination, and core financial reporting need to become dependable and current.
Payroll is available as part of this relationship when a business needs it, though its scope and cost depend on payroll complexity — it isn't unlimited payroll administration automatically bundled in. Tax preparation is coordinated within the relationship where it applies, but not every entity return, personal return, or state filing is automatically part of the monthly starting figure.
02 — Strategic
Use the Numbers to Make Better Decisions.
Typically $1,500–$2,500/month
This is where the relationship moves beyond maintaining the foundation into proactive tax strategy and a recurring business advisory conversation — using the numbers to shape decisions, not just report on them. Complexity still affects where an engagement lands in this range.
Tax Strategy, and Business Advisory
This is the right level when the financial foundation is already in place and you need help using the numbers to make tax and business decisions.
03 — CFO
Bring Financial Leadership Into the Business.
Custom engagement
Executive-level financial leadership layered onto the same connected relationship — forecasting and scenario planning, capital planning, KPI systems built around your goals, and lender or investor readiness when a financing decision or transaction is on the table. This work varies too much by business to reduce to one published rate, so it's priced individually once the scope is understood.
This is the right conversation when the business is preparing for major growth, financing, or needs recurring executive-level financial leadership.
What Determines Your Actual Price?
Starting at $750/month means exactly that — a starting point. What an engagement actually costs is shaped by real, specific factors:
- Transaction volume — how many transactions move through the business each month
- Number of entities — one business, or several under common ownership
- Payroll size and complexity — how many employees, how often they're paid, and how straightforward that payroll is
- Number of states or jurisdictions the business operates in
- The condition of the existing books — current and clean, or in need of cleanup first
- Reporting requirements — how often, and how detailed, financial reporting needs to be
- Tax complexity — entity structure, multiple filings, and how much planning is involved
- Advisory cadence — how often a recurring advisory conversation happens
- The level of financial leadership required — from periodic guidance to ongoing CFO-level involvement
Not sure which level actually fits your business yet? Talk it through with EFS
Cleanup and Onboarding
Getting started sometimes means bringing existing books current first. That work is quoted after a short assessment — the actual cost depends on how much historical bookkeeping needs correcting, how far behind it is, and the condition it's in. It's priced separately from the ongoing monthly relationship, not folded into the starting figures above.
Common Questions
How much does EFS cost?
It depends on the depth of relationship a business needs. Foundation-level support starts at $750/month, Strategic-level support typically runs $1,500–$2,500/month, and Fractional CFO-level leadership is a custom engagement. The exact number reflects the factors below, not a flat rate that treats every business the same.
Does "starting at $750/month" mean everything is included at that price?
No — $750/month is the floor for the leanest Foundation engagement, not a fixed bundle guaranteed at every business size. The actual price reflects transaction volume, payroll complexity, entity structure, and how much of the relationship is involved, established during onboarding.
Is payroll included in the Foundation price?
Payroll is available as part of the Foundation relationship when a business needs it, but its scope and cost depend on payroll complexity — it isn't unlimited payroll administration automatically bundled into $750/month.
Is tax preparation included in Foundation or Strategic pricing?
Tax preparation is coordinated within the relationship where it applies, but not every entity return, personal return, or state filing is automatically included in the monthly figure — the scope is confirmed directly based on what a business actually needs filed.
Why doesn't Fractional CFO have a published price?
CFO-level engagements vary too much by business — forecasting, capital planning, and executive-level involvement look different at every company — to responsibly reduce to one number. It's priced as a custom engagement once the actual scope is understood.
What happens with cleanup or catch-up bookkeeping?
That's quoted separately, after a short assessment of how much historical bookkeeping needs correcting and its condition — it's not part of the ongoing monthly starting price.
Do I need to schedule a call just to find out if EFS is in a reasonable range for my business?
No — Foundation starts at $750/month, Strategic typically runs $1,500–$2,500/month, and CFO-level work is custom. A conversation is for understanding which level and scope fits your business, not for discovering the general range first.
Ready to Find Your Level?
A short conversation is enough to understand where your business fits today, and what would actually shape the number from there.