In short
A finance team is built in stages. The order that works:
- Bookkeeping – often done by an external tax adviser at first.
- One in-house person who owns the numbers – a finance manager or head of finance.
- Controlling and planning – only once the books are reliable.
- CFO – when you raise capital, take on a bank loan or prepare a sale.
What triggers the next stage is rarely a headcount number. It is an event: the first funding round, a bank loan, a statutory audit, a second legal entity, an investor who wants monthly reporting. Keep to the order and you build once. Reverse it and you build twice.
The stage plan at a glance
| Stage | Typical phase | Roles | Typical trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Founding, a handful of people | Founders plus external tax adviser, good tools | First customers, first invoices |
| 2 | After the first funding round | In-house bookkeeper or finance manager; tax adviser for year-end and tax | Monthly investor reporting |
| 3 | Growth, first team structure | Head of finance, one or two bookkeepers, first controlling/planning role | Board, budget, bank loan |
| 4 | Scale-up or PE investment | CFO (fractional, interim or permanent), team leads for accounting and planning | Larger round, statutory audit, several entities, exit |
| 5 | Established mid-sized company | CFO, head of accounting, controlling, plus group reporting, tax or treasury as needed | Group with several entities, capital markets or sale |
The phases are guidance from our engagement practice, not a rule. A software company with 60 people and investors often needs more finance capability than a trading business with 150.
Why order matters more than size
Each stage builds on the one before. Controlling analyses bookkeeping data – if that data is wrong or late, the controller is working with garbage. A CFO negotiates with investors and banks – without reliable numbers, they spend their time cleaning up instead of raising money. That is why the most common expensive mistake is filling the upper stage before the lower one.
The stages in detail
Stage 1: founders and tax adviser
At the start, an external tax adviser can handle bookkeeping, payroll and tax. The founders' job: hand over receipts completely and promptly, run a business account and use one tool for invoices and expenses. A dedicated hire rarely pays off at this point.
Stage 2: the first in-house finance role
Once investors expect monthly numbers, the tax adviser becomes the bottleneck – they usually book after the fact. Now you need someone inside the company who owns the month-end close, chases open invoices and keeps an eye on cash. The tax adviser stays responsible for year-end accounts and tax.
Stage 3: head of finance and first controlling
A head of finance runs bookkeeping, builds the budget and plan, and gives the board numbers it can rely on. A first controller or FP&A analyst (financial planning and analysis) joins once the data is right. For scale: across the org charts of around 1,400 mostly US companies, growth-stage businesses (roughly 200 to 2,000 employees) have on median one planning person for about every 130 employees.
Stage 4: CFO
A CFO pays off when you are raising money, serving a bank loan with conditions or preparing a sale. That does not have to mean a permanent hire straight away. A fractional CFO works with you on an ongoing basis but only a few days a month; an interim CFO takes over for a fixed period, for example a funding round. Whether you are missing a head of finance or a CFO is covered in Head of finance or CFO.
Stage 5: mid-sized company with a full department
With several entities come group accounts, a tax function and treasury. The question here is less whether a role is needed and more whether it is fully used in-house – or better bought in.
When the law, the bank and the investor have a say
- Statutory audit (Germany). Since 2024, a German GmbH counts as small as long as, on two consecutive balance sheet dates, it does not exceed two of three thresholds: EUR 7.5 million total assets, EUR 15 million revenue, 50 employees. From “medium-sized” upwards, an auditor must audit the annual accounts, and they have to be prepared within three months instead of six.
- Bank loan with covenants. Ratios have to be calculated and reported regularly – see covenant reporting.
- Investors. Monthly reporting shortly after month-end requires a fixed close rhythm.
In-house, outsourced or interim?
Not every stage needs a permanent hire right away. Three routes that can be combined:
- Ongoing, part-time: finance leadership for a few days a month, for example through CFO as a Service.
- Temporary reinforcement: interim bookkeeping or planning when a gap or backlog appears – see Interim Accounting & FP&A.
- Temporary leadership: an interim CFO for a funding round, a change of bank or building the next stage.
A clear sign that stage 2 is missing: the month-end close is weeks late. What helps then is described under month-end close backlog.
The five most common mistakes
- CFO before bookkeeping. The most expensive person ends up sorting receipts.
- Leaving everything with the tax adviser for too long. Numbers arrive too late for investors and planning.
- A controller without clean data. Reports nobody believes.
- No cover. One person knows everything – until they resign or fall ill.
- Software before process. A new system just makes unclear processes unclear faster.
Frequently asked questions
At what headcount does a company need its own finance team?
There is no fixed number. What counts is an event: as soon as investors or a bank expect monthly numbers, you need at least one in-house person who owns the month-end close.
Which finance role should you hire first?
One person for bookkeeping and the month-end close, often as finance manager. They make sure the numbers are complete and on time. Year-end accounts and tax can stay with the tax adviser.
Head of finance or controller – who comes first?
The head of finance. A controller analyses bookkeeping data; if that data is not reliable, neither is the analysis.
When does a company need a CFO?
When it raises capital, serves a bank loan with conditions or prepares a sale. At first, a fractional CFO for a few days a month or an interim CFO for a fixed period is often enough.
What does an interim solution cost?
At nugrow, day rates range by role from EUR 850 for bookkeeping to EUR 1,800 for CFO support, excluding VAT. The budget is the day rate times the agreed number of days.
Further reading
- Head of finance or CFO – which role you are missing, with a self-test.
- Strengthening the finance team rather than replacing it – building blocks for CFOs who need capacity.
- What can really be automated in finance.
- EBITDA levers after the buyout – what finance has to deliver in a PE portfolio company.
- Month-end close backlog – when stage 2 is missing.
- Pricing – day rates by role.
Sources
Ratio of planning staff to employees: Pave, FP&A Team Size Benchmarks (April 2025; org charts of around 1,400 companies with at least 50 employees). Size classes and audit requirement: sections 264, 267 and 316 of the German Commercial Code (HGB) as amended in 2024. Stage plan and mistakes: nugrow engagement practice. As of October 2026.
