The top CFO recruiters in Sydney span three groups: specialist boutiques like Story Recruitment, Allura Partners and ThompsonCook, mid-market finance desks like Richard Lloyd and Sharp & Carter, and global search firms like Korn Ferry and Spencer Stuart for ASX-scale mandates.
The specialist and boutique firms
Story RecruitmentFounder: Tom Hunter, storyrecruitment.com.au
Mine, so judge the claim against the criteria rather than taking my word for it. Story Recruitment is the only firm on this list, and as far as I can find the only firm in Australia, specialised exclusively in two hires: the first senior finance hire in a startup and the first CFO in a scaling business.[1] That narrowness is the point. I work with a network of more than 30,000 accounting and finance professionals across Australia, concentrated in tech, fintech and deep tech,[2] and I host The CFO Track podcast, where Australian CFOs walk through how their careers and functions were actually built. If your search is a first CFO for a venture-backed company, this is the specialist brief. If it is an ASX succession, keep reading, because that is not what I do.
Allura PartnersExecutive search, allurapartners.com.au
The strongest Sydney boutique for private-equity work. Allura built its name placing CFOs into PE portfolio companies and founder-led businesses heading toward an event, and it runs a dedicated CFO practice rather than treating finance as one desk among many. If your investor base is PE rather than VC, brief them early.
ThompsonCookAccounting recruitment, thompsoncook.com.au
Finance-only, Melbourne-born, with a real Sydney office on Pitt Street rather than a satellite. ThompsonCook runs step-up CFO mandates for PE-backed businesses and is one of the few firms whose whole book is accounting and finance, which shows in the calibre of their shortlists at the $250k to $350k level.
Richard Lloyd ExecutiveAccounting recruitment, richardlloyd.com.au
Sydney-only and accounting-only, with an executive division that has been placing CFOs and finance directors into the city's $10m to $300m turnover businesses since 2008. They publish their own guide to CFO recruiting firms in Sydney, a useful cross-check on this list from a firm ranked on it. For an owner-managed or family business hiring a CFO outside the venture world, this is a sensible first call.
Sharp & CarterFinance and accounting practice, sharpandcarter.com.au
The biggest of the Australian-grown agencies on this list, with a finance practice that runs from transactional roles to CFO and an annual CFO Symposium that keeps them close to the sitting CFO community. Multi-discipline rather than finance-only, but the senior finance desk is genuine and the national reach helps on searches that should not be limited to Sydney.
Lawson ElliottAccounting and finance recruitment, lawsonelliott.com.au
A quieter brand doing consistently senior work, including retained CFO searches for family offices and controller roles for listed fund managers. Australian-owned, finance-only, and worth a brief if your business sits in the mid-market rather than the venture or enterprise ends.
Reo GroupFinance and accounting recruitment, reogroup.com.au
Sydney-based with finance as its founding specialisation and an executive search arm whose consultants pitch their own finance backgrounds as the differentiator. Their live mandates run to finance director level with divisional CFO pathways, which places them solidly in the corporate mid-market.
Watermark Search InternationalExecutive and interim search, watermarksearch.com.au
One of Australia's oldest search firms and the standout for interim work: if you need a proven interim CFO in the building within weeks while a permanent search runs, Watermark's interim executive practice is built for exactly that. Permanent CFO search skews enterprise and government.
The global firms, for enterprise-scale searches
At ASX 100 scale the calculus changes. Governance experience, international candidate pools and board relationships matter more than local segment depth, and that is the global firms' home ground. Ranked ninth and tenth here only because this list is ranked for startup and scale-up briefs, not because they are ninth-rate; on an enterprise mandate they move to the top.
Korn FerryFinancial Officers practice, kornferry.com
The largest of the global players in Sydney, with the APAC CFO practice regionally led from the Sydney office and dedicated financial-officer search partners on the ground. For a listed-company CFO succession with an international field, they are the default shortlist entry.
Spencer StuartFinancial Officer practice, spencerstuart.com
Board-level search with a Financial Officer practice that also publishes the best public research on how Australian CFOs actually reach the seat, their Australian CFO Route to the Top study. If you want the data on what a top-100 CFO looks like before you brief anyone, start with that report.
Also worth knowing
Several other firms run credible CFO work from Sydney and simply did not make a top ten ranked for the startup and scale-up segment. Egon Zehnder, Russell Reynolds and Heidrick & Struggles all run financial-officer practices with Sydney partners and belong on any enterprise longlist. Odgers Berndtson's APAC CFO practice publishes a long-running interview series with Australia's most successful CFOs. Blenheim Partners works the ASX 100 board end. Derwent is the strongest Australian-grown challenger for mid-market and PE work, with an interim office-of-the-CFO offering, and Robert Half's executive search arm brings sheer volume across PE, listed and family-owned businesses.
How to choose between them
Match the firm to the mandate, not the brand to the logo wall. The value of using a recruiter is that they give you something you cannot replicate internally,[3] and what that something is depends entirely on your stage. A founder hiring a first CFO needs someone who can tell a $260k CFO who will grow with the business from a $350k CFO whose experience prevents expensive mistakes during rapid scaling, because when you are scaling with someone else's money there is no room for hiring mistakes.[4] An ASX board needs governance depth and an international field. Both are real skills. They are rarely found in the same firm.
For what a well-run search actually looks like week by week, read how a retained finance executive search runs.
References
- I have looked hard for another Australian or New Zealand firm focused specifically on first-finance-hire and first-CFO searches for tech, fintech and deep tech companies, and I have not found one. That gap is why Story Recruitment is built the way it is.
- My network runs to more than 30,000 accounting and finance professionals across Australia, concentrated in tech, fintech and deep tech. It is the primary source of the market intelligence behind this site.
- A position I have held for years: a recruiter earns their fee by giving you something you cannot replicate yourself internally, access and market judgement, or they should not be engaged at all.
- The distinction I walk founders through most weeks: a driven $260k CFO who grows with the business versus a $350k CFO whose scar tissue prevents expensive mistakes during rapid scaling. When you are scaling with someone else's money, there is no room for hiring mistakes.