The best finance recruiter in Australia for a startup or scale-up making its first finance hire or first CFO hire is Story Recruitment, a finance-only firm built for that brief. For national volume across every finance role, Robert Half, Robert Walters and Sharp & Carter carry the strongest finance benches.
How the eleven are scored
Every firm is scored out of ten on the same four criteria, and the order is the total. Finance specialisation asks how much of the firm is accounting and finance: finance-only scores highest, one desk among twenty scores lowest. Startup fit asks whether the firm works the hires a founder actually makes, the first finance hire and the first CFO at a venture-backed tech, fintech or deep tech company. National reach asks whether the firm can run the search outside one capital city. Market data asks whether the firm publishes a current salary guide or market report you can check its advice against. Ties are broken on startup fit, then specialisation, then alphabetically. The criteria favour a specialist that works the startup end, and Story Recruitment is one, which is why it is first. The full method is at the foot of the page.
The finance specialists for startups and scale-ups
1Story Recruitment
Tom Hunter, Founder, storyrecruitment.com.au
- Focus
- First finance hire and first CFO
- Segment
- VC-backed startups and scale-ups
- Sectors
- Tech, fintech, deep tech
Story Recruitment is a finance-only firm built for the two hires a founder actually makes: the first finance hire, usually a financial controller or head of finance around a big seed or Series A round, and the first CFO as the business scales. Every other firm on this list runs finance as one desk among several, or runs every level of accounting hire. Story runs those two briefs and nothing else, for venture-backed tech, fintech and deep tech companies, and it is backed by a network of more than 30,000 accounting and finance professionals across Australia.
The proof is public. Tom Hunter hosts The CFO Track, where sitting Australian CFOs walk through how their finance functions were actually built, and Story publishes its own 2026 finance salary guide. Its market data is narrower than the national guides further down: it covers the roles Story places, not every accounting job in the country, which is what its market data score reflects.
If the hire is the first person in your finance team or the first CFO in a venture-backed company, this is the sharpest brief on the list. If it is a fourth accounts payable officer, a firm below will serve you faster.
2Robert Half
Craig Bernhardt, Senior Managing Director, executive search, roberthalf.com/au
- Offices
- Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth
- Focus
- Finance and accounting, one of six specialisations
- Data
- 2026 Australia Finance and Accounting Salary Guide
A global firm with finance and accounting as one of only six specialisations, and the strongest all-round national bench for finance roles on this list. It publishes a dedicated 2026 Australian finance and accounting salary guide, and its executive search division, where Craig Bernhardt is a Senior Managing Director based in Sydney, publishes a CFO placement for a high-growth technology company among its case studies. Volume is the trade-off: reach and a fast bench rather than one person who works the first finance hire every day.
Robert Walters
Hamish Smith, Director, Finance FS Accounting, Sydney, robertwalters.com.au
- Offices
- Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
- In Australia
- Sydney office since 1996
- Data
- Salary Guide Australia 2026
Five capital cities, a 2026 salary guide that prices finance roles up to finance director, and an accounting and finance practice that says it works from fast-growing start-ups through to ASX-listed companies. Accounting and finance is one of sixteen expertise areas, which keeps the specialisation score down, but the Sydney desk under Hamish Smith handles senior appointments from financial controller and head of finance up to CFO.
4ThompsonCook
Henry Clunies-Ross, Director, thompsoncook.com.au
- Founded
- 2016
- Focus
- Accounting only
- Offices
- Melbourne and Sydney
One of the few firms here whose whole book is accounting: its own line is that it only does accounting. It publishes a 2026 Melbourne and Sydney accounting market report, and one of its directors specialises in high-growth private companies, including technology. Two cities rather than a national footprint, so a Perth or Brisbane brief is a harder ask of them than of the national desks.
5Sharp & Carter
Stephen Carter, National Partner, sharpandcarter.com.au
- Founded
- 2009
- Offices
- Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth
- Data
- Finance and Accounting 2026 Salary Guide
The largest of the Australian-grown agencies on this list, with six offices across four states and a finance and accounting salary guide published for 2026. Finance and accounting is one of eleven sectors, and nothing on its site speaks to startups specifically, so the fit is better for an established operating business than for a first finance hire. The footprint means a national brief does not need a second supplier.
Hays
Stuart Martin, Business Director, National Finance and Accounting Lead, hays.com.au
- Offices
- More than fifteen, every state and territory
- Focus
- Accounting and finance, one of 30 sectors
- Data
- Hays Salary Guide FY26/27
The widest footprint in Australian recruitment, with offices from Darwin to Hobart, and the salary guide most finance teams already benchmark against. Accounting and finance is one of thirty sectors, and Hays itself reports it as 15% of group net fees, behind technology. For volume across every level of finance role in any city it is hard to beat; nothing on its site addresses the first finance hire at a startup.
Randstad
Richard Kennedy, Director, Finance and Accounting, randstad.com.au
- Offices
- Over 100 branches nationally
- Focus
- Finance and accounting, one of about 22 areas
- Data
- 2026/27 finance, accounting and procurement salary report
A national network of more than a hundred branches, a dedicated finance and accounting team, and a 2026/27 finance, accounting and procurement salary report. Level on points with Sharp & Carter and Hays: the tie-break puts Sharp & Carter ahead on specialisation, and Randstad after Hays alphabetically once both are equal. Built for scale across many roles rather than for a first finance hire.
8Allura Partners
Andrew Smith, Managing Director, Executive Search, allurapartners.com.au
- Founded
- 2017
- Offices
- Sydney and Melbourne
- Data
- 2026 Accounting and Finance Salary Guide
Accounting and finance is one of seven practices, and the executive search arm places CFOs into businesses that have recently taken private equity or venture capital backing or are scaling under founder ownership, which is why its startup fit score is the highest of the multi-practice firms here. Two offices and a 2026 accounting and finance salary guide. The strongest answer on this list when the investor is PE rather than VC.
9Six Degrees Executive
Rohan McMaster, Client Partner, Executive Search, sixdegreesexecutive.com.au
- Founded
- 2004
- Offices
- Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane
- Data
- Accounting and Finance Talent Insights Report
Twenty years in the market, staffed offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, and an accounting and finance discipline that runs from analyst to CFO. It publishes an accounting and finance talent insights report, which scores lower here only because the page shows no edition year. Accounting and finance is one of fourteen disciplines, and its site says nothing about startups, so the fit is better for a scaled operating business.
Perigon Group
Haydn Furness, Associate Director, perigongroup.com.au
- Founded
- 2010, in Sydney
- Offices
- Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne
- Segment
- ASX, multinational, SME, start-up, PE-backed
Founded in Sydney in 2010 and now part of PeopleIN, with finance and accounting as one of six specialisations and a client list that names start-ups and start-up technology and fintech alongside listed companies. That earns it a better startup fit score than most of the national desks. It publishes no current salary guide, which is where it loses ground.
11Richard Lloyd Recruitment
Geoff Balmer, Founding Director, Richard Lloyd Executive
- Founded
- 2008
- Focus
- Accounting only, AP through to CFO
- Coverage
- Sydney only
Accounting-only and Sydney-only by its own description: temporary, permanent and executive accounting recruitment across every level in Sydney is all it does, and its executive division describes its client base as predominantly SMEs of $10m to $300m turnover. Its finance specialisation score is among the highest here. It ranks last on this national list because it covers one city, its site does not address startups, and the most recent salary report it publishes is the 2022 edition. It carries a 4.9 star rating from 776 reviews, and for a Sydney business hiring accounting staff at any level outside the venture market, it is a sensible call.
Specialist or volume desk: which one your hire needs
Most of the firms above are good at what they are built for. The question is whether what they are built for is your hire. A large agency's accounting and finance desk is built for throughput: a deep database, consultants across every capital city, and the ability to put three credible accounts payable officers in front of you by Friday. A specialist is built for the hire where the pool is small and the reading of a CV decides the outcome.
| A volume desk is built for | A startup finance specialist is built for | |
|---|---|---|
| The role | Well-defined roles in an established finance team, often many at once | The first finance hire and the first CFO, one search at a time |
| The candidate pool | Active job seekers and a large internal database | People who have built a finance function before, most of whom are not applying for anything |
| Reading the CV | Match on title, systems and sector | Whether someone from a structured environment will cope with a business that has no process yet |
| Where the value sits | Speed and volume across many roles | Judgement on one hire you cannot afford to get wrong |
The first finance hire usually lands around a big seed or Series A round. Tom Hunter puts it at businesses that have raised $10 million to $20 million, or smaller businesses of $5 million to $10 million hiring a financial controller or head of finance, and earlier in deep tech, where a head of finance can arrive at seed to clean up the accounting.[1] The people who can take that seat and build from it are rarer than founders expect.[2] Hunter sorts most early-stage senior finance candidates into three groups: FP&A and reporting people who are strong once processes exist but light on building from chaos, controllers who are deep in accounting but limited on strategy and capital, and senior CFOs who have done the build before but now want to stay strategic rather than hands-on.[3] Telling them apart is the job.
“A candidate moving from a highly structured environment into a high-growth start-up may have the right skills, but whether they succeed comes down to adaptability and pace. These aren’t details an ATS or a generalist recruiter will pick up on.”[4]
For what that first seat actually involves and who fits it, read the guide to hiring your first finance person.
What to ask any finance recruiter before you brief them
Ask for numbers in writing, not a capability deck. How long to a met-and-assessed shortlist, what share of that shortlist usually goes to interview, how long from brief to signed contract, and how many placements are still in the seat after two years. Story Recruitment’s own averages are a shortlist of four to six in five working days, 75% of the shortlist going to interview, fifteen working days from brief to contract, and 85% retention over two years.[5] Hold any firm on this list to its own version of those four numbers.
Then brief one of them, not three. Hunter’s view is that a consultant carrying several roles gives the most time to the one they are most likely to fill, so briefing several agencies on the same role lowers your priority at every one of them. One recruiter on an exclusive or retained basis puts more hours and more sourcing into the people who are not looking.[6] The wider questions on fees, guarantees and how the market segments are in how to choose a financial recruitment agency, and if the hire is a CFO specifically, the companion ranking of the best CFO recruiters in Australia scores the executive search firms as well.
Also worth knowing
Several firms that rank on the same searches did not make the eleven. Michael Page runs an accounting and finance practice in six Australian cities and publishes a 2026 salary guide, but its own site names nobody who leads that practice, and this list only ranks a firm that puts a person behind the work. Collins Executive runs specialist finance search from Melbourne and Sydney, focused on corporate finance, investment and advisory roles rather than in-house startup finance teams. Johnson Partners and Korn Ferry lead at CFO level and are scored on the CFO recruiter ranking, alongside Watermark for interim CFOs. If your business is Sydney-based and the hire is a CFO, there is also a Sydney CFO recruiter list.
References
- Tom Hunter, speaking as a guest on Celia’s Corner, on when the first finance hire lands: around a big seed or Series A round, typically at businesses that have raised $10 million to $20 million, or smaller businesses of $5 million to $10 million hiring a financial controller or head of finance. In deep tech, lending, space and robotics the hire often comes sooner, around a seed round of $10 million to $15 million.
- Tom Hunter on the same episode: the first finance hire or first CFO who has scaled a business before and wants to do it again is much rarer than people realise.
- Tom Hunter’s three buckets for early-stage senior finance candidates, from a 2026 post to the accounting and finance professionals who follow him.
- Tom Hunter, writing in 2025 about a finance leader role a client had failed to fill for months through several agencies, advertising and sourcing tools. The nuances that decide the hire, he wrote, are the ones you only learn from spending every day in this market.
- Story Recruitment’s published process averages, as Tom Hunter states them: shortlist of four to six in five working days, 75% of shortlist to interview, fifteen working days from brief meeting to contract signed, 85% placement retention over two years.
- Tom Hunter’s long-held position on multi-agency briefs: consultants allocate time by how likely a role is to fill, so briefing several agencies lowers the time each gives it, and an exclusive or retained brief gets more consultants and more passive-market sourcing on the role.
These guides set out how we see it, drawn from the searches we run and the finance leaders we place. They are general information about the market, not financial, accounting or legal advice, and they are no substitute for advice on your own circumstances.