Where the role sits
Two very different versions of this job carry the same title. In an Australian startup the Head of Finance is often the first finance hire and reports directly to the founder, with no CFO above them and usually no team below them. In a larger business the Head of Finance sits under a CFO and owns delivery: close, controls, reporting, the team.
Decide which one you are hiring before you write a word. The first finance hire in a startup is typically a Head of Finance or Financial Controller in a business with 10 to 20 headcount and $5 to $10 million ARR or less.[1] That is the version this page is written for, because it is the one founders get wrong most often.
If you are debating whether you need a CFO or a Head of Finance, the honest answer for most businesses, most of the time, is still a Head of Finance.[2] The CFO title tends to get added because a founder thinks it will attract better candidates. It usually just attracts people who will be bored inside a year.
If you are genuinely unsure which seat the business needs, I go through the signals that say you are ready for a CFO here.
Role summary
A usable role summary says what the person is there to build, not what they are there to maintain. Something close to this:
Reporting to the CEO, the Head of Finance owns the finance function for a fast-growing Australian business. You will run reporting, cash and forecasting, build the systems and controls the business does not yet have, and act as the commercial counterweight in decisions about pricing, hiring and spend. This is a build role, not a maintain role.
The way I work is to sit with founders before the job description is written, and craft a brief that tells the real story of the business, including the actual environment and the problems the person will walk into on day one, focused on what they need to build.[3] Most role misfires in finance are not about candidate capability. They are about ambiguity in the scope and expectations.[4] The summary is where you kill that ambiguity or where you create it.
Core responsibilities
Keep this to the things the person will genuinely be measured on. A twenty-bullet list signals that nobody has thought about the role.
- Reporting and close. Own the monthly close, the management pack and the statutory process, including audit and the relationship with external accountants.
- Cash and forecasting. Own the cash position, the rolling forecast and the runway conversation. Make the numbers explainable to a board without a rebuild every quarter.
- Commercial partnering. Test the hiring plan, pricing decisions and major spend before they become commitments.
- Systems and process. Choose and implement the finance stack, and build controls proportionate to the stage rather than imported from a corporate.
- Compliance. Tax, GST, payroll obligations, statutory lodgements and any grant or R&D reporting.
- Team. Start with a bookkeeper or an outsourced firm, and build the case for each additional head from workload rather than ambition.
What good looks like is concrete. With strong finance ownership in a startup, reporting gets clearer, forecasts become more believable, board prep gets less chaotic, cash conversations get more accurate, and hiring plans get properly tested before they become commitments.[5] If your job description does not point at those outcomes, it is describing a bookkeeper with a better title.
Qualifications and experience
Say what you actually require and stop. Long qualification lists narrow the pool without improving the shortlist.
| What most job ads say | What is worth requiring | |
|---|---|---|
| Professional qualification | CA, CPA, CIMA, ACCA or equivalent, listed as essential. | CA or CPA is the normal Australian path and worth stating as preferred. Making it a hard requirement rules out strong commercial and FP&A backgrounds for no real gain. |
| Years of experience | Often set at ten years or more by default. | Seven to ten years is realistic for a first Head of Finance. Beyond that you are usually paying for corporate scale you do not need. |
| Industry experience | Listed as essential, often naming a single sector. | Preferred at most. Hiring managers rank it at 3% of what they look for first in a CV, and it is the fastest way to shrink your shortlist. |
| Systems | A list of named ERPs, sometimes six or seven. | Name the stack you actually run and ask for evidence of implementing or migrating something, which is the skill that transfers. |
| Stage experience | Usually omitted entirely. | The one worth being firm about. Someone who has built a function without a playbook, rather than inherited a working one. |
On industry experience specifically, hold your nerve. Industry experience ranked at just 3% among what hiring managers for finance professionals look for first in a CV, which tells you they care far more about role quality and relevance.[6] When I am hiring I focus on versatility, problem-solving, willingness to learn, work ethic and adaptability over specific industry background.[7] The sector knowledge is learnable. The temperament is not.
What to pay
Current Australian ranges sit at $140,000 to $170,000 plus super for a Finance Manager and $160,000 to $200,000 plus super for a Financial Controller, depending on industry, business size and complexity, and location.[8] A Head of Finance running the whole function with no CFO above them typically prices at or above the top of the Financial Controller band, and higher again where the role carries a genuine commercial mandate.
The most common costly mistake is under-hiring. Many founders price the role against current complexity rather than the complexity they will have in twelve months, and then re-hire because the first person could not scale.[9] Paying twenty thousand dollars more once is cheaper than running the search twice.
For the full Australian salary picture on this role, including how the band moves by stage and city, see the Head of Finance salary breakdown here.
Common questions
What does a Head of Finance do?
A Head of Finance owns the finance function end to end: monthly close and reporting, cash and forecasting, compliance and statutory obligations, the finance systems stack, and commercial input into pricing, hiring and spend. In an Australian startup they usually report to the founder and are the first finance hire. In a larger business they report to a CFO and own operational delivery while the CFO carries capital and strategy.
What qualifications does a Head of Finance need?
In Australia a CA or CPA is the standard path and worth listing as preferred, because it removes any doubt about technical depth. Seven to ten years of post-qualification experience is realistic for a first Head of Finance. Making an advanced degree or a specific industry background essential mostly shrinks the shortlist without improving it: hiring managers rank industry experience at just 3% of what they look at first in a CV.
What is the difference between a Head of Finance and a CFO?
A Head of Finance runs the function. A CFO carries capital strategy, board and investor relationships, and the financial consequence of company strategy, usually with a Head of Finance or Financial Controller underneath them. When founders ask which one they need, the honest answer for most businesses most of the time is still a Head of Finance. Appointing a CFO before there is CFO-sized work produces an expensive hire doing operational work who leaves inside a year.
How much does a Head of Finance earn in Australia?
As a reference point, current Australian ranges are $140,000 to $170,000 plus super for a Finance Manager and $160,000 to $200,000 plus super for a Financial Controller, varying by industry, business size and complexity, and location. A Head of Finance owning the whole function with no CFO above them typically sits at or above the top of the Financial Controller band. Founders often under-price the role against today's complexity rather than the complexity they will have in twelve months, then re-hire.
References
- Story Recruitment specialisation: the first finance hire for startups, typically a Head of Finance or Financial Controller, for businesses with 10-20 headcount and $5-10 million ARR or less.
- Tom Hunter on the CFO versus Head of Finance question: when founders ask which they need, the honest answer for most, most of the time, is still a Head of Finance.
- Tom Hunter on how he works: sitting with founders before the job description is written, crafting a brief that tells the real story of the business, the actual environment and the problems the person will walk into on day one, focused on what they need to build.
- Tom Hunter on why finance roles misfire: most misfires are not due to a candidate's capability but to ambiguity in the role's scope and expectations.
- Tom Hunter on strong finance ownership in a startup: reporting gets clearer, forecasts become more believable, board prep gets less chaotic, cash conversations get more accurate, and hiring plans get properly tested before they become commitments.
- Story Recruitment market data: industry experience ranked at just 3% among what hiring managers for finance professionals look for first in a CV, indicating greater interest in role quality and relevance.
- Tom Hunter's hiring advice: focus on core qualities like versatility, problem-solving, willingness to learn, work ethic and adaptability over specific industry experience.
- Story Recruitment Australian salary data: $140-170k plus super for a Finance Manager and $160-200k plus super for a Financial Controller, depending on industry, business size and complexity, and location.
- Tom Hunter on under-hiring: many founders price the first finance role against current complexity rather than anticipated complexity in 12 months, which often leads to re-hiring because the initial hire could not scale.