The ranges in common use
There is no statutory definition of mid-market in Australia or elsewhere. What exists is a set of conventions that mostly agree on the middle and disagree at the edges.
| Segment | Commonly used range | |
|---|---|---|
| Small business / SMB | Under 100 employees in most frameworks. | Australian Bureau of Statistics categories are stricter: small is under 20 employees, medium is 20 to 199. |
| Mid-market | Commonly 100 to 1,000 employees. | Some frameworks run 500 to 2,500. Usually paired with a revenue band of roughly $10 million to $1 billion. |
| Enterprise | Above 1,000 employees in most conventions. | The ABS treats 200 or more as large, which is why Australian and US definitions rarely line up. |
Two practical notes. First, most of these conventions originate in the United States, where company sizes skew larger, so applying a 500 to 2,500 employee definition to the Australian market will leave your mid-market segment close to empty. Second, the Australian Bureau of Statistics does not use "mid-market" at all; its official categories are small (under 20 employees), medium (20 to 199) and large (200 or more). If you need a defensible Australian reference, that is the one to cite.
Revenue is the better qualifier
Headcount alone is a poor proxy for complexity. A 60-person software business and a 60-person services business have completely different finance requirements. Most people pair headcount with a revenue band, commonly $10 million to $1 billion for the mid-market, and again the Australian version of that band sits lower than the US one.
I use both, and I use them narrowly. The businesses I work with are Australian startups and scale-ups, primarily pre-IPO private companies.[1] Within that, the first finance hire usually happens at roughly 10 to 20 headcount and $5 to $10 million ARR or less, and the first CFO at 50-plus heads and $10 million-plus ARR.[2] By the standard mid-market definitions, most of that sits below the mid-market entirely, which is exactly why the generic ranges are not much help when you are making a hiring decision.
If you are using this to decide a finance hire
Then headcount is the wrong variable. What actually determines the finance capability a business needs is the complexity of its decisions, not the number of people making them.
A startup up to around twenty staff does not need a big finance team, it needs agility, usually a Finance Manager or a hands-on Financial Controller supported by a bookkeeper or an outsourced accounting firm.[3] In fast-growing environments, finance teams often double as operations, strategy and systems, with investor expectations driving faster cycles and tighter budgets while the structure is still forming.[4] A 40-person business raising a Series B has more finance complexity than a 200-person business with one product and one country.
The common failure is pricing the hire against today rather than next year. Many founders under-hire for their first finance role, pricing it against current complexity rather than the complexity they will have in twelve months, and then re-hire because the first person could not scale.[5]
If the real question is what finance function your stage needs, I map it out by company stage rather than headcount band here.
How to pick a threshold you can defend
- Pick one source, state it, and stay consistent. A defensible definition is one you applied the same way twice, not the one that is objectively right.
- Localise it. Shift US ranges down for the Australian market or your segment will be near empty.
- Pair headcount with revenue. Either alone misclassifies obvious cases.
- If the decision is about capability rather than segmentation, drop the size question and ask what decisions the business is making instead.
If you are trying to work out whether your business is at CFO scale yet, I go through the signals here.
Common questions
What employee size is considered mid-market?
Most commonly 100 to 1,000 employees, though some frameworks run 500 to 2,500. There is no statutory definition in Australia or anywhere else, so the honest answer is that it depends on the source. If you need an official Australian reference, the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses small (under 20 employees), medium (20 to 199) and large (200 or more) rather than the mid-market label.
Why do mid-market definitions vary so much?
Because nobody owns the term. Analyst firms, software vendors and government agencies each set thresholds that suit their own segmentation, and most of the widely quoted ranges originate in the United States where company sizes skew larger. Applying a US mid-market definition to the Australian market will leave the segment close to empty, which is why localising the range matters more than finding the correct one.
Should I use employee count or revenue to define mid-market?
Both. Headcount alone is a weak proxy because a 60-person software business and a 60-person services business have very different economics. The usual pairing is a revenue band of roughly $10 million to $1 billion alongside the employee range, adjusted down for the Australian market. Whichever you choose, the important thing is applying it consistently rather than switching definitions between analyses.
Does mid-market employee size determine what finance function a business needs?
Not really. Complexity does. A 40-person business raising a Series B across multiple entities has more finance complexity than a 200-person single-product business in one country. A startup up to around twenty staff needs agility rather than a large team, typically a Finance Manager or hands-on Financial Controller supported by a bookkeeper or outsourced firm. Sizing a finance hire against headcount alone is how businesses end up under-hiring and re-running the search a year later.
References
- Story Recruitment market: Tom Hunter recruits finance leaders into Australian startups and scale-ups, primarily targeting pre-IPO private companies.
- Story Recruitment focus: the first finance hire in a startup (Head of Finance or Financial Controller, 10 to 20 headcount, $5 to $10 million ARR or less) and the first CFO hire (50 plus heads, $10 million plus ARR).
- Tom Hunter on finance team structure for startups up to around 20 staff: the team does not need to be big, it needs agility, often led by a Finance Manager or hands-on Financial Controller supported by a bookkeeper or outsourced accounting firm.
- Tom Hunter on fast-growing environments: finance teams often double as operations, strategy and systems, with PE and VC expectations driving faster cycles and tighter budgets while the structure is still forming.
- 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.