The title problem, and why it matters commercially
FD is one of the least standardised titles in Australian finance. In a large business it sits under a CFO and owns reporting, control and a defined slice of the function. In a startup or scale-up it is often the first senior finance hire the business has ever made, doing everything from the model to the board pack, with a title chosen because it sounds right rather than because it maps to a level.
That ambiguity is expensive. Title, salary and value proposition misalignment is one of the cheapest things to fix and one of the most costly to ignore. I saved a client over $25,000 in recruitment costs with a single call, by helping them adjust a Finance Manager job ad's value proposition, title and salary alignment to market conditions. Interviews were booked in four days and a candidate signed soon after.[1] Nothing about the market changed, only the framing.
Do you need an FD, or something else?
Work from the stage, not the org chart you want to have. For early scale startups up to around 20 staff, the finance team does not need to be big, it needs agility, usually led by a hands-on Finance Manager or Financial Controller supported by a bookkeeper or an outsourced accounting firm.[2] At that stage an FD title on the job ad buys you candidates who expect a team, and disappoints the ones who would have been great.
The two hiring moments I work on are the first finance hire, typically a Head of Finance or Financial Controller in a business with roughly 10 to 20 headcount and $5-10M ARR or less, and the first CFO at 50-plus heads and $10M-plus ARR.[3] Most FD searches at startups are really one of those two in disguise. Naming which one you are running fixes the salary band, the candidate pool and the brief in one move.
The single-product-versus-complex distinction is useful here too. A single-product SaaS business might not need a first finance hire until Series B and can rely on a fractional CFO for a long time, while complex deep tech businesses like robotics need a finance professional sooner.[4] Complexity drives the timing far more than revenue does.
One finance hire does both jobs at first. As you scale, strategic and transactional finance split apart.
| FD in a large business | FD in a startup or scale-up | |
|---|---|---|
| What they own | A defined slice under a CFO: reporting, control and compliance, with a team already in place. | Everything. The model, the close, the board pack and the first hires beneath them, often with no precedent to follow. |
| What to screen for | Depth at comparable scale, technical strength, and a clean track record in similar businesses. | Whether they can think with no playbook, and whether they will do the work themselves in month one without resenting it. |
| What the title should be | Finance Director. It means something specific here. | Usually Head of Finance or Financial Controller, or a genuine first CFO. Naming it right fixes the salary band and the pool. |
How the search actually runs
The brief comes before the job description. The way I work is to sit with founders before the job description is written, crafting a brief that tells the real story of the business, including the actual environment and problems the person will walk into on day one, focused on what they need to build.[5] At this level candidates can read a vague brief instantly, and the strong ones opt out rather than gamble on a role nobody has defined.
Then the search is a mapped approach, not an advert. When I go to market for a senior finance role I am not posting and waiting for applications, I am reaching into a network built on real relationships.[6] Behind that sits a personal network of 28,000-plus accounting and finance professionals across Australia, generating over two million views a year.[7] The benchmarks to hold any firm to: a shortlist in about five working days from the brief, around fifteen working days from brief to signed, and 85% two-year retention on placements.[8]
The full brief-to-offer sequence for a finance director search, and the questions to ask a firm first, are set out here.
What FD recruitment costs
My terms, plainly. Retained search at 18% of total remuneration with a minimum fee of 15%, and a six-month replacement guarantee on every retained placement.[9] For senior finance roles at this stage that typically lands in the region of $40,000 to $50,000.[10] If runway is the constraint, fee timing can flex: deferred payments in line with a raise, staggered fees against onboarding milestones, or fixed pricing for budget certainty.[11]
Compare that against the real alternative, which is not a cheaper firm, it is the wrong hire. That costs the fee again, plus six to twelve months where nobody was properly running finance, plus whatever gets rebuilt. For a first senior finance hire in a VC-backed business, that second bill lands on your runway.
Where I am the wrong firm
If you are an ASX-listed or large mature business replacing an FD in an established function with a team beneath them, a large generalist executive search firm will serve you better than I will. I work almost entirely on retained and exclusive assignments in one narrow segment: Australian VC-backed startups and scale-ups making their first senior finance hire or their first CFO hire.[12] That is a deliberate constraint, and it is why I can say on a first call when a mandate is not mine, rather than discovering it at week six.
If you are unsure which level the role should actually be, the stage-by-stage finance team structure is a faster answer here.
Common questions
What is the difference between an FD and a CFO in Australia?
In a large business the FD sits under the CFO and owns reporting, control and a defined slice of the function, while the CFO owns capital, strategy and the board relationship. In startups and scale-ups the line blurs badly and FD is often used for what is really a first senior finance hire. The useful test is stage, not title: the first finance hire typically lands at 10 to 20 headcount and $5-10M ARR or less, and a first CFO at 50-plus heads and $10M-plus ARR.
Does my startup need an FD yet?
Probably not with that title. For early-scale startups up to around 20 staff, the finance function does not need to be big, it needs agility, usually led by a hands-on Finance Manager or Financial Controller supported by a bookkeeper or outsourced accounting firm. Complexity drives timing more than revenue: a single-product SaaS business might not need a first finance hire until Series B and can lean on a fractional CFO, while complex deep tech such as robotics needs a finance professional much sooner.
What does FD recruitment cost?
Our retained search fee is 18% of total remuneration with a 15% minimum, and every retained placement carries a six-month replacement guarantee. For senior finance roles at this stage that typically lands in the region of $40,000 to $50,000. If runway is the constraint, the timing can flex: deferred payments in line with a raise, staggered fees against onboarding milestones, or fixed pricing for budget certainty. Compare it against the cost of the wrong hire rather than a cheaper firm.
Why does the job title matter so much?
Because it sets the salary band, the candidate pool and the expectations in one move, and getting it wrong is expensive in a way that is invisible until the search stalls. I once saved a client over $25,000 by adjusting a job ad's value proposition, title and salary alignment on a single call: interviews were booked in four days and a candidate signed soon after. Nothing about the market changed. An FD title on a role that is really a Financial Controller attracts people who expect a team and puts off the ones who would have thrived.
References
- Tom Hunter: saved a client over $25,000 in recruitment costs with a single call by adjusting a Finance Manager job ad's value proposition, title and salary alignment, leading to interviews in four days and a signed candidate soon after.
- Tom Hunter on early-scale startups up to circa 20 staff: the finance 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.
- Story Recruitment focus: the first finance hire in a startup (Head of Finance or Financial Controller, 10 to 20 headcount, $5 to $10M ARR or less) and the first CFO hire (50+ heads, $10M+ ARR).
- Tom Hunter: a single-product SaaS business might not need a first finance hire until Series B, relying on a fractional CFO for a long time, while complex deep tech businesses like robotics need a finance professional sooner.
- Tom Hunter on briefing: sits with founders before the job description is written, crafting a brief that tells the real story of the business and the problems the person walks into on day one.
- Tom Hunter on senior finance search: not posting and waiting for applications, but reaching into a network built on real relationships.
- Story Recruitment network: 28,000+ accounting and finance professionals across Australia, generating 2 million+ views per year.
- Story Recruitment benchmarks: shortlist in about 5 working days from brief, brief-to-signed average around 15 working days, and 85% two-year retention on placements.
- Story Recruitment commercial terms: retained search fee of 18% of total remuneration, minimum fee 15%, six-month replacement guarantee on retained placements.
- Story Recruitment: recruitment fees average $40,000 to $50,000 AUD.
- Story Recruitment fee options: deferred payments matched to funding timelines, staggered fees against onboarding milestones, or fixed pricing for budget certainty.
- Story Recruitment: works primarily on retained and exclusive assignments to ensure alignment, quality and long-term outcomes for clients.