In 2026 a credible first CFO at a late Series A Australian startup commands $275-325K base plus equity, and a proper executive CFO at Series B $325-375K plus equity. Super sits on top. Present the equity as a table of exit outcomes, not a percentage.
Base salary: what a first CFO costs by funding stage
Base tracks funding stage more closely than headcount or sector. These are the 2026 bands I give founders from the searches I run for VC-backed Australian tech, fintech and deep tech companies, before we write a brief for a first CFO hire.
Late Series A: $275-325K plus equity. A credible CFO at this stage is often a promotion: a Head of Finance stepping up, or a CFO from a smaller business.
Series B: $325-375K plus equity. This is a proper executive hire, someone who has raised capital, hired a team and sat in a board meeting before.
Series C+ and pre-IPO: $350-500K+ plus equity. That seat is market context rather than a first-CFO search, but it shows where the package goes. These candidates need IPO, M&A or significant secondary experience, and they are often paid more in equity than in cash.
If you are earlier than that and the first finance seat is a Financial Controller ($160-180K plus equity) or a VP or Head of Finance ($180-240K plus equity), the same structure applies at a smaller scale. I break those out on the Financial Controller salary and VP Finance salary pages.
Equity: present outcomes, not a percentage
How you present the grant matters as much as its size. Every band above carries equity, usually options or shares granted through an employee share scheme.
Offering a CFO “X% of the company” is the common way to do it, and I think it is the wrong one. A percentage has no economic context. 10% of a small business can be worth less than 0.1% of a multi-billion-dollar one, so comparing percentages across offers tells a candidate almost nothing.
The better way is a table of economic outcomes, closely linked to the founder's own equity grant structure, showing what the grant is worth across a range of exit scenarios from $0 to a billion-dollar exit.
An outcomes table does a second job for the founder. It lets the candidate choose their own level of equity exposure through a clear salary versus equity trade-off, and a CFO who takes more equity and less cash helps reduce salary costs and burn at exactly the stage you need it. I walk through the mechanics of grants in how stock options work in Australia.
Tax is the reason Australian structure matters. The ATO employee share scheme start-up concession, which covers interests acquired after 30 June 2015, can let the taxing point for equity line up with the eventual sale if the scheme is structured correctly, so the employee has the capital to pay the tax. Treat that as a starting point, not advice: ESS rules change, and your lawyer and accountant should confirm the current position before an offer goes out.[1]
Setting up the pool before your first senior hire? I cover how an ESOP works for an Australian startup.
Bonus: useful, but hard to get right
Bonus is optional in a first-CFO offer, and the least standard part of the package. If you include one, design it before the offer.
Bonus structures for finance staff come up often in my conversations with CFOs and Heads of Finance, and it is a tricky area to get right. Through mid-2025 some finance leaders were doubling down on bonuses to protect productivity and retention in their teams. The same logic holds for the CFO: if you include one, tie it to things the CFO controls and write the measures down before the offer, not after the first board meeting.
For a sense of how the parts stack up lower down, a Finance Manager role I recruited for in late 2024, at a fintech growing revenue 8-10x year on year, paid up to $150K plus super, bonus and ESOP, with salary flexible for an outstanding candidate.
Super and the rest of the package
In Australia, superannuation is paid on top of base at the Superannuation Guarantee rate, 12% from 1 July 2025, so check whether a quoted number is base or total package before you compare offers. The ATO guidance on super for employers sets out what you owe.[2]
Notice periods, termination terms and what happens to unvested equity if the company is sold are worth agreeing in writing as part of the offer, with your lawyer.
Common first-CFO offer mistakes and what to do instead
Most first-CFO offers go wrong in four places: base set from the wrong benchmark, equity quoted as a bare percentage, a bonus added late, and tax and super left unchecked.
| How founders often build the offer | What holds up for a first CFO | |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | Set from a general CFO salary survey that mixes in listed companies. | Set by funding stage: $275-325K at late Series A, $325-375K at Series B, plus equity. |
| Equity | Quoted as a bare percentage of the company. | Shown as a table of exit outcomes from $0 to a billion-dollar exit, with a salary versus equity choice. |
| Bonus | Added late, with measures to be agreed later. | Tied to written measures the CFO controls. |
| Tax and super | Assumed, with no check on the current ESS rules. | Super shown on top of base, and the ESS structure confirmed by a lawyer and accountant. |
What the package does not buy
A good package gets a first CFO to the table. It does not change what the job is. I tell finance people not to take a startup role expecting a corporate environment with equity added: startup land means chaos and ambiguity, and being ready to roll with whatever the day throws at you.
Tom Hunter's view: I'm seeing more of this the further up you go. Once someone's done well financially and proven themselves a few times, the next move is often not about the base salary. They want the work to be making a difference and they want to back a business they actually believe in. If your business has a genuine mission, that's a card worth playing when you're hiring senior finance. The best people can get paid well anywhere, but fewer businesses can offer them a reason to care. (LinkedIn, September 2026) On the number itself, as I said on Olive Insights, get advice “from someone that does work in the space to understand what actually is market value. Because you might think that you're paying really well, but it could not be the case.” (Olive Insights, March 2025)
The offer is also where good searches are lost. Know your numbers before the final interview, then read how I handle closing a finance hire and the counter-offer. If you are still at the start, the guide to hiring a CFO, the CFO search timeline and the full CFO salary guide for Australia sit alongside this page, with the rest of the finance recruitment guides under hiring finance leaders.
Common questions
What is a typical CFO compensation package at an Australian startup?
In 2026, a credible CFO at a late Series A Australian startup typically commands $275-325K base plus equity, and a proper executive CFO at Series B $325-375K plus equity. Superannuation is paid on top. At Series C+ and pre-IPO the range is $350-500K+ plus equity, often weighted more to equity than cash.
How much equity should a first CFO get?
There is no meaningful percentage answer, because a percentage has no economic context: 10% of a small business can be worth less than 0.1% of a large one. Present the grant as a table of economic outcomes across exit scenarios from $0 to a billion-dollar exit, and let the candidate choose a salary versus equity mix.
Should a startup CFO get a bonus?
It is optional. Bonus structures for finance staff are a tricky area to get right, though some finance leaders have been doubling down on bonuses to protect retention. If you include one, tie it to measures the CFO controls and write them down before the offer goes out.
How is CFO equity taxed in Australia?
If the scheme is structured correctly, the ATO employee share scheme start-up concession, which covers interests acquired after 30 June 2015, can let the taxing point line up with the eventual sale, so the employee has the capital to pay the tax. ESS rules change, so confirm the current position with a lawyer and accountant before making an offer.
References
- Australian Taxation Office, employee share scheme start-up concession for interests acquired after 30 June 2015.
- Australian Taxation Office, super for employers.
- Story Recruitment, Employee Share Schemes (ESOP) for Finance Leaders and Founders. Tom Hunter built the ESOP guide with one of the founders of Eucalyptus, starting from the guide he had already written and his appearance on Tom's podcast.
These guides set out how we see it, drawn from the searches we run and the finance leaders we work with. They are general information about the market, not financial, accounting or legal advice, and they are no substitute for advice on your own circumstances.