The title sits in three different places
Finance Director in a UK-influenced business often means what an Australian company would call a CFO. In a large Australian corporate it is a divisional leader reporting to a group CFO. In a startup it is usually a rebadged Head of Finance. Those are three different jobs with three different numbers, and the salary guides that average them together are the reason founders get a figure that does not match anything they see in the market.
I see the same distortion running the other way. Almost every founder I speak to is convinced they need a CFO twelve months before they actually do, and a Head of Finance often gets dressed up in a CFO title to close the gap.[1] Finance Director is the title that usually does the dressing up. Nothing wrong with that, as long as everyone understands the number is set by the mandate, not the word.
The 2026 Australian ranges
These are the base ranges I see land real offers in Australian tech, fintech and deep tech. Superannuation is on top, and equity is on top from this level upward. Where a Director of Finance role sits depends on whether it owns the function, runs a division, or is the top finance seat in the business.
| Which version of the role | 2026 base range and mandate | |
|---|---|---|
| Startup Director of Finance | $180k to $240k + equity | Effectively a Head of Finance. Owns the model, the reporting frameworks and the systems that let you fundraise and scale. The right first senior hire for most Series A businesses. |
| Controller-weighted Director | $160k to $200k + super | Title says Director, mandate is control: close, compliance, clean numbers. Legitimate, but do not pay a leadership premium for it. |
| Top finance seat, effectively CFO | $275k to $325k + equity at late Series A | Carries the board and investor relationship. Series B moves to $325k to $375k, and Series C or pre-IPO to $350k to $500k and up, weighted to equity. |
How to tell which one you are hiring
Ignore the title and look at three things: who the role reports to, whether it owns the model or just the close, and whether it carries the board and investor relationship. A Financial Controller owns accurate, timely reporting. A Head of Finance or Director of Finance owns what the business does with those numbers: the model, the reporting frameworks and the systems that let you fundraise and scale. A CFO leads all of it and carries the board.
The most expensive mistake at this level is writing one job that is really two. If the brief asks for strategic decision support and month-end close and payroll and reconciliations, you have written a Director of Finance and a bookkeeper stapled together. The structure that works for a business between 10 and 50 staff or $5 to $10 million revenue is a Head of Finance or Financial Controller handling strategic oversight, decision support and governance, with an accounts assistant or bookkeeper managing transactional processing.[2]
If you are working out what sits above and below this role, the finance team structure by stage is set out here.
The band gap that costs the most money
There is a real cliff between $120k to $140k and the genuine Director of Finance band. A first finance hire at $120k to $140k gets you a senior accountant with a controller title who will execute the work well, but the founder will still be leading the finance function.[3] Around $180k a founder can find an excellent first finance hire capable of significantly advancing the business.[4] That $40k to $60k difference is not a better version of the same person. It is a different job getting done.
Many founders err on the side of under-hiring here, pricing the role against current complexity rather than the complexity twelve months out, and then re-hiring because the first person could not scale.[5] My rule is to hire for the next 24 months, not the next 24 weeks.[6]
The Head of Finance band, which is where most Australian startup Director of Finance roles genuinely sit, is broken down here.
What actually gets paid at this level
Technical capability is the entry ticket, not the differentiator. A finance professional waiting for the founder to specify what is needed is not operating strategically, they are a senior accountant with a more senior title, and that does not work at this level.[7]The premium goes to the person who sees the next version of the role before the conversation is forced on them.
Common questions
What does a Director of Finance earn in Australia?
It depends entirely on which version of the role it is. In Australian high-growth businesses in 2026, a startup Director of Finance that is effectively a Head of Finance sits at $180k to $240k base plus equity. A controller-weighted version sits at $160k to $200k plus super. Where the role is genuinely the top finance seat and carries the board, it prices as a CFO: $275k to $325k at late Series A, $325k to $375k at Series B, and $350k to $500k and up at Series C or pre-IPO.
Is a Finance Director the same as a CFO?
Sometimes, which is the problem. In UK-influenced businesses the Finance Director title often means what an Australian company calls a CFO. In a large Australian corporate it is usually a divisional leader under a group CFO. In a startup it is most often a rebadged Head of Finance. Almost every founder is convinced they need a CFO twelve months before they actually do, and a Head of Finance frequently gets dressed up in a bigger title to close that gap.
How do I tell which level I am actually hiring?
Ignore the title and check three things. Who does the role report to. Does it own the model or only the close. Does it carry the board and investor relationship. A Financial Controller owns accurate, timely reporting. A Director or Head of Finance owns what the business does with those numbers. A CFO leads the function and carries the board. The classic error is writing one job that is really two, pairing strategic decision support with month-end close, payroll and reconciliations.
Why is there such a cliff between $140k and $180k?
Because it is a different job, not a better version of the same one. A first finance hire at $120k to $140k gets you a senior accountant with a controller title who will execute the work well, but the founder still leads the finance function. Around $180k you can find an excellent first finance hire capable of significantly advancing the business. Founders who price against current complexity rather than the complexity twelve months out frequently end up re-hiring.
References
- Tom Hunter on title inflation: almost every founder he speaks to is convinced they need a CFO twelve months before they actually do, and a Head of Finance often gets dressed up in a CFO title to close the gap.
- Tom Hunter on effective finance structure for businesses between 10 and 50 staff or $5-10 million revenue or ARR: a Head of Finance or Financial Controller handling strategic oversight, financial decision-making support and governance, with an accounts assistant or bookkeeper managing transactional processing.
- Tom Hunter on the Australian first finance hire: a $120k-$140k salary band typically indicates hiring a senior accountant with a controller title who will execute work well, but the founder will still lead the finance function.
- Tom Hunter on the first finance hire: around $180k, a founder can find an excellent first finance hire capable of significantly advancing the business.
- Tom Hunter on under-hiring: many founders price the first finance role against current complexity rather than the complexity anticipated in 12 months, which often leads to re-hiring because the initial hire could not scale.
- Tom Hunter's rule for finance hiring: hire for the next 24 months, not the next 24 weeks.
- Tom Hunter on senior finance leadership: a finance professional waiting for the founder to specify needs is not operating strategically but as a senior accountant with a more senior title, which is ineffective at Head of Finance level.