How to hire and structure a finance team for a growing startup

A finance team serves as a company's financial backbone and is responsible for managing capital, ensuring compliance, and providing strategic financial guidance to support growth. Unlike established companies, startup finance teams often begin with founders handling basic bookkeeping tasks. This hands-on experience proves invaluable, helping founders understand their company's financial mechanics before building out a department. But they can’t do it forever.

So how do you know which functions to hire and when? Let’s start by looking at some of the key responsibilities of a startup finance team and the areas you won’t want to overlook as you scale.

Budgeting and forecasting

The finance team's primary responsibility is to create and maintain realistic budgets while forecasting future financial scenarios. This involves creating annual operating budgets, developing rolling forecasts to anticipate cash needs, managing startup costs and burn rate, building models for various business scenarios, and tracking performance against projections.

Financial reporting and analysis

Accurate and timely financial reporting is crucial for informed decision-making. Key activities include closing the books on time, preparing monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements, creating investor updates and board meeting materials, analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs), managing cash flow reporting, and providing actionable advice using financial data.

Fundraising and investor relations

Startup fundraising and maintaining investor relationships are critical during a company’s early stages. The startup finance team can help prepare detailed pitch decks and financial models for potential investors, conduct scenario analyses and valuation exercises, manage due diligence processes, track and report on key metrics, and support term sheet negotiations.

Compliance and risk management

Modern finance teams must navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape to ensure tax compliance and timely filings, manage audit preparations, implement internal controls, monitor and manage financial risks, and maintain proper documentation.

While these responsibilities form the foundation of a startup finance team, the most effective teams go beyond these technical functions. They act as strategic business partners, regularly collaborating with department heads on budgeting, partnering with sales on revenue forecasting, working with HR on compensation planning, and supporting the CEO and board with strategic planning.

Founders who are fluent in their startup’s financial performance will be more effective leaders, but they can’t be the primary finance person forever — nor should they be. But building a startup finance team is tricky — you don’t want to overinvest too early and eat into precious resources, but there are critical risks if you bring them in too late, including:

• Poor decision-making because of limited visibility into your financials
• Slow or stagnant growth due to gaps in strategic decision-making
• Serious cash flow issues and working capital constraints
• An inability to raise future funding when you need it most

Timing is everything, but you need to be finance-ready before making any hiring decisions. Here are a few steps founders can take to prepare for the transition to a fully functioning finance department.

Practice basic financial hygiene

Keep your business and personal finances separate, and maintain a clear paper trail by mapping expenses to their proper categories. One way to do that is to invest in business credit cards for employees and issue dedicated cards to key team members to maintain control. Modern smart cards like Brex come with built-in spend controls and automatically generate receipts for popular merchants. Brex is also one of the few business credit cards with no personal guarantee, for easier separation of personal and business finances.

Track your key metrics effectively

Beyond the day-to-day expense tracking, you'll want to have a firm grip on your monthly burn rate and remaining runway religiously, along with weekly cash balances. If you're generating revenue, track your monthly recurring revenue (MRR) and get clear on your unit economics and customer acquisition costs.

Document your essential workflows

Document your core processes — from how you approve invoices, handle expense reports, pay contractors, and close your books each month. Things like a month end close checklist will help you ensure accurate financial statements every time. It might all seem bureaucratic, but having these things on paper will save countless headaches as you scale. And you won’t have to re-create the wheel later.

Lean on finance software

Investing in software and automation early can help you simplify all of the above and also complement an emerging finance team. Accounting software for startups can help you close the books and provide cash flow visibility, and expense management automation solutions will help streamline expenses, automate invoice processing, and accelerate expense reconciliation. These solutions will be your financial backbone, and they’ll also make it easier to scale your finance headcount when the time comes.

Now that we’ve covered some of the key aspects of startup financial management, here are some best practices for scaling your startup finance team efficiently, with recommendations for key hires at every stage.

Pre-Seed/Seed (~$0-$5M raised)

It’s exciting to have an idea that you believe in, and it’s validating when others believe in it so much that they agree to invest in your startup. But just because you raise a little money doesn’t mean you need to cut the ribbon on a new finance department. In fact, keeping your finance function lean and efficient is crucial when your startup is getting off the ground. At this stage, most successful startups opt for a combination of outsourced bookkeeping services and a part-time CFO rather than building out an internal team.

Pre-seed/seed finance priorities

Your finance priorities should focus on the essentials: maintaining basic compliance and clean books, supporting your fundraising efforts, paying employees and contractors, carefully managing cash flow, and creating straightforward financial plans. Think of it as building a strong foundation rather than constructing the entire house at once. The key is to stay nimble and focused on the basics until you reach a scale that truly demands more robust internal financial operations.

Pre-seed/seed finance recommendations

• Outsourced bookkeeping firm
• Fractional CFO

We recommend your primary “hire” at this stage be the outsourcing of your bookkeeping, payroll, and tax work. Brex has a number of accounting firm partners experienced in helping businesses of all sizes handle their core financial processes. Brex partners like Inkle also use Brex to help close their clients’ books a week faster. You’ll also want to consider the benefits of a fractional CFO, who can bring some of the strategic expertise you need — from fundraising support to financial planning — without the full-time price tag.

What to watch out for

One common pitfall we’ve seen founders stumble into is the temptation to hire full-time finance staff too early. While it might feel like a sign of "growing up" as a company, premature hiring of expensive finance talent can unnecessarily drain your runway when outsourced solutions would serve you better.

“By hiring a fractional CFO, founders ensure their startup has a firm financial foundation, so they can confidently focus on growth and product. The right fractional CFO is not only cheaper than a full-time hire but also brings a higher level of strategic thinking to the room. This helps founders avoid common mistakes such as underestimating cash needs, missing key variables in their financial forecast, or mismanaging investor and banking relationships. — Kurtis Hanni, Owner of Bison CFO and Author of Frameworks & Finance

Series A (~$5M-$15M raised)

Series A startups are at a critical inflection point. Typically with several million dollars in startup funding under their belt and up to 50 employees, these companies need to shift from survival mode to building scalable operations and demonstrating a clear growth path. The right financial leadership can help you navigate these potentially muddy waters.

Series A finance priorities

This marks the transition from basic financial hygiene to building a strategic finance function that can support rapid growth. Your finance function now needs to move beyond just keeping the books clean — it needs to own the fundraising strategy, establish scalable planning systems, and build the metrics infrastructure that will help drive business decisions. Most companies begin building their in-house finance team at this time, starting with a leader who can develop high-level strategy and roll up their sleeves for hands-on execution.

Series A finance recommendations

• Head of finance
• Staff accountant

The first key finance hire at this stage is typically a head of finance or, at the very least, someone with a finance and operations background. This should be someone who can build out internal capabilities around financial planning and analysis, own the fundraising process, and manage key metrics while overseeing outsourced services. This role is often complemented by a staff accountant who handles the day-to-day financial operations, including transaction processing, payroll management, and basic reporting.

What to watch out for

One common mistake is hiring too senior too early. While it might be tempting to bring on a full-time CFO, most Series A companies aren't ready for this level of executive yet. Even accounting can remain a flex resource if you have the right firm in place, so you won’t need a controller just yet. Instead, look for an operational Swiss Army knife who can provide strategic value across financial disciplines and who can grow with your company.

“A first big finance hire doesn’t have to fit the typical mold. Someone with a background in finance, biz ops, or investment banking can help bridge finance and operations to drive rapid growth. Ideally, their financial modeling chops will help the founder use data to make decisions and quarterback the Series B raise.” — CJ Gustafson, Tech CFO and Author of Mostly Metrics

Series B (~$15M-$50M raised)

Series B companies typically scale rapidly, with revenues surging into eight figures. They face increasing operational complexity and heightened investor expectations. At this stage, the focus shifts to building robust financial infrastructure, maturing operating models, and preparing for potential exit paths while maintaining strong growth.

Series B finance priorities

Your finance team needs to expand beyond basic operations to handle more sophisticated needs. You’ll be building out the business model, testing GTM strategies, defining your customer segments, and building out departments.

Series B hiring recommendations

• Accounting manager
• FP&A analyst
• Additional staff accountant
• Payroll manager

This will likely be the point where you hire an accounting manager who will be essential for managing accounting operations, building accounting internal controls, and preparing for future audit requirements. A few years ago, this might have been the point you bring in a controller, but the rise of bookkeeping firms and accounting automation software solutions indicates that you can hold off on heavier accounting needs till later. You’ll also want to prioritize an FP&A analyst who can go deep on financial modeling, build your budget, track metrics, and report on financials for the board. Some companies even add another staff accountant at this stage to handle the growing transaction volume, but that often depends on your industry or market. You’ll also want to consider someone to manage payroll as you bring on more headcount.

What to watch out for

You’ll want to keep compliance top of mind as your business gets more complex. So don’t let gaps develop in controls and compliance. Companies often underestimate how quickly they need to mature their financial operations to support rapid scaling. Startup spend management software solutions like Brex can help you implement and customize controls around card, expense, and bill pay processes to help you maintain compliance.

“We were blown away by Brexʼs ability to manage and track compliance in real-time, and automate employee expense reports and our month-end processes all in one system.” — Alex Moiseev, Financial Controller, Psycho Bunny

Series C+ (~$50M+ raised)

Companies that hit their Series C are ready to start their strategic build-out. With revenues topping $20M+ and solid growth, these organizations face a new set of challenges around scale, market expansion, and potential exit planning. At this stage, financial operations need to function like a well-oiled machine while supporting strategic initiatives and maintaining the agility needed for continued growth.

Series C+ finance priorities

Your finance function must now handle complex challenges including international expansion, sophisticated financial planning, liquidity management, potential M&A activities, and preparation for possible exit scenarios. This requires building out specialized teams focused on tax planning, treasury management, and enhanced FP&A capabilities, all while maintaining the company's ability to move quickly and decisively. You’ll also likely be starting to implement and manage an ERP like NetSuite.

Series C+ hiring recommendations

• CFO
• Controller
• Tax manager
• Treasury manager
• Additional FP&A headcount
• Additional accounting resources

It’s time to bring on a seasoned CFO if you don’t already have one. The CFO will provide strategic financial leadership, guide M&A activities, and manage board and investor relations. A controller also becomes essential to oversee accounting operations and ensure audit-ready financials. Here is where you’ll also build out specialized functions — a tax manager for international tax planning and compliance, a treasury manager for sophisticated cash management, and expanded FP&A and accounting teams. Look for professionals who combine deep expertise with the ability to operate in a still-evolving environment.

What to watch out for

Have you heard the term "over-bureaucratization"? As teams grow and processes become more formal, companies risk slowing down decision-making and losing the nimbleness that helped them succeed. As you bring on new people and functions, it's crucial to find the right balance between robust controls and operational efficiency.

“Brex is our critical finance tech stack and allows us to do more with the resources we have. We can make better decisions about where we should be spending and steer the company in the right direction. We're able to focus on maximizing our runway and being cost-efficient.” — Andrew Maher, Head of Finance, Superhuman

Other considerations when structuring your startup finance team

There will likely be a few other specialized hires depending on your particular vertical or industry, especially those with stringent regulatory requirements. A few examples:

• Marketplace/e-commerce will need to prioritize inventory or supply chain accounting.
• Fintechs likely need to hire earlier for treasury, compliance, and risk roles.
• SaaS/subscription businesses may require revenue recognition expertise to manage multi-year contracts.
• Biotech and pharma startups will benefit from an R&D finance manager for grant accounting and managing clinical trial costs.

Also, startups operating in multiple countries will have additional financial complexity. You’ll want to target financial leaders with cross-border finance experience to help you navigate the global tax and compliance requirements. Global spend management software will go a long way in simplifying this, too. Brex leads the market in its global expense management and helps startups operate anywhere with local currency cards, expense reimbursements, and billing as well as local ERP integrations.

Be sure to continue to balance specialized expertise with cross-functional capabilities, and factor in the growth stage when determining the timing of these hires.

“Brex is a one-shop stop for Marooʼs business and operations. I manage all my US financials, hiring and paying contractors worldwide, all from my home in London.” — Alexey Nikityuk, Founder and CEO, Maroo

Structuring a startup finance department is one of those things you need to get right, but your financial tech stack can make the process and transition smoother.

Nearly 1 in 3 US venture-backed startups choose Brex as their financial tech stack to build and scale their business faster. That’s because Brex offers startup banking, corporate cards, automated bill pay, corporate travel booking, and reimbursements on one global platform. Plus, it’s easy to get started (and scale) with Brex — just select what you need and adopt more parts of the integrated platform as you grow. Brex’s single-platform approach automates startup accounting so founders and CEOs spend less time in the financial weeds and do more with less.

Stella Han, co-founder of Fractional, says Brex ensures her team, which helps friends and investing communities co-own real estate together, can focus on growth. “As a fintech and prop tech startup, financial efficiency is very critical for us,” she said. “Brex really helps us focus on business building and do what we do best at Fractional.”

Alexandr Wang, founder and CEO of Scale AI, appreciates how Brex can serve startups AND large global enterprises: “We’ve been with Brex since our early startup days. They’ve helped us grow from a few employees to over 700, and have grown with us.”

Ready to take control of your finances and scale your business? Sign up for Brex today and make every dollar count as you structure a high-powered finance team.