How much does Burkland cost?

Burkland publishes starting prices. Accounting runs from $495 a month (Starter) to $1,025 a month (Advanced). Fractional CFO tiers start at $1,600, $2,500 and $4,200 a month, which Burkland puts at roughly $19K to $50K a year. Federal and home-state tax filing is $3,000, and payroll starts at $500 a month for up to 10 employees.

How much does Kruze Consulting cost?

Kruze publishes bookkeeping ranges: Basic at $650 to $850 a month and Founder Timesaver at $850 to $1,500 a month, with Premium quoted on request. A one-time onboarding fee applies per entity. Tax returns, R&D credit studies and CFO services are quoted separately; Kruze offers free calculators to estimate tax return and R&D credit costs.

Is Burkland or Kruze better for R&D tax credits?

Both file R&D credits for startups. Kruze has made startup tax a core part of its practice and offers a free R&D credit calculator. Burkland lists a typical range of $4,000 to $7,000 for R&D credit services. Since 2025, domestic research costs can again be deducted immediately under Section 174A, so ask either firm how they coordinate the credit with that deduction.

Do Burkland or Kruze work with non-US companies?

Both are built around US startups, usually Delaware C-corps. Burkland mentions global payroll and contractor support and clients beyond the US. Kruze is a California-licensed CPA firm focused on US tax and accounting. If most of your entities, revenue or team sit outside the US, check that the assigned team has handled your jurisdictions before signing.

Do I need a separate fractional CFO if I hire one of these firms?

Not if you buy their CFO service and it covers what you need: modeling, board support and fundraising. If you only buy bookkeeping and tax, someone still has to turn the numbers into decisions. That can be their CFO tier, an independent fractional CFO, or a finance hire once you are large enough.

When do startups outgrow firms like Burkland and Kruze?

Usually when a full-time controller or VP Finance becomes cheaper than the outsourced team and the company needs someone inside daily. Many companies at that point keep an outside firm for tax and R&D credits and bring monthly accounting and FP&A in-house.

Burkland vs Kruze 2026: Startup CFO Firms

Burkland and Kruze Consulting are two of the best-known outsourced finance firms for US venture-backed startups. Both are based in San Francisco and both say they work with more than 800 startups. This comparison is for founders and operators at funded startups deciding which firm to hire, and for anyone outside that profile wondering whether either is a fit.

Quick verdict

Choose Burkland if you want one firm to run accounting, tax, payroll, HR support and a fractional CFO, with prices you can see before the first call. Choose Kruze if your priority is a startup-focused CPA firm for monthly books, tax returns, Delaware franchise tax and R&D credits, with CFO advisory added when you need it. Both are tuned for US venture-backed companies; if that is not you, read the alternatives section.

Best for	Pick
One firm for accounting, tax, CFO, HR and payroll	Burkland
Published CFO pricing before the sales call	Burkland
Startup tax returns, Delaware franchise tax, R&D credits	Kruze, or Burkland
Bookkeeping plus tax at seed stage	Kruze
Multi-entity consolidation and revenue recognition	Burkland Advanced, or Kruze above Basic
409A valuation from the same firm	Kruze
HR, recruiting and payroll from the same firm	Burkland
Non-US or multi-country group	Check carefully; see alternatives

Side-by-side comparison

The firms overlap on accounting and tax. They differ on breadth and on how much pricing they publish.

Feature	Burkland	Kruze Consulting
Location	San Francisco	San Francisco
Clients (self-reported)	800+ venture-backed startups	800+ funded startups
Client capital raised (self-reported)	$25B+	$15B+
Firm type	Outsourced finance, tax and HR firm	Licensed CPA firm (California)
Accounting and bookkeeping	Yes, three published tiers	Yes, published ranges
Fractional CFO	Yes, three published tiers	Yes, quoted on request
Tax returns	Yes, published price	Yes, quoted
R&D tax credits	Yes, typical $4,000 to $7,000	Yes, quoted
Annual state filings	Annual reports, $250 to $500	Delaware franchise tax service, with free calculator
409A valuations	Not listed	Yes
Payroll	Yes, from $500/month	Not listed
HR and recruiting	Yes	Not listed
Multi-entity consolidation	Advanced tier	Not in Basic tier
Also serves	Separate small and mid-size business offering	SaaS, biotech, AI, ecommerce, hardware, CPG, crypto, healthcare

Pricing comparison

Burkland now publishes starting prices for every service line. Kruze publishes bookkeeping ranges and quotes the rest. Both price on complexity, so treat these as floors.

Service	Burkland	Kruze Consulting
Entry bookkeeping	Starter from $495/month	Basic $650 to $850/month
Mid tier	Core from $665/month	Founder Timesaver $850 to $1,500/month
Top accounting tier	Advanced from $1,025/month	Premium, on request
Fractional CFO	$1,600, $2,500 or $4,200/month starting tiers	Available, quoted
Federal and home-state tax return	$3,000	Quoted (calculator on site)
Each additional state	$650	Quoted
R&D credit	$4,000 to $7,000 typical	Quoted (calculator on site)
Sales tax nexus analysis	From $2,000	Not listed
Payroll	$500/month (0 to 10 employees) to $1,750/month (41 to 60)	Not listed
Onboarding	Not listed	One-time fee per entity

A worked example helps. A seed-stage startup on Burkland's Starter accounting ($495), the entry CFO tier ($1,600) and one federal plus home-state return ($3,000) pays about $28,000 a year before payroll or R&D credits. Burkland itself puts typical fractional CFO engagements at about $19K to $50K a year. Ask Kruze for the same scope in writing and compare like for like.

Feature-by-feature analysis

The useful differences are in what is included at each tier, and who does the work.

Bookkeeping quality

Both firms close monthly books for startups. Burkland's Starter tier uses cash or modified accrual accounting with a quarterly controller review. Accrual-level work such as revenue recognition support, multi-entity consolidation and a dedicated controller comes with Advanced. Kruze's Basic tier is accrual basis with a dedicated accounting manager and a monthly call, but excludes revenue recognition support, multiple entities, multi-currency and class tracking. If you have deferred revenue or more than one entity, price the tier that covers it, not the entry tier.

Tax strategy and compliance

Kruze presents startup tax as a core service: income tax, state and local tax, Delaware franchise tax and R&D credits. Burkland covers tax planning, multi-state compliance, R&D credits, sales tax nexus and pre-exit structuring. The tax rules moved in 2025: domestic research costs can again be deducted in the year incurred under Section 174A, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. Ask either firm how it handles the interaction with the R&D credit and any unamortized 2022 to 2024 balances.

Fractional CFO and strategic finance

Burkland's CFO tiers are explicit. Starter covers modeling, reporting and finance leadership. Core adds fundraising support, KPI tracking, board support and cash forecasting. Advanced adds scenario planning, audit support and exit planning. Burkland also offers a Director of Finance option at a lower price point. Kruze offers fractional CFO and advisory services covering modeling, budgeting, cash management and fundraising support, plus VC due diligence and M&A accounting work. Ask both who will be your CFO and how many clients that person carries.

Fundraise and investor-readiness support

Both prepare startups for diligence. Kruze highlights VC due diligence support and financial modeling services. Burkland bundles fundraising and board support into its Core CFO tier. In either case, the model and the historical financials must reconcile; investors check that first.

People ops and payroll

This is Burkland's clearest differentiator. It runs payroll from $500 a month, offers an HR Partner Desk at $1,000 a month, and sells recruiting and onboarding projects. Kruze does not list HR or payroll services. If you are growing from 5 to 50 people and want one vendor for both, Burkland is the simpler choice.

Valuations

Kruze lists 409A valuation services. Burkland does not list them on its pricing pages. If you want the 409A from your accounting firm, that favors Kruze; otherwise most startups get 409As from their cap table platform or a specialist.

Questions to ask both firms

Published prices answer only part of the question. Before you sign with either firm, ask:

Who exactly will close our books each month, and who reviews their work?
Which accounting tier covers our revenue recognition, entities and currencies today, and what will trigger an upgrade?
How many business days after month-end do we receive financial statements?
Is the fractional CFO a named person, how many clients do they serve, and how often will we meet?
Which tax filings, states and R&D credit work are inside the quote, and which are billed separately?
What does onboarding and historical clean-up cost if our books are behind?
How do we exit, and in what format do we get our files and workpapers?

The answers tell you more about fit than the headline price.

Who should use which

Match the firm to your stage and to the problem you need solved first.

Pre-seed or seed, US Delaware C-corp, mainly needs books and taxes: Kruze Basic or Burkland Starter. Compare the quotes; Burkland's entry price is lower, Kruze's entry tier is accrual basis.
Seed to Series A, preparing a raise: Burkland Core CFO with accounting, or Kruze accounting plus its CFO advisory.
Hiring fast and wanting payroll and HR in the same place: Burkland.
Tax-heavy year with R&D credits and several states: Either; get both quotes.
Series B and beyond: Either can support you, but this is when many companies hire an in-house controller and keep an outside firm for tax.
Bootstrapped, profitable or not US-based: Possibly neither. See below.

Other alternatives worth considering

If the core need is bookkeeping rather than a CFO, compare venture-focused bookkeeping services in our Pilot vs Bench comparison and the wider Zeni vs Pilot vs Bench review.

If your company is not US-centric, the US startup playbook may not fit. A European or UK group with several entities, VAT, and statutory accounts in more than one country needs a CFO who works across those systems. A European fractional CFO firm such as John Galt Finance, based in Rīga, is one alternative for companies operating across the EU.

Before choosing any firm, read our guide on how to hire a fractional CFO and what a fractional CFO costs.

Our take as fractional CFOs

Burkland and Kruze are well-run firms for the client they target: a US venture-backed startup that needs clean books, correct taxes and a CFO who knows how US investors read numbers. Both are now more transparent on pricing than most of the market.

When we assess any outsourced finance setup, we look at four things:

Who does the work. The firm's track record matters less than the person assigned to you. Ask for their experience and their client load.
What is in the entry tier. Cash-basis books, no revenue recognition and no consolidation are fine at seed. They are not fine once you have deferred revenue or a second entity. Upgrading mid-year costs more than starting right.
Whether the outputs drive decisions. Monthly statements are table stakes. The value is in the cash forecast, the unit economics and a board pack that shows what changed and why.
Total annual cost against the alternative. Add bookkeeping, CFO, tax, R&D credit and payroll fees for a full year and compare with an in-house hire plus software.

Bookkeeping and tax compliance are different jobs from CFO work. If you are unsure which you need, our comparison of a fractional CFO and an accountant lays out the split.

Next step

If you want an independent view of which setup fits your stage, book a free CFO diagnostic call. We will tell you plainly if a US startup firm is the better fit.