SaaS Metrics School · 2026-07-22 · 4 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
30 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
This episode breaks down the latest CFO compensation benchmarks from BenchMarket AI, essential intelligence for finance leaders and executives evaluating pay competitiveness. Murray reveals that median CFO base pay sits at $285,000 with $100,000 target bonuses and $1 million in median equity value, but these aggregate figures mask significant variation by company size. Revenue tier is the primary driver of base compensation - companies under $10 million pay CFOs around $240,000 while those in the $100-250 million range offer $375,000 base, representing a 50% premium. Beyond salary structure, the data shows CFOs achieve 87% bonus attainment versus just 50% for VP Finance roles, and CFOs receive 5x more equity ($1 million median) than VP FP&A counterparts ($200,000). The report also documents severance protections at CFO and VP levels absent at Director tier. Murray provides interactive benchmarks allowing users to filter by company parameters - critical for CFOs, heads of finance, VPs of FP&A, CEOs, founders, and boards making compensation decisions.
The median base pay for a CFO is $285,000, though this varies significantly by company revenue tier, ranging from approximately $240,000 for companies under $10 million to $375,000 for companies between $100-250 million.
CFOs receive a median annual equity value of $1 million, which is 5 times higher than the $200,000 median equity value for VP Finance and VP FP&A positions.
CFOs achieve 87% bonus attainment on their target bonuses, while VP Finance roles only see 50% attainment, indicating more reliable variable compensation delivery at the CFO level.
Companies in the $100-250 million revenue category offer CFOs a median base pay of $375,000, representing approximately a 50% premium compared to companies under $10 million.
Severance protection is documented at the CFO and VP Finance levels, but the survey shows it is largely absent for Director-level positions.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
The episode is 4 minutes of report recitation with a handful of useful data points, but there is virtually no interpretation, causal analysis, or actionable implication drawn from the numbers - just a sequence of medians read off a chart.
the median base pay for a CFO was 285 or is 285,000. The median target bonus is 100,000 and the median equity value is 1 million
at the CFO level, 87%. They saw, uh, attainment at 87%. And at the VP of Finance or FPA level, the attainment was only 50% of the target bonus
The episode adds no original thinking whatsoever - it is entirely a surface-level relay of a third-party report (BenchMarket AI) with no contrarian framing, first-principles reasoning, or novel interpretation of the data.
So let's dive into some of the highlights in today's report. I have a blog post, I'll put that in the show notes with a summary of this report and also links to download the full report
make sure you check out the show notes. You can go to this blog post where I have a summary and you can download the full report
There is no guest at all; this is a solo host monologue summarising a compensation report, offering no practitioner perspective, lived experience, or expert depth on CFO compensation strategy.
Welcome. My name is Ben Murray
So, hope you enjoyed today's edition of SAS Metro School on CFO compensation
Concrete salary figures, percentile breakdowns, revenue-tier segmentation, and attainment rates are all cited, which is genuinely useful; the limitation is that the numbers are read verbatim from a report rather than contextualised with real company examples or historical trend data.
the 25th percentile was 225 and the top percentile was 335
base comp of about 240,000 going up to 266 and it actually falls to 237 for companies between 25 and 50 million and then up to 335 for 50 to 100 million
There is no conversation, no guest, no questions, and no follow-up - the episode is an uninterrupted monologue that struggles to maintain narrative coherence even within its four-minute runtime, with audible chart-reading filler throughout.
Let me just make this. I'm looking at the chart on my blog right now. Make this a little bigger
Let's see what else. Also there's severance protection
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
In episode #381, Ben Murray covers the latest 2026 tech CFO compensation benchmarks across base, bonus, equity, and severance. If you set finance comp or negotiate your own, guessing at the market rate is expensive in both directions. Underpay and you risk losing your best finance leader. Overpay and you burn cash you cannot spare. This episode gives you the median numbers and the revenue tier splits that decide what competitive actually looks like.
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Speaker A: How much are tech CFOs making in 2026? Well, let's find out in today's edition of SAS Metric School. Welcome. My name is Ben Murray. So the latest data is out on how much CFOs are making, equity base, bonus and more severance, et cetera. So a lot of data in this report from BenchMarket AI. So a must have for CFOs, heads of finance, VPs of FP and A and for CEOs, founders and boards trying to understand what they should pay CFOs to be competitive in today's market. So let's dive into some of the highlights in today's report. I have a blog post, I'll put that in the show notes with a summary of this report and also links to download the full report. There is a ton of data in this report and interactive benchmarks. So let's dive in. So first with the, let's go with the highlights here. So CFO package at a glance. And this is. These are medians of the entire population. And the median base pay for a CFO was 285 or is 285,000. The median target bonus is 100,000 and the median equity value is 1 million. Now no different than SAS benchmarks. We can't use aggregate SAS metrics benchmarks to analyze our performance. We have to look at ACV or company um, size etc and that's no different with CFO compensation and company revenue. Size makes a big difference. Now with the total population we had the median of 285. But the 25th percentile was 225 and the top percentile was 335. Now let's move on to revenue tier. And this really drives base pay. And there are five segments here. Let me just make this. I'm looking at the chart on my blog right now. Make this a little bigger but under 10 million. And this is median base pay. We have medium um, comp. Base comp of about 240,000 going up to 266 and it actually falls to 237 for companies between 25 and 50 million and then up to 335 for 50 to 100 million. And that if you're in that 100 million to 250 million category, we're looking at base pay median of 375. Now they're top quartile ranges, bottom quartile ranges that you can check in that report. But that's a 50% premium difference between big companies and then the small revenue size companies. Now bonus targets. We talked about the meeting at 100k. Now what about realized? It's great to say offer 100k bonus, but if it never gets paid out, that's not going to be much value to that CFO. But at the CFO level, 87%. They saw, uh, attainment at 87%. And at the VP of Finance or FPA level, the attainment was only 50% of the target bonus. Now going on to. Let's see here, equity. Now this is where we have a big difference in these total compensation packages. The median annual equity value at the CFO level is $1,000,000. And at the VP of Finance, VP of FP and A level it's $200,000. So a 5x difference. Let's see what else. Also there's severance protection that you'll see at the CFO level and also at the VP of Finance level. But really you don't see it at the Director level, at least in this survey. So giving you a little bit of teaser on some of these and make sure you check out the show notes. You can go to this blog post where I have a summary and you can download the full report. And there's also a link to interactive benchmarks so you can slice and dice the data based on your company parameters. So, hope you enjoyed today's edition of SAS Metro School on CFO compensation.
Other episodes covering the same guests and topics, from across The B2B Podcast Index.
CRO Role Hot Takes with Bridget WinstonThe CRO Spotlight Podcast · on SaaS metrics88 / 100
Scaling FP&A at RingCentral: Dan NewmanFP&A Today · on SaaS metrics75 / 100
Practical advice for scaling start-up marketingConversations with MarTech · on SaaS metrics71 / 100
A special episode: Big thanks to Anika, and a cheerful hello to Malin!The Customer Success Channel · on SaaS metrics71 / 100
Firing people + managing parental leave, with HR expert Lexi KantorFrom Founder to Leader · on Severance packages69 / 100
How Airbnb Survived the Pandemic by Cutting 1900 JobsStartup Stories with Fexingo · on Severance packages63 / 100
The Latest GRR Benchmarks66 / 100Why AI ARR Alone No Longer Lifts Your Software Valuation52 / 100Here's What Separates the 9 Public SaaS Companies that Trade Above 10x63 / 10012 Steps to Creating an Outcome-based Pricing Plan63 / 1005 Takeaways for CFOs from the 2026 AI Pricing Report