The fractional vs. full-time decision usually gets made by default rather than design. A startup brings in a part-time bookkeeper, watches the close process break under volume, and eventually hires a full-time accountant in a reactive scramble. Or a scaling company hires a full-time staff accountant six months before the transaction volume actually justifies it, and the hire spends half their day looking for work.
Neither scenario is inevitable. The decision between fractional and full-time accounting support has a reasonably clean answer at each growth stage – if you know what thresholds to look for.
Fractional accounting works best when transaction volume is predictable but not yet at the level that demands a full close process managed by a dedicated person five days a week. For pre-revenue startups and companies under $3 million in annual revenue, a 15-to-25-hour-per-week arrangement with a senior accountant typically covers what the business actually needs: bank reconciliations, expense categorization, payroll processing, and investor-ready monthly reporting.
The AICPA estimates that roughly 40 percent of small businesses report being underserved by their current accounting function – a number that correlates with the gap between actual accounting need and what a solo bookkeeper or part-time staff can deliver. A fractional senior accountant, properly scoped, closes most of that gap without the full-time overhead.
MAVI's fractional model places senior accounting professionals from the Philippines, India, and Latin America on a defined hours-per-week basis, with no minimum commitment and no placement fees. Clients at the fractional stage typically start with 20 to 25 hours per week and move to full-time as revenue and transaction complexity increase.
The trigger for full-time accounting is almost always a combination of two factors: close complexity and audit-readiness pressure. When the monthly close requires more than two to three days to complete, or when the company is preparing for a Series B, a PE transaction, or board-level financial scrutiny, a fractional arrangement creates bottlenecks that a full-time hire resolves.
Companies with multi-entity structures, subscription revenue requiring ASC 606 compliance, or lease portfolios under ASC 842 also generally need full-time capacity. These are not functions that scale cleanly to part-time hours – they require consistent ownership and a level of institutional knowledge that builds over time.
MAVI places full-time offshore accountants and Controllers within five days of engagement. At 50 to 70 percent below US market rates, the full-time offshore model makes it financially viable to hire at the right level earlier – rather than waiting until the strain is obvious. Clients like Budderfly and MotherDuck have moved from fractional to full-time MAVI placements as their accounting complexity grew, without changing platforms or restarting the vetting process.
Some companies run both: a fractional Controller for financial leadership and a full-time staff accountant or AP/AR specialist handling daily transactional work. MAVI supports this structure natively. Because both placements come from the same pre-vetted talent pool and are coordinated by the same platform, the team operates with consistent quality standards and shared familiarity with the client's systems.
The fractional vs. full-time decision is not really about preference; it's about where the accounting load actually sits today versus where it will be in six months. Start fractional if the close is clean and light. Move to full-time when the close gets complicated, the audit window closes in, or the transaction volume stops being predictable. And if the concern is cost, the offshore full-time model through MAVI makes the timeline for that move earlier than most finance leaders expect – without the budget shock of a domestic hire. Book a call to high-quality part-time and full-time talent with MAVI.
Full-time is typically the right call when the monthly close takes more than two to three days, when the company has multi-entity structures or revenue recognition complexity (ASC 606), or when preparing for a Series B, PE transaction, or external audit.
MAVI's fractional placements are priced by hours-per-week commitment, with full-time placements running 50 to 70 percent below US equivalent salaries. A full-time offshore Senior Accountant through MAVI costs significantly less than a domestic fractional arrangement for the same seniority.
Yes. MAVI clients frequently begin with fractional placements and transition to full-time as accounting complexity grows. Because both models draw from the same pre-vetted talent pool, scaling up doesn't require restarting the vetting or onboarding process.
AP/AR, payroll, bank reconciliation, monthly reporting, and management accounting all work well fractionally. Multi-entity consolidation, audit-ready close processes, and revenue recognition compliance typically require full-time ownership.