A finance team in-house costs about $250,000 a year.
Bookkeeper, AP/AR specialist, payroll admin, and controller. Each one is a real salary, plus benefits, software, oversight, and the slow drag of managing people. We replace the whole stack, controller-led close and reporting included, for about 90% less. Here's the honest math.
~90% cost savings · Same accountability · No HR overhead · Onboarded in 30 days
Works with the tools you already run
Where Saturn pulls ahead of In-House.
A fraction of in-house
Saturn
$220K–$340K+/year
In-House
Same coverage, controller-led close and reporting included. About 90% less annual cost.
Controller reporting bundled
Saturn
Separate hire ($60–120K/yr)
In-House
Monthly financial statements, a KPI dashboard, and a weekly cash and AR pulse, in every Saturn plan. In-house = another role to recruit.
Firm continuity
Saturn
Turnover risk
In-House
Your bookkeeper doesn't quit. The firm shows up every Monday, vacation-proof.
The honest math.
| Feature | Saturn BPO | In-House Team |
|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeper | Included | $60–80K/yr salary |
| AP / AR specialist | Included | $55–75K/yr salary |
| Payroll administrator | Included | $45–65K/yr salary |
| Controller | Included (weekly cash, monthly statements, KPI reporting) | $60–120K/yr |
| Benefits + payroll taxes (~25% loading) | Included | $55–85K/yr |
| Software stack (QBO, Bill.com, Gusto, etc.) | Included | $5–15K/yr |
| Tax filing (federal + state) | Included via tax partner | Hire a CPA separately ($3–10K/yr+) |
| Management time | Zero | 5–10 hrs/week |
| Turnover risk | Zero (firm continuity) | Hire / retain / replace cycle |
| Vacation coverage | Built-in | You scramble |
| Total annual cost | Custom quote, far below in-house | $220K – $340K+ |
| Scale up or down | Same month, just change tier | Hire / fire cycle |
Credentialed by the people who set the rules
QuickBooks ProAdvisors
Xero Advisors
NACPB Certified Bookkeepers
Which one is right for you?
We'd rather you pick the right partner than the wrong one. Here's where each genuinely wins.
Pick Saturn BPO when...
- You want a controller-led close and reporting without hiring 3-4 people
- You want monthly financial statements and a weekly cash read without a separate controller hire
- Your current bookkeeper left and you don't want to recruit again
- You're scaling fast and need finance capacity that flexes with you
- You want predictable monthly cost instead of fixed payroll overhead
- You'd rather spend management bandwidth on growth, not on running a finance team
Hire in-house when...
- You're a $20M+ business where a dedicated team is unambiguously the right model
- You already have a CFO who specifically wants their own team reporting to them
- Your industry is so niche that no outsourced firm has the playbook
- You're acquisitive and need finance people in the deal room daily
- Confidentiality requires every detail stay inside the building (rare, but valid)
Hiring in-house is around $0K a year.
A controller and the books underneath, for a fraction of building it in-house. Size what an in-house finance team would really cost you, instantly.
See what an in-house team really costs.
Pick what you'd hire: bookkeeper, controller, or a full in-house finance team. See the loaded annual cost and how much of it we take off the table.
- Loaded in-house cost, bookkeeper to controller
- Potential savings range, instantly
- Honest US salary benchmarks
- No email required to use
Sample result · Full finance team
In-house, loaded
$0K/ year
Potential savings with Saturn
up to 0%vs. building it in-house
Same coverage, a fraction of the cost
Illustrative. Run yours in the calculator →
This is the finance team you'd hire if you had the time to hire one.
Fast month-end close
Controller-run month-end close, built to be fast and efficient once your records and access are in place.
Controls that hold
Internal controls, approvals, and audit-ready records. Nothing slips.
Visibility, not hindsight
Weekly cash and AR pulse, monthly statements, KPIs. See where you stand, not just what happened.
Books to board, one team
Bookkeeping, controller, and reporting under one roof. Income tax filed via our partner.
Run the math on your specific business.
Thirty minutes. We'll size what Saturn would cost for your operation, controller close and reporting included, and you can compare it apples-to-apples against the in-house hire you've been considering. If in-house genuinely wins for your stage, we'll tell you so.
Run the math on my businessNo contract. No high-pressure follow-up. If we're not a fit we'll say so.