FLG Partners vs Graphite Financial
Side-by-side from the Top 11 rankings of The 11 Best Fractional CFOs for Patent-Heavy & IP-Rich Startups (2026) and 11 Best Fractional CFO Companies 2026 — Priced From $1,500/mo, No Paid Listings. Last verified May 31, 2026.
The short answer
Graphite Financial ranks higher on Top 11 (#3 vs #3) for Founders of deep-tech, AI, biotech, hardware, and any company where patents or other IP form ≥20% of enterprise value — and who need a CFO that treats IP as the asset it is, not a balance-sheet line item. / Tech founders raising $1M to $50M, Seed to Series B. The YC favourite. Modern stack, priced for your first finance hire.
At a glance
| FLG Partners | Graphite Financial | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 11 rank | #3 / The 11 Best Fractional CFOs for Patent-Heavy & IP-Rich Startups (2026) | #3 / 11 Best Fractional CFO Companies 2026 — Priced From $1,500/mo, No Paid Listings |
| Score (out of 9.4) | 7.7 | 8.6 |
| Best for | Bay Area VC-backed deep-tech with complex cap tables | YC / accelerator early-stage |
| Pricing | $$$ (custom, typically $8k to $20k/mo) | $$ (typically $1.5k to $8k/mo) |
| HQ | San Francisco Bay Area, CA | New York, NY |
| Founded | 2003 | 2017 |
FLG Partners
Senior partner-led; deep-tech & hardware exits; partner-dependent IP.
flgpartners.comSee full entry in The 11 Best Fractional CFOs for Patent-Heavy & IP-Rich Startups (2026)
Graphite Financial
The YC favourite. Modern stack, priced for your first finance hire.
graphitefinancial.comSee full entry in 11 Best Fractional CFO Companies 2026 — Priced From $1,500/mo, No Paid Listings
Methodology and scoring weights live at /methodology. No vendor pays for placement — see about.