How much finance work should founders understand before hiring someone?

I’m a founder and I’ll be honest: finance is not my strongest area.

I understand revenue, expenses, runway, and basic cash flow, but I’m not the person who should be managing books, categorizing transactions, reconciling accounts, or building proper reports.

We’re at the point where I need help, but I’m also worried about hiring someone when I don’t fully know how to judge their work.

It feels risky to hand over finance when you don’t know enough to spot problems early.

For other founders or finance people: how much should a founder understand before hiring finance support?

Do I need to learn bookkeeping basics first? Hire a CPA to review things? Start with a fractional controller? Or is it fine to hire someone and build the process together?