How Advisors Charge: Hourly, Flat Fee, Subscription, or Percent of Assets

Advisable Finance · Last updated October 8, 2026

Educational only. Not investment, tax, or legal advice. This page explains how advisor fees work. Advisable is a directory, not an advisor, and does not recommend or rate firms.

Direct answer

Advisors charge in four main ways: by the hour, a flat fee, a subscription, or a percent of the money they manage for you. To find an hourly or flat-fee advisor, search Advisable's free directory by ZIP code and fee type. Then read the firm's fee sheet (officially called its brochure), the public write-up of services and prices that SEC-registered firms have to give their clients. The fee that applies to you is set in the advisory agreement you sign with the firm.

What does an hourly advisor charge?

You pay for the time you use. A first plan might take a few meetings. A later question might take one meeting.

Many firms bill by the hour for some work and another way for other work. In fact, most firms that report hourly charges also report a percent-of-assets fee. Of the 4,620 hourly firms counted below, 4,550 (98.5%) also report a percent-of-assets fee.

Ask: what does an hour cover? If you only want hourly help, also ask: "Will you work with me hourly without managing my money?"

What does a flat-fee advisor charge?

You pay one set price for one job. That might be one price for a written plan, or one price for a yearly checkup.

Ask: what does the price include, and what costs extra?

What does a subscription advisor charge?

You pay a set fee every month or every year, and you get ongoing planning help in return. It works a bit like a gym membership. The difference from a one-time flat fee: a subscription keeps going, and you keep paying, until you cancel.

Subscription advisors exist, but they are hard to spot in the government data. The next section explains why, and step 1 tells you which filter to use.

Ask: what do I get each month or year, and how do I cancel?

What does a percent-of-assets advisor charge?

Many firms charge a yearly percent of the money they manage for you. Firms charge it for managing your money. The fee sheet says what else, if anything, it covers. The fee is a percent, so the dollar amount goes up when your account grows and down when it shrinks.

Ask: what does the percent come to in dollars on my balance this year?

How do advisors report their fees?

The SEC is the federal agency that oversees investment advisors. Larger advisory firms register with the SEC, which means they sign up with the agency and file public forms. Many smaller firms register with their state instead.

Every SEC-registered firm files a public registration form. On it, the firm checks boxes for the kinds of fees it charges. We'll call this the SEC form. It shows the kinds of fees, not the amounts. Here is how each way of paying shows up:

• Hourly is "Hourly charges."
• Flat fee is called a fixed fee. If a firm checks that box, it charges a set price for some clients or some work.
• Percent of assets is listed as a percentage of assets the firm manages. The label says "your management" because the form is speaking to the firm. It means money the firm manages for you.
• Subscription has no box just for planning. On that form, the word subscription means paying for a newsletter. Because a planning subscription is a set dollar amount, a firm may report it as a fixed fee. Some may use the form's "other" box. So to find one, start with fixed fees.

What do these fees look like in dollars?

The SEC's list of firms doesn't include prices, so we can't tell you a typical rate. Each firm's own prices are in its fee sheet (see step 2 below). The numbers here are made up, just to show the math.

These examples pay for different amounts of work, so they are not a ranking from cheapest to most expensive.

When you read a firm's fee sheet, look at the fee section. For hourly work, it should say what the hour includes. For a flat fee or subscription, it should give the price or a range, what is included, and how often you pay. Ask which price goes with the service you want.

How do I find an advisor who charges this way?

Step 1: Search Advisable by ZIP code and fee type. Go to app.advisable.finance. Search by name or ZIP code, then pick a fee type under Fee structure:

• Hourly charges for firms that report billing by the hour. Most of these also report a percent-of-assets fee, so ask if they will work with you hourly alone.
• Fixed fees for firms that report a set dollar price.
• A percentage of assets under your management for firms that report a yearly percent of the money they manage for you.
• Subscription follows the SEC form's box for newsletter subscriptions, so it may miss planners who charge a monthly or yearly fee. For those, start with Fixed fees.

A profile shows the services and fee types the firm reported (not its prices), how much money it manages, and its client count. It also links to the firm's SEC page.

Step 2: Read the firm's fee sheet on the SEC advisor site.

1. Go to the SEC's free advisor search site, Investment Adviser Public Disclosure.
2. Choose Firm. Search by the firm's name, or by city, state, or ZIP.
3. On the SEC site, the fee sheet is called a brochure (Form ADV, Part 2). On the firm's page, click Part 2 Brochures.
4. You'll see a list of documents. Open the one named for the firm, not for a person. Documents named after one person describe that advisor, not the firm's fees.

That's the firm's fee sheet. Every SEC-registered firm has to give one to its clients. It covers more than fees, such as services and conflicts of interest. Go to the fee section. It says how the firm is paid and lists its prices or price ranges. It also says whether those fees can be negotiated. The fee that applies to you is set in the advisory agreement you sign with the firm.

The same site also lists firms registered with a state, not only SEC-registered ones. Investor.gov and the SEC both say so (Sources 5 and 6). Advisable lists SEC-registered firms only, so the SEC advisor site is where to look for smaller state-registered firms.

If the firm works with individual investors, it should also give you Form CRS, a short summary (usually two pages) of its services and fees. It's also on the firm's page on the SEC advisor site. Under the heading "What fees will I pay?" the firm sums up the kinds of fees it charges.

Questions you can ask any firm

• What do I pay for this service, and how often?
• Is any part an hourly rate, a flat fee, a percent of assets, or a commission (a payment tied to a product they sell you)?
• Do I pay more than one of those?
• What is included, and what is billed on its own?
• Can this fee be negotiated?
• If I pay in advance, how is a refund calculated if the contract ends early?

How common is each way of paying?

The SEC publishes a list of registered firms every month. In the October 2026 list, 9,807 firms work with at least one everyday individual client. An everyday individual client is a regular person, as opposed to a wealthy client or a business. These firms may also serve wealthy clients or businesses. Here is how many of the 9,807 report each kind of fee on the SEC form.

(Source: SEC, Information About Registered Investment Advisers and Exempt Reporting Advisers. Registered Investment Advisers, October 2026. Computed by Advisable on October 8, 2026.)

Many firms report more than one way of paying, so the shares overlap. They are not pieces of one pie.

What this data does not show

• The SEC form shows which kinds of fees a firm reports, not its prices or what any client pays.
• It describes the firm, not your account.
• These counts show how common each way of paying is, not which one costs less.
• Advisors who register only with a state are not in these counts.
• Planning subscriptions are not counted on their own, because the form has no box just for them.

How Advisable fits

Advisable is a free directory of SEC-registered investment advisors. It is a directory, not an advisor: it does not give advice, and it does not recommend or rate firms. You can search by name or ZIP code and filter by the fee types firms report. Profiles show a firm's reported services, fee types, assets under management and client count, with a link to its official SEC record. Advisors can claim their profile.

FAQ

How do I find an hourly financial advisor?

Use the Hourly charges filter on Advisable, then read each firm's fee sheet on the SEC advisor site to see which work is billed by the hour. If you only want hourly help, ask whether the firm will work with you without managing your money.

How do I find a flat-fee financial advisor?

Use the Fixed fees filter on Advisable. On the SEC form, a flat fee is called a fixed fee.

How do I find a subscription financial advisor?

Try the Fixed fees filter on Advisable, not the Subscription filter. Firms may report a monthly or yearly planning fee as a fixed fee. Then check the fee section of the firm's fee sheet.

How do I find an advisor who charges a percent of assets?

Use the "A percentage of assets under your management" filter on Advisable. You can also search the SEC advisor site by city, state, or ZIP and read each firm's fee sheet.

Can one firm charge by the hour and a percent of assets?

Yes, and many do. Ask which price applies to the service you want.

Are state-registered advisors in these numbers?

No. The counts cover SEC-registered firms only. An advisor registered only with a state is not counted, but you can look one up on the SEC advisor site.

Where is the price written?

In the fee section of the firm's fee sheet (see step 2). If you're investing as an individual, not for a business, the firm's Form CRS also sums up its fees. The fee that applies to you is set in the advisory agreement you sign.

Before you decide

Educational only. Not investment, tax, or legal advice. We explain how fees work here, but we can't tell you which way of paying fits you. Advisable does not recommend or rate firms, and a listing is not a recommendation. SEC registration does not mean the SEC approves or recommends a firm. Confirm details in the firm's own documents on the SEC advisor site.

Sources

1. SEC, Form ADV, compensation arrangements. Form ADV. Accessed October 8, 2026.
2. SEC, Form ADV, Part 2 instructions for fees and compensation. Form ADV, Part 2 instructions. Accessed October 8, 2026.
3. SEC, Form CRS, including the heading "What fees will I pay?" Form CRS. Accessed October 8, 2026.
4. SEC, Information About Registered Investment Advisers and Exempt Reporting Advisers. Registered Investment Advisers, October 2026. Information About Registered Investment Advisers and Exempt Reporting Advisers. Accessed October 8, 2026.
5. Investor.gov (SEC), Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) glossary entry. Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD). Accessed October 8, 2026.
6. SEC, Frequently Asked Questions on Form ADV and IARD. Frequently Asked Questions on Form ADV and IARD. Accessed October 8, 2026.

Related reading

• How to Read Fees on Form ADV
• When Your Advisor Says "Wait," Ask How They Get Paid
• Fee-Only vs Fee-Based vs Commission
• What Does a 1% Advisor Fee Actually Pay For?

Method note

• Figures come from the SEC list Registered Investment Advisers, October 2026. Filings in that list run through October 1, 2026.
• The list has 17,210 firms. A firm is in the 9,807 if it reports at least one client in the form's category "Individuals (other than high net worth individuals)". This includes firms that marked fewer than five of those clients. In the body, everyday individual client means a client in that category.
• Hourly means the firm reports hourly charges. A flat fee in the table means the firm reports fixed fees, which is a set dollar amount. Percent of assets means the firm reports a fee based on a percentage of assets under its management.
• On the full list of 17,210 firms, with no client filter, 4,944 firms say they charge by the hour. That is 28.7%, just under 3 in 10. It is lower than the 47.1% in the table because it counts a bigger group: every firm on the list, including firms with no everyday individual clients, which rarely report hourly charges.
• We counted those reports. We did not read any firm's fee sheet. Shares in the table use the 9,807 firms as the denominator. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
• The $250, $750, $2,000, $200, 1%, $250,000, and $2,500 figures are invented numbers, for illustration.
• Advisable's Subscription filter follows the SEC form's box for newsletter subscription fees.
• Each figure was computed three independent ways.
• Figures were checked on October 8, 2026.

Educational reminder: This page is not investment advice. Verify details on official sources before making decisions.