An outsourced controller, without the hire.
A controller costs six figures fully loaded, and most growing businesses need the function long before they need the headcount. Outsourcing it closes that gap.
How it works
What an outsourced controller actually owns
The monthly close, reconciliations, financial statements, balance-sheet integrity, management reporting, KPIs, cash-flow visibility, margin analysis, budget versus actual, and forecasting. Not assistance with those things — responsibility for them.
Why businesses outsource it rather than hire
A controller is a six-figure hire once you include payroll taxes, benefits, and the software they will ask for. Most businesses between a bookkeeper and a finance department need perhaps half that capacity, and need it reliably rather than constantly.
What changes in the first quarter
The close moves to a set date. Reporting arrives when it is supposed to. The chart of accounts stops fighting the questions you are asking of it. By month three you are asking what the numbers mean rather than where they are.
Where it stops
An outsourced controller is not a CFO. When the work becomes capital strategy, board management, or transaction preparation, that is a different engagement — handled by our sister firm, Sync CFO.
Frequently asked
How much does an outsourced controller cost?
Less than a hire, and scoped to the work rather than billed hourly. The variables are transaction volume, entity count, and the state of the books when we start.
Is this the same as a fractional controller?
The terms are used interchangeably. Both mean the controller function delivered part-time by an outside team rather than a salaried employee.
Do we still need a bookkeeper?
Sometimes. Plenty of businesses keep an internal person for day-to-day entry and bring us in at the controller level above them. Others have us do both.
How involved do we have to be?
Bank and card access, payroll reports, and answers on anything ambiguous. The list shrinks as we learn the business.
Where to next
Want the books off your plate?
A short call, no pitch. We will tell you honestly whether we can help.
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