Why Choose Fractional Controller Services?
Affordable Outsource Accounting Package for Growing Businesses
Fractional Controller services provide an affordable solution for small and mid-sized businesses looking to establish robust financial systems. This service offers a streamlined alternative to our Fractional CFO service, designed for companies that aren’t ready to fully implement data-driven operations but require more advanced tools than the basic Cash Management options available in our Starter Package.
Advanced Insight (Bronze)
- Monthly Accounting
- Payroll and Tax Services
- Monthly Financial Statements
- Monthly Reviews
Fractional Controller (Silver)
- Accelerated Accounting
- Monthly CPA Consultations
- Expanded Payroll and Tax Services
- Everything in Bronze
Fractional Chief Financial Officer (Gold)
- Premium Accounting and Reporting
- Weekly CPA Consulting
- Enhanced Strategic and Tax Support
- Everything in Silver
Who Needs Outsourced Accounting?
How Fractional Controllers and CFOs Add Value
The key factor in determining the need for Fractional Controllers is who is making financially impactful decisions. In a small owner-operated business, the owner often handles all significant choices, beyond just ordering office supplies. In such cases, our cash-based programs are ideal.
However, as businesses grow and line managers begin making impactful decisions, a structured approach becomes essential for accountability and expense management. Our Fractional Controller services provide weekly bookkeeping while effectively managing cash flow to support the needs of small businesses.
How does AaaS work?
Accounting as a Service
For less than the monthly cost of a bookkeeper, we can establish a fractional accounting department tailored to your needs. We’ll either set up a fully outsourced accounting department for you or collaborate with you in a hybrid model. Typically, you will manage your own invoicing, while we streamline your bill payments and transition you to a purchase order system instead of relying solely on credit cards.
Each month, we’ll review your financial statements to identify any potential red flags. If everything looks good, these reviews may only require brief 15-minute calls. However, if we uncover any issues or areas of concern, we’ll conduct a thorough analysis together to address them before they escalate.
Cash Allocations vs. Financials
How Cash Allocation and Financial Strategy Work Together
Small businesses live and die by cash flow, not accrual profit reports. But line managers need to be able to operate within budgets that they know at the beginning of the month, not the end of the month. This may often involve a hybrid strategy where each month we set budgets for operations two months out and learn to operate within those budgets. It may involve building sufficient cash reserves so that budgets can be set on a monthly basis. Alternatively, it may involve setting up systems where we separate the forced spending and the needed spending, where the former hits every month (think rent and payroll), but the latter may have some timing flexibility (a website overhaul or equipment purchases.
As your business grows, small changes can have a big impact. A 10% improvement at a $500,000 company is now $50,000, which may allow you to hire an entire additional employee to grow your business. When your business was grossing $100,000, that improvement might have been ignored while you chased growth. As you grow your business into the over $1 Million range, these changes become more and more important.
Fractional Controller vs Outsourced Accounting
How Is Contract Accounting Different?
We consider the Fractional Controller part of our AaaS (Accounting as a Service) program, our cloud-based approach to outsourced accounting. Normally outsourced accounting focuses on legacy systems like accounts receivable and accountants payable, our Fractional Controller focuses on developing the metrics you need to run your business, which at the Fractional Controller stage is based upon cash-based budgeting and expenditures.
Moving your bookkeeping to weekly with monthly reviews helps everyone stay on top of things before problems can spiral out of control. You will find that this actually frees up time for you because your weekly financial reviews will be quick and make sure your business stays on track, replacing the hours of spreadsheets and bank account checking you may be doing now.
What’s the ROI?
This Program’s Return on Investment
Every business is different, but generally, the ROI is a mixture of cost savings and revenue growth. You should recover 50%-70% of the costs of the program by simply reducing the expenses related to your existing accounting systems. The rest of the ROI is going to be from cost savings we’ll identify in your business and revenue growth from better decision-makers. If your profits don’t increase by at least what you are paying us (a 200% return), we’re not doing our job.
Fractional Controller Services FAQs
What is a Fractional Controller?
A part time controller who manages your accounting function. We own the monthly close, reconciliations, accruals, revenue recognition, and reporting so leaders get clean GAAP financials on time.
Who is this service best for?
Growing small and mid sized businesses that have outgrown basic bookkeeping. Ideal for service firms, professional practices, real estate operators, ecommerce, and funded startups.
How is a controller different from a bookkeeper?
Bookkeepers record transactions. Controllers design the accounting process, close the books, enforce controls, and deliver accurate reports, budgets, and variance analysis you can run on.
Controller vs Fractional CFO, which should I choose?
Choose a controller when you need clean books, timely close, and basic budgeting. Choose a CFO when you also need capital strategy, pricing models, board reporting, and complex forecasting. You can start with controller and upgrade later.
What is included in your controller package?
Monthly close, bank and credit card reconciliations, AR and AP oversight, payroll accounting, fixed assets and depreciation, revenue recognition, accruals, GAAP financial statements, KPI snapshots, budget setup, variance reviews, and compliance calendars.
What is not included?
Tax preparation and CFO level strategy are separate services. We can bundle them, or add as needed.
How much does it cost?
Fixed monthly packages based on transaction volume, number of entities, payroll, and reporting needs. Pricing is lower than a full time hire, with no recruiting or training costs.
What software do you support?
QuickBooks Online, bill pay and expense tools, payroll platforms, and cloud reporting. We recommend a simple stack that automates bank feeds, bill approvals, and receipt capture.
Do you work remotely and outside Florida?
Yes. We serve clients nationwide using secure cloud tools and a client portal.
How fast is onboarding?
Most clients launch in two to four weeks. Week 1 discovery and cleanup. Week 2 process setup and checklist. First month close in weeks 3 to 4 with a baseline report package.
What deliverables will I receive each month?
Close checklist, reconciliations, GAAP income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow, management dashboard, variance highlights, and a short action list for the next month.
Can you help clean up past bookkeeping?
Yes. We perform a one time cleanup to fix prior periods, then move you into a steady monthly rhythm.
How do you improve cash flow without CFO services?
We tighten AR collections, organize AP timing, track margins, and flag spend issues early. Simple process changes often free cash without complex modeling.
How do you protect my data?
Secure portal, role based access, documented approvals, and audit trails. We separate duties for payments and bank access where possible.
Can I scale up later?
Yes. Add locations, entities, inventory, project or class reporting, or upgrade to Fractional CFO for fundraising, pricing, and advanced forecasting when you are ready.
How do we get started?
Share your current books, bank list, payroll setup, and reports. We scope the package, propose a fixed monthly fee, and begin with a kickoff and cleanup plan.