Fractional controller services, or a CFO, sorted by task

One company's split, by task

01 of 08the closeClose the month and reconcileController

02 of 08File the sales tax and the franchise report on their datesController

03 of 08Keep the debt schedule and the fixed asset list currentController

04 of 08Answer the notice when one arrivesController

05 of 08Build the thirteen week cash viewEither, and usually the controller builds it

06 of 08Price the decision in front of the ownerCFO

07 of 08Decide what the year does before it closesCFO

08 of 08Assemble and defend the lender or investor fileCFO

The split as it was actually written out for one engagement. The close is marked because nothing below it in the list is reliable until it is true.

Which one comes first

For most owner run businesses between one and five million, the controller work is what is missing and the CFO work is what gets shopped for. That is understandable. The controller row is invisible when it is done and loud when it is not, and nobody goes looking for somebody to keep a debt schedule.

The practical test is one question. If the month closed on time and you were handed it, would you know what to do with it. If the answer is no, the missing piece is the read and the decision. If the month does not close on time in the first place, the missing piece is underneath that, and buying the decision first means paying somebody to reason about numbers nobody has checked.

Start the Tax CFO month

Why both levels sit at one desk here

Compliance and the read are the same information looked at twice. The person who reconciled the month already knows which cost moved and why, and the person who priced the decision already knows what it does to the return. Splitting them across two firms means the knowledge gets rebuilt every month by whoever is cheaper.

It also removes an argument. When the filings are late and the read is wrong, there is nobody to hand it to.

Book a Tax CFO meeting

What people read next

What the close has to look like to count The month once both levels are covered What each shape costs

Ask for a twenty minute read of your numbers that says which one you actually need

Owners come to this page to settle a title and leave having settled a task list. Most of them were shopping for the level above and what they actually needed was the level underneath it, done properly, first.

What gets handed over is the closed month and the October number, and the return is prepared at the same desk. Both levels run on a screen you already open.

You will be talking to the Steven Palmieri practice.

Controller or CFO, sorted by task rather than by title

Which one comes first

Why both levels sit at one desk here

What people read next

Ask for a twenty minute read of your numbers that says which one you actually need