Close Management
End-to-end management of the monthly close — checklist ownership, deadline enforcement, and accountability so books are closed by day 15, every month.
Fractional Controller
Fractional controller services —
senior oversight, no senior hire.
A controller leads your monthly close, enforces the controls that catch errors before they compound, and turns your financials from a historical record into something you can act on. At a fraction of what an in-house hire costs.
- Senior-led, CPA-overseen
- 0%
- Books closed by day
- 0
- Client retention rate
- 0%
What's included
The oversight layer your books
have been missing.
Controller services sit between your bookkeeper and your CFO — ensuring the work below is accurate and the reporting above is trustworthy. Here's what that looks like in practice.
Internal Controls
Design and enforcement of controls that catch errors before they compound into a year-end mess — segregation of duties, approval workflows, and month-end checklists.
Variance Analysis
Monthly explanation of what moved in your financials, why it moved, and what to watch. Statements with context — not just numbers on a page.
Budget vs. Actual
Monthly comparison of plan to actual — with clear explanations of variances and what they mean for the rest of the year. Run the business against a target, not in the dark.
KPI Scorecard — Level 2
Revenue drivers, gross margin by segment, payroll ratio, operating leverage, and targets tied to your annual budget — the metrics that tell you whether the business is running well.
Bookkeeper Oversight
We review the underlying accounting work every month — catching miscategorizations, missed entries, and timing errors before they make it into your financial statements.
Who it's for
Right for you if you've outgrown
your bookkeeper.
There's a gap between basic bookkeeping and strategic CFO work. The fractional controller fills it — giving you the oversight and reporting accuracy that makes everything else possible.
A good fit if you…
- Have a bookkeeper but no one reviewing their work — and you suspect something's off
- Get your books late, with errors, or with no explanation of what the numbers mean
- Are preparing for a bank loan, line of credit, or investor due diligence
- Want to run against a budget but don't have reliable enough numbers to build one
- Run a $1M–$10M business that's grown past what basic bookkeeping can handle
- Have had an audit, a cleanup, or a tax surprise that made you realize controls were missing
Probably not the right fit if you…
- Are still at the early bookkeeping stage — start with outsourced accounting first
- Already have a strong internal controller you're happy with
- Need on-site presence to manage an accounting department daily
- Are looking for strategic CFO-level financial modeling (see Fractional CFO)
Not sure if you need a controller or a CFO? We'll sort it out in a free consultation — and be honest about the right starting point.
Book a free consultationSelf-diagnostic
Is your month actually closed?
Most owners think so.
"Closed" has a specific meaning, and it isn't "the bookkeeper sent a P&L." Here's what a real close contains — and what it costs you when a step quietly isn't happening. If you can't tick most of these, that's the controller gap, not a bookkeeping problem.
| The step | What it means when it's missing |
|---|---|
| Every bank and card account reconciled to the statement | Your cash figure is an estimate. This is the step everyone assumes is happening, and the one most often skipped on the accounts nobody looks at. |
| Accruals and prepaids booked | Profit lurches month to month for reasons that have nothing to do with how the business traded. You end up explaining noise. |
| Every balance sheet line agreed to something | The balance sheet is where errors go to hide. Nobody looks closely until a lender or a buyer does, and by then it's years deep. |
| Revenue and costs cut off at period end | December's profit shows up in January. Every trend you're reading is shifted by a month and you're making calls on it. |
| Clearing, payroll and loan accounts at zero | Accounts that should net to nothing are quietly absorbing mistakes. The number is wrong and nothing flags it. |
| Variance reviewed against last month and budget | The line that moved 40% goes unnoticed until year-end, when it's too late to do anything except account for it. |
| A close date you can plan around | You can't make a week-two decision on numbers that land in week five. Late books don't just annoy — they remove options. |
If most of these are already happening and happening on time, you may not need a controller — you may just need someone to build you a budget to run against, which is a smaller job. Bring your last three months of financials to the call and we'll tell you which it is.
How it works
From diagnosis to a close process
that runs on time.
We don't paper over a broken process — we redesign it. Here's what the engagement looks like from day one.
-
Assessment
We review your current close process, existing controls, chart of accounts, and reporting output — identifying the gaps, the errors, and the risk areas before we touch anything.
-
Build the framework
We design a close checklist, implement internal controls, and build the reporting templates. Month one is about getting the foundation right so the recurring work is clean from the start.
-
Ongoing oversight
Monthly management of the close, review of all accounting entries, variance explanations, and a monthly checkup call — so you always know whether the numbers are right and what they're telling you.
Pricing
Controller oversight is included
in the Growth package.
Fractional Controller services are bundled with outsourced accounting in the Growth tier — you get the full stack for one monthly fee, not a la carte line items.
Growth
Numbers that drive decisions
from$2,500/mo
For established $1M–$10M businesses that want to run against a plan — with a senior controller in your corner every month.
- Full outsourced accounting & monthly close
- Fractional Controller oversight & review
- Annual budget + monthly budget-vs-actual
- Level 2 KPI scorecard — drivers & targets
- Monthly checkup call with your accountant
- Proactive tax planning (mid-year & year-end)
Partner
A CFO in your corner
from$6,000/mo
For owners making bigger bets — a fundraise, an acquisition — who need both controller discipline and CFO-level strategy.
- Everything in Growth
- Fractional CFO strategy sessions
- Rolling forecast + scenario modeling
- Level 3 KPI scorecard
- Board-, investor- & lender-ready reporting
Frequently asked
Controller questions, answered plainly.
- What's the difference between a bookkeeper and a controller?
- A bookkeeper records transactions. A controller manages the close process, owns internal controls, prepares and reviews financial statements, and adds the oversight layer that ensures the numbers are accurate, timely, and meaningful. The controller is the step between raw bookkeeping and strategic CFO work.
- Do I need a controller or a CFO?
- If your books are late, your reports aren't reliable, or no one is reviewing your bookkeeper's work — you need a controller first. A CFO operates at the strategic level and relies on accurate, timely books to do that job well. Most businesses need the controller layer before they're ready to benefit from CFO-level strategy.
- How many hours per month does a fractional controller work?
- It varies by engagement complexity — typically 10–25 hours per month. Because the controller layer is bundled with our underlying accounting work, there's no duplication; you're getting oversight and review on top of the existing close process.
- Will you work with my existing bookkeeper or accounting staff?
- Yes. We can layer controller oversight on top of your existing in-house bookkeeper or accounting team. We review their work, manage the close, and own the reporting output — so you get the oversight without replacing the staff you already have.
- How quickly will I see a difference?
- Most clients see a materially cleaner close within the first 30–60 days. Internal controls take a full quarter to fully settle in. By month three, you'll have a reliable, repeatable monthly cadence you can count on.
- How much does a fractional controller cost?
- Controller oversight sits inside our Growth tier at $2,500 a month, bundled with the accounting underneath it rather than sold as a separate line. Standalone fractional controllers commonly run $2,500–$8,000 a month depending on scope. The question worth asking any of us is what happens when the close is late — whether that's your problem or ours says more about the engagement than the price does.
- What happens if you find something wrong in the existing books?
- We tell you, plainly, before you've signed anything more. Usually it's unreconciled accounts, accruals nobody booked, or a balance sheet line that's been carried forward wrong for years. Cleanup gets scoped and priced separately — we won't bury it in the monthly fee and we won't pretend it isn't there so the onboarding looks smooth.
- Can you get us ready for a bank loan or investor due diligence?
- Yes, and it's one of the clearest reasons to bring a controller in. Lenders and buyers don't just want a P&L; they want a balance sheet that stands up, consistent treatment across periods, and someone who can explain a variance without going quiet. Start earlier than feels necessary — cleaning three years of history under a deadline is the expensive version.
- What if the close is late one month?
- You hear it from us before you notice it, with the reason and the new date. Closes slip occasionally — a client system goes down, a bank feed breaks, a year-end lands awkwardly. What shouldn't happen is finding out because you went looking for a report that wasn't there.
In their words
Clients who now have
numbers they trust.
Accounting systems built to last
"Tristan CPA has been instrumental in helping us create and maintain accounting systems that will provide the Dorchester Brewing management team with financial clarity and oversight for years to come."
An objective scorecard to grow against
"Having Tristan take care of my accounting provides me with the ability to constantly self-evaluate on an objective scale so that I can determine better options and alternatives to pursue Meraki's interests."
A real handle on the firm's numbers
"After working with Tristan CPA I got a better sense of accounting for my firm. My experience working with Tristan was fantastic!"
Also from Tristan CPA
Build the full finance function over time.
The controller layer is the bridge — built on solid accounting below, and ready to support CFO-level strategy above. You climb one step at a time, with the same team.
Let's talk
Ready for books
you can trust?
A free, no-pressure consultation — wherever you are in the country. We'll assess where the gaps are and tell you exactly what controller oversight would look like for your business.
Book a free consultationMailing address
801 Travis St, Ste 2101, PMB 1845
Houston, TX 77002
A remote firm — serving clients nationwide