Controller Services
There is a stage where a business outgrows bookkeeping but cannot yet justify a full-time controller. The books are getting done, but no one is reviewing them with a trained eye, building the reporting that informs decisions, or putting controls in place as the operation grows more complex.
Integrated Accounting Solutions, a CPA-led firm in Havertown, PA serving owner-operated businesses nationwide, fills that stage with outsourced controller services: the oversight and reporting layer a growing business needs, without the cost and commitment of a full-time hire.
The layer between clean books and the corner office.
A controller is not a second bookkeeper. The role sits above the books, turning accurate records into reliable reporting and putting structure around how money moves through the business.
Review and oversight
A trained review of the books that catches what automated categorization misses and keeps the records dependable.
Management reporting
Reporting built for decisions, not just compliance, so an owner can see how the business is actually performing.
Financial controls
Process and segregation of duties appropriate to the size of the business, reducing the risk that comes with growth.
Cash flow oversight
A closer watch on cash, timing, and working capital than bookkeeping alone provides.
Close management
Ownership of a disciplined month-end close, on a predictable schedule, producing statements leadership can trust.
Systems and process
Improving the workflows and tools behind the numbers as the business scales past what its early setup can carry.
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Why fractional fits a growing business
The gap between a bookkeeper and a CFO is real, and most growing businesses live in it for years. The controller is who fills it.
Hiring a full-time controller is a significant commitment, and many businesses reach the need for one well before they can justify the salary. A fractional arrangement gives the same function on a scale that fits, delivered by a team that already understands your numbers.
Because controller services here sit alongside your bookkeeping, tax, and advisory work, the oversight is informed by the full picture. The reporting connects to the planning, and the controls are built by people who see how the whole engagement fits together.
How our controller services work.
Assess the current state
We review how your books are kept, what reporting exists, and where the gaps and risks sit as the business grows.
Build the reporting
We establish management reporting suited to your decisions, so leadership sees performance clearly and on a regular cadence.
Put controls in place
We add the review, process, and segregation of duties appropriate to your size, reducing risk without adding bureaucracy.
Oversee on a cadence
We own the close, review the books, and keep the reporting current, so the financial function runs on a reliable rhythm.
Controller services questions we hear often.
Scope note: Controller services are advisory and operational in nature and are performed as defined in your engagement. They are not an audit, review, or attestation engagement. The specific services, responsibilities, and limitations are defined by your proposal and engagement letter.
What does a controller do that a bookkeeper does not?
A bookkeeper keeps the records accurate and current. A controller works above the books, providing review and oversight, building management reporting for decisions, and putting financial controls in place. The controller turns clean records into reliable information leadership can act on.
When does a business need controller services?
Typically when the operation has grown complex enough that the books need a trained review and decision-grade reporting, but not so large that a full-time controller is justified. A fractional arrangement fits that stage.
What is the difference between a controller and a CFO?
A controller focuses on the accuracy, reporting, and controls of the financial function as it operates today. A CFO focuses forward, on strategy, forecasting, and the financial decisions that shape where the business is going. The roles are complementary, and a business often adds CFO-level support after the controller function is established.
Can controller services scale with my business?
Yes. A fractional arrangement adjusts as the business grows, and the function can expand toward CFO-level support as the need develops.
A correct return is the floor, not the goal.
Filing on time and without error is the baseline of the relationship. The value of working with an integrated firm is what surrounds the return: a year of clean records, planning that informed each decision, and a team that already understands the numbers behind every line.
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