Fractional FinOps (Controller) · $3-20M ARR

Somebody has to own the close. Right now nobody does.

Not the people — the process. A close that takes three weeks, a reporting package rebuilt by hand, revenue recognized by feel. I build the controller function underneath the numbers, and run it until you're ready to hire.

The controller function

Five stages · one owner

Controller ops
Close the books SCHEDULE
Reconcile & tie out WORKING PAPERS
Report to leadership P&L · BS · CASH
Forecast cash & budget 13-WEEK
Control & document SOP

Five stages between a transaction and a number leadership trusts. Below twenty million in revenue, most of them don't have an owner.

What this looks like from your side

Nothing is broken. It's just late, and nobody agrees on how late.

Symptom 01

Close is a three-week event

No documented schedule, no owners, half of it living in one person's spreadsheets. Books land on day eighteen and leadership has stopped asking.

Symptom 02

The reporting package is rebuilt from scratch

Every month starts from a blank spreadsheet instead of a process. Whoever built it last time is the only one who can build it this time.

Symptom 03

Revenue recognition is a judgment call

Contracts get recognized by feel, not by policy. Nobody could walk an auditor through the schedule without four follow-up questions.

Fractional retainer

Fractional FinOps (Controller)

Fractional retainer

Fractional FinOps (Controller)

$5,000–6,500

Per month · 90-day intial term

Everything the ledger has to produce. I build the close and the reporting architecture, then run it — this is system work, not transaction processing.

  • Month-end close design and ongoing oversight: schedule, owners, cutoffs, exception review
  • Reconciliation and tie-out framework, run monthly
  • Prepaids, accruals, and payroll entries review
  • Revenue recognition policy, schedules, and ongoing oversight
  • Multi-entity consolidation and intercompany
  • Leadership reporting package — P&L, balance sheet, and cashflow, monthly
  • Direct line, not a ticket queue

Right fit when: close takes three weeks, the reporting package is rebuilt by hand each month, or you're needing it cleaned up.

One role or both — scoped to what's actually broken, priced up front.

Fractional FinOps (Controller) vs. a full-time hire · Annual · illustrative

Full-time Controller, fully loaded $180,000/yr
Fractional FinOps (Controller) retainer $60,000–78,000/yr

Saved vs. a full-time hire

$0

Fully-loaded hire costs are estimates and don't include a five-month search. The retainer runs $5,000–6,500/month for either fractional role.

How it works

Scoped, not sold

Fixed monthly · 90-day terms

  • A small number of clients at a time, so engagements get real attention
  • Start with a retainer, a one-time project, or the Diagnostic — priced up front either way
  • Fee set by scope and cadence, not hours
  • Choose the Diagnostic first and its fee credits against month one
  • Milestone projects run alongside or standalone
  • 90-day initial term, then month to month
  • Documented so your team can take it back over
  • If you should hire instead, I'll say so and help you scope the role

Milestone projects

Fixed scope, fixed fee, finite

Not everything needs a retainer. These are defined builds with a start, an end, and a deliverable you own outright. Standalone or inside an ongoing engagement.

Month-end close rebuild

Close schedule with owners and cutoffs, reconciliation framework, working paper structure, documented procedures your team can run without me.

$12,000–15,000

6–8 weeks

Revenue Recognition Build

Policy memo, contract review, revenue schedules, and the SOP documentation.

$10,000–14,000

5–6 weeks

Reporting & forecast package

Leadership package that rebuilds itself each month, cashflow forecasting, budget vs. actual comparison.

$8,000–12,000

4 weeks

Start here

Thirty minutes. Walk me through your close, your reporting, and where it's breaking.

That's usually enough to tell whether the fix is a controller function or something smaller. If it's smaller, I'll say so.

Book a Controller call