The Hands-On Financial Control Behind Numbers You Can Trust

A CFO sets the financial strategy, while a controller ensures it's executed accurately. Many growing businesses have someone handling day-to-day bookkeeping and someone focused on the big picture, but no one owns the middle ground: reconciliations, internal controls, the monthly close, and trend analysis that proactively catches problems before you finalize and distribute your financial statements.

A fractional controller fills that gap. Wise Consulting provides you with experienced, hands-on oversight of your accounting on a part-time basis, so your books close on time, your reports are accurate, and your financials tell the real story. It's the operational backbone that enables you, your CFO, and your CPA firm to do your jobs with confidence.

What a Fractional Controller Can Do for You

A fractional controller is responsible for the accuracy and execution of your financial operations:

• Reliable monthly closes on a consistent cadence

• Account reconciliations, including bank and credit card transactions

• Internal controls, such as dual-control AP approval, where one person processes and another approves

• Chart of accounts structure and cleanup, tied out to your tax and wage forms

• Oversight and review of your bookkeeping staff or outside providers

• Payroll accounting, 401(k) remittance, workers' compensation audits, and 1099 reporting

• Cash flow forecasting

• Financial statement preparation and management reporting

• Interim leadership for your accounting department during a transition

Oversight That Adds Value

Most business owners don't have the in-house expertise to know whether their numbers are accurate, and that's where a controller earns their keep. We review the work and ensure that:

• Credit card activity and other transactions are classified properly

• Reconciliations are completed correctly

• Nothing is left open in the bank rec that shouldn't be

• You’re compliant with loan covenants

We catch issues at the bank-feed level before they reach your profit and loss (P&L) statement or balance sheet, so small errors don't turn into costly problems with your bank, your buyer, or the IRS.

Posting Transactions with Confidence

Clean financials start with entering each transaction correctly the first time. We post transactions as planned so they flow through the system, match the bank feed, and reconcile quickly at month-end. We then close the books and preserve their integrity so the results you've already reported to a bank, investor, or buyer don't shift after the fact. It's a disciplined, repeatable workflow that keeps your numbers reliable month after month.

Degreed, US-Based Accounting Professionals

Your books deserve more than a warm body and a data-entry mindset. Degreed, US-Based Accounting Professionals. That expertise is the difference between records that look done and records that are right.

Works With Your CFO, or Ours

A fractional controller pairs naturally with strategic financial leadership. If you already have a CFO, whether in-house or fractional, we handle the hands-on control work so they can focus on strategy. If you need both, we can provide fractional CFO services and align the two so nothing falls through the cracks.

Who Fractional Controller Services Are For

• Businesses that have a bookkeeper but need senior oversight of the work

• Companies losing an accounting team member or managing through turnover

• Owners who want reliable, on-time monthly financials they can trust

• Businesses tightening internal controls or preparing for financing, an audit, or a transaction

• Companies with a CFO who need the hands-on control work handled underneath them

• Startups that want to get their accounting and payroll systems set up in the right way

• Accounting resources that are certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors

How to Get Started

Begin with a complimentary financial diagnostic. Spend half an hour with us, and after we analyze your P&L report, balance sheet, debt service coverage, accounts receivable (AR), and accounts payable (AP), we'll outline your current accounting status and where we can help. We offer engagements on a fixed-fee or hourly basis.

Fractional Controller FAQ

What's the difference between a fractional controller and a fractional CFO?

A controller owns the accuracy and execution of your accounting: the close, reconciliations, controls, and reporting. A CFO focuses on strategy: forecasting, cash flow planning, and banking and capital decisions. Many businesses benefit from both, and we can provide either or both.

Do you replace our bookkeeper?

Not necessarily. We often oversee and review your existing bookkeeping staff or provider, adding senior-level oversight and quality assurance to ensure accuracy. When needed, we can also handle hands-on accounting functions.

Can you lead our accounting department through a transition?

Yes. When you're losing a team member, switching accounting systems, or preparing for a sale or acquisition, we can provide interim leadership to keep your close on schedule and your processes running.