HomeFractional CFO & AdvisoryController Services

Financial Rigor Between Bookkeeping and a CFO

An outsourced controller keeps your close on schedule, your reporting tight, and your numbers something you can act on. Based in Lexington, KY and working with growing businesses nationwide.

You are not buying a monthly close. You are buying confidence that the numbers are right, on time, and telling you the truth about the business. That is what an outsourced controller delivers: the rigor that sits between clean books and full financial leadership.

Most companies reach a point where the bookkeeping is handled but the reporting is thin. The close drifts a few days later each month. Budgets live in a spreadsheet nobody reopens. A controller closes that gap, owning the accuracy and the cadence so the picture you act on is reliable.

What outsourced controller services cover

Every Controller engagement follows the BAS Controller Methodology, a disciplined approach to financial accuracy, balance sheet verification, reporting, internal controls, and management communication.

Monthly close oversight

Your books close on a set schedule, reviewed and reconciled before the numbers reach you. No more waiting three weeks to learn how last month went.

Financial reporting rigor

A consistent reporting package every month: profit and loss, balance sheet, and the handful of metrics that actually run your business, presented the same way so trends are easy to read.

Budgets versus actuals

A budget you build once and then use. We track actuals against it every month and flag the variances worth a conversation.

Cash-flow management

A working view of cash: what is coming in, what is going out, and where the tight weeks are before they arrive.

Internal processes and controls

Approval steps, documentation, and separation of duties sized for a company like yours, so money moves the way it should and mistakes get caught early.

Managing the bookkeeping function

We oversee the day-to-day bookkeeping, whether the person entering transactions is on your staff or ours, so someone senior is always checking the work.

Where the controller sits on the ladder

Bookkeeping creates reliable records. Accounting and financial reporting turn those records into useful information. Controller services make sure that information is accurate, timely, consistent, and understood. The Fractional CFO then uses it to plan what the business should do next. Put simply: the controller is responsible for information you can trust, and the CFO is responsible for the decisions made with it.

Many relationships begin with bookkeeping or financial reporting and expand into Controller or Fractional CFO support as the business grows, with the same team the whole way.

When a controller is the right next step

Questions we hear about controller services

How is a controller different from a bookkeeper?

A bookkeeper records what happened. A controller owns whether it is right, on time, and complete, then turns it into reporting you can run the business on. If your books are handled but the reporting is thin or the close keeps slipping, that is the controller gap.

How is a controller different from a Fractional CFO?

The controller makes sure the numbers are accurate and the process is sound. The CFO uses those numbers to guide pricing, hiring, financing, and growth. Many clients have us in a controller role first, then add the CFO seat as the decisions get bigger.

Do you handle our income tax returns?

No. Baum's Accounting Services does not prepare or file income tax returns. That work goes to an outside CPA firm, and part of the controller role is handing your preparer clean, closed books and clear answers when they ask. If you do not have a preparer yet, we can point you toward firms that handle work like yours.

Do we need to be in Lexington to work with you?

No. We are based in Lexington, KY and work with growing businesses across Central Kentucky and nationwide through fully remote service.

Often paired with controller services

Other work that tends to come up in the same conversation.

Let's talk about controller services.

Book a consultation and we will walk through where your reporting stands now and what a controller would tighten first.

Book a Consultation