Accounting services
Outsourced controller services
Someone has to own whether the books are right.
A bookkeeper records the transactions. A CFO sets the strategy. Between them sits the role most growth-stage businesses skip — the controller, who owns the close, the accuracy of the statements, and the controls that keep it all accurate. TechBrot delivers that oversight with a signed controller-level specialist practice, on a fixed retainer of $1,800–$5,000 a month on top of monthly bookkeeping — the rung between monthly bookkeeping and a fractional CFO, without a full-time controller’s salary. Actual scope and retainer vary with close complexity, number of entities, reporting cadence, and the controls you need.
If your file needs our paid diagnostic first, its fee is credited in full against the cleanup. Either way, you get a fixed fee in writing before any work starts.
Call (877) 751-5575. Or book a discovery call.
They took something that felt overwhelming to me as a first-year business owner and made it simple.
What stood out the most was TechBrot Inc’s attention to detail.
Intuit QuickBooks® Certification Level 2 and QuickBooks Workforce Certification, held by TechBrot’s senior reviewer (verification on request) · TechBrot, Inc. · Delaware corporation · est. 2023
A controller owns whether the books are right: the month-end close, financial statement review, internal controls, bookkeeping supervision and the reporting calendar. TechBrot delivers outsourced controller services with a signed controller-level specialist practice on a fixed retainer of $1,800–$5,000/mo on top of monthly bookkeeping. Tax filing, audit and IRS representation stay with your CPA.
Certifications
Current certifications held by TechBrot’s senior reviewer: Intuit QuickBooks Certification Level 2 and QuickBooks Workforce Certification — verification on request. Intuit’s ProAdvisor program becomes Intuit ProPartner Accountants in early 2027; the certifications continue.
Bookkeeper, controller, CFO — three roles, one ladder.
The roles aren’t interchangeable, and skipping the middle one is the most common gap in a growth-stage finance function.
01
Bookkeeper — records the data
Categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts, captures receipts, produces the raw monthly numbers. The operational foundation. Answers: is it recorded? Delivered through monthly bookkeeping.
02
Controller — guarantees it’s right
Manages the close, verifies statements, designs controls, supervises the bookkeeping, owns the calendar. The accountability layer. Answers: is it accurate, complete, and on time?
03
CFO — decides what it means
Forecasting, board reporting, fundraising, capital allocation, strategic decisions. The judgment layer. Answers: what do we do about it? Delivered through fractional CFO.
Signs you need a controller.
Most owners reach for a controller when the bookkeeping is happening but no one is accountable for whether it’s actually right.
Your close is slow or unpredictable.
If you don’t know when statements will land each month — or they’re weeks late — no one owns the close. A controller puts it on a calendar and holds it.
Errors surface after the books are “done.”
If mistakes keep appearing in finished statements, there’s no review layer between the bookkeeper and you. The controller is that review.
You’re the only check on the numbers.
When the owner is the sole control — the only one approving, reviewing, catching — the business has a single point of failure and no real internal controls. That’s a risk a controller closes.
Bookkeeping is split across people or vendors.
Junior staff, a part-time bookkeeper, plus a payroll vendor and a sales-tax vendor — with no one coordinating. A controller supervises the whole function so it works as one system.
You’ve outgrown a bookkeeper but a CFO is overkill.
Plenty of businesses need rigorous oversight and reliable reporting without strategic finance leadership yet. The controller is exactly that middle tier.
A board, lender, or CPA needs reporting they can trust.
External parties need accurate statements on a reliable schedule. A controller owns that output and stands behind it — so it holds up to scrutiny.
What controller services actually deliver.
Oversight, accuracy, and accountability — scoped to the size and complexity of your accounting function.
01
Close management
Owning the month-end close on a published calendar — reconciliations verified, accruals posted, the period locked on time, every month.
02
Financial statement oversight
Reviewing the P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow for accuracy and reasonableness before they ship — catching errors the bookkeeping process misses.
03
Internal controls
Designing and operating controls appropriate to your size — approval workflows, segregation of duties, spend authorization, reconciliation review — so the books aren’t protected by one person’s memory.
04
Bookkeeping supervision
Supervising the bookkeeping function — whether TechBrot’s, your internal staff, or a mix — so the people recording transactions have someone reviewing and directing the work.
05
Reporting calendar & package
Owning a reliable reporting calendar and the monthly package that goes to leadership, the board, or lenders — consistent format, on schedule, defensible.
06
CPA & vendor coordination
Coordinating with your CPA on year-end and tax, and with payroll, sales-tax, and other vendors — so the whole finance function is managed, not just the parts.
From assessment to owned accountability.
Four phases, fixed monthly retainer, written scope — built on books that are accurate first.
- PHASE 1
Assessment
A 30-minute call to understand your current finance function, who does what, where the gaps and risks are, and what reporting you actually need. No pitch.
- PHASE 2
Stabilize the foundation
If the books need it, a cleanup first — a controller can’t guarantee accuracy on an unreliable base. We get to a known-good starting point.
- PHASE 3
Install the operating system
Close calendar, control workflows, review checkpoints, reporting package and cadence — the structure that makes the function run reliably, documented and owned.
- PHASE 4 ✓
Run & oversee
Each month the close is managed, statements reviewed, controls operated, the package delivered, and the CPA coordinated — with one accountable, signed controller-level specialist practice, named in your engagement letter.
What a controller is, isn’t, and coordinates with.
A controller is
Accountable for accurate, timely, complete books. Manages the close, reviews statements, designs and operates internal controls, supervises bookkeeping, owns the reporting calendar and package, and coordinates the finance function end to end. The oversight layer between bookkeeping and strategy.
A controller isn’t
A tax preparer — your CPA files. An auditor — audit and compilation are licensed CPA engagements. A CFO — strategy, fundraising, and board leadership are a separate tier. A bookkeeper — the controller oversees that work rather than doing all of it.
A controller coordinates with
Your CPA or EA on year-end and tax. Whoever keeps your books (TechBrot or your own staff). Your payroll and sales-tax providers. Your fractional CFO, if you have one. Your board and lenders on reporting. The role connects the function; it doesn’t do every job in it.
Accurate books are what make strategy possible.
The controller and the CFO are different jobs that depend on each other. A CFO building a forecast, a board package, or a fundraising model on books no one has verified is building on sand — which is exactly why a fractional CFO’s first move on a new engagement is to assess the accounting underneath. A controller is the role that removes that problem: the numbers are right, on time, every month, before the CFO ever opens them.
Many businesses run both — controller for accuracy and oversight, fractional CFO for strategy — and where TechBrot delivers the bookkeeping, controller, and CFO layers together, the whole finance stack runs as one system instead of three vendors handing off to each other. As automation handles the routine recording, the controller’s accountability and the CFO’s judgment are where the value concentrates. Explore fractional CFO
Can the controller supervise our existing bookkeeper? Yes. Controller services can supervise an internal bookkeeper, a third-party bookkeeping vendor, TechBrot’s own bookkeeping, or a combination. The controller’s job is oversight and accountability — reviewing and directing the recording work, not necessarily doing all of it. Where TechBrot also provides the bookkeeping underneath, the controller is supervising a function we operate end to end, which removes the handoff friction entirely.
Checked against TechBrot’s methodology and, for the salary comparison, the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Controller services questions.
What’s the difference between a bookkeeper, a controller, and a CFO?
When does a business need a controller?
What’s the difference between a controller and an outsourced controller?
Does a controller replace my bookkeeper or my CPA?
How much do controller services cost?
Ready when you are
Put someone in charge of getting it right.
What happens after you call.
1. We talk for up to 30 minutes. You tell us where the books stand; we ask the questions that decide the scope. No charge.
2. We look at the file if we need to. You add us as an accountant user in your own QuickBooks file, and you can remove us at any time. If the file cannot be priced without working inside it, we say so and propose the paid diagnostic, whose fee is credited in full against the cleanup.
3. You get a fixed fee in writing. What we will fix, what you will receive and one fixed fee. Nothing starts until you accept it.
Tell us which decisions the numbers need to support. We’ll tell you whether advisory, a controller or cleaner books come first.
We reply within one business day. Written fixed-fee scope within 3 business days of your call. No hourly billing.