Fractional controller services

Books you can trust, a close that runs on time, and a controller when you need one.

Keel Controllers steps in when an established business has outgrown its accounting: the books are behind, the controller has left, or a systems migration has stalled. We bring the numbers current, then keep them that way for a fixed monthly fee.

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9-figure

Private-equity exit, with the finance workstream led through diligence

3 to 25+

Locations at a real estate company, as revenue doubled from $50M to $100M

18+ years

In corporate accounting and controllership

$100M+

Annual transaction volume run through the books of an e-commerce marketplace

When owners call us

Three situations we fix

The books are behind

Months of unreconciled accounts, a close that never quite finishes, and financials nobody fully trusts. We catch up the history and reconcile every balance.

Your controller left

A key person walked out with the process in their head. We keep the close, payroll, and vendor payments running while you decide on a permanent hire.

The migration stalled

You started moving off QuickBooks and it went sideways. We clean the data, finish the cutover, and build the reporting on top of the new system.

Services

What you get

Catch-up and cleanup

Back reconciliations, accrual and cutoff corrections, and a clean trial balance you can hand to a lender, investor, or auditor.

Monthly close and reporting

A documented close calendar, reconciled balance sheet, and monthly financial statements with a clear explanation of what moved and why. Automated checks review journal entries, reconciliations, and account fluctuations before anything posts, so errors are caught in the close, not after it.

Interim controller

Hands-on coverage of the controller seat: the close, approvals, cash, and the outside CPA and tax relationships, until you are ready to hire.

Systems migration

Moves to NetSuite, Sage Intacct, and similar ERPs, including data cleanup, the cutover itself, and the reports your team actually uses.

Audit, diligence, and pre-IPO readiness

PCAOB-standard audit workpapers, SOX-readiness controls documentation, and technical accounting memos, prepared the way auditors, buyers, and public-market advisors expect.

Process transformation

Order-to-cash and procure-to-pay redesigned end to end: billing, approvals, collections, and payment tracking, with the controls and written procedures that keep the books clean as volume grows.

How it works

From first call to a steady close

Diagnostic call

Thirty minutes on where the books stand, what is breaking, and what you need from your numbers.

Written scope and fixed fee

A scope for the cleanup and the ongoing work, with a fixed monthly fee. No hourly billing surprises.

Cleanup, then monthly

We bring the books current, then run the close every month and report on it.

Selected work

What this looks like in practice

E-commerce marketplace

Sale-ready books for a private-equity exit

Situation: A multi-entity online marketplace processing hundreds of millions of dollars a year ran on QuickBooks and had never been audited.
What was done: Built the accounting function from the ground up, moved the company to Sage Intacct, and prepared the schedules behind the quality-of-earnings review and first financial-statement audit.
Result: The company closed a nine-figure sale to a private-equity firm.

High-technology manufacturing

Pre-IPO audit and controls readiness

Situation: A seven-entity high-technology manufacturer with an international footprint across the U.S., Europe, and Asia faced a Big Four audit while preparing for a public listing.
What was done: Served as the auditors' primary contact, prepared PCAOB-standard workpapers and technical memos, reconciled the balance sheet across all entities, and documented internal controls to SOX-readiness standards.
Result: About $400K of misstatements found and corrected before the auditors raised them, with audit-ready support behind every account.

Construction

A system migration and an audit, handled together

Situation: A construction company was moving from QuickBooks to Sage Intacct while heading into its financial-statement audit.
What was done: Supported the migration, built the AR and AP workflows and a 13-week cash forecast, and prepared the revenue-recognition memos, project WIP analysis, and credit-loss analysis the audit required.
Result: The company went into its audit with its revenue and credit-loss positions documented and a weekly view of cash.

Consumer products, D2C and B2B

Margins leadership can trust at soft close

Situation: A direct-to-consumer marketplace with a B2B home-decor business, part of a larger corporate group, kept getting the same question at month end: are the margins real, or are accruals missing?
What was done: Built a standardized soft-close package: financial statements reconciled to the trial balance, gross margin by D2C and B2B channel against order data, and vendor-level cost reviews against forecast. Rebuilt liability and prepaid rollforwards that no longer tied to the general ledger.
Result: A repeatable monthly view of margin by channel, reconciled to the trial balance, with missing accruals flagged before the books close.

Events and live entertainment

Billing and payables rebuilt around the close

Situation: A growing event-production company needed its order-to-cash and procure-to-pay processes rebuilt, while a state sales and use tax audit was underway.
What was done: Redesigned the order-to-cash and procure-to-pay workflows to tighten billing, approvals, and payment tracking; took over full-cycle accounting and the month-end close in QuickBooks Online; built the budget and financial projections; and supported the sales and use tax audit and quarterly estimated taxes.
Result: One owner for billing, payables, the close, and the budget, with every approval and payment tracked from request to reconciliation.

Education

An eight-figure payables backlog brought under control

Situation: A private-equity-backed, multi-site education operator had thousands of bills, worth eight figures, waiting for approval in its payables system.
What was done: Analyzed the full queue and isolated the small share that was live and needed action, managed the Ramp and Sage Intacct integration, automated the payroll cash-funding process, built site-level P&L reporting, and began moving the month-end close onto a library of automated checks.
Result: Leadership can see which part of the backlog needs action, with site-level results each month and a close built on repeatable checks.

Client and employer names are withheld. These examples come from in-house finance leadership roles held by our principal and from fractional engagements.

Industry experience

Industries we know

Real estateBrokerage, property management, development

E-commerceMarketplaces and direct-to-consumer brands

High-technology manufacturingInternational footprint, multi-currency

Consumer productsD2C and B2B channels

Home servicesMulti-site, private-equity-backed operators

ConstructionProject accounting and WIP

EducationMulti-site operators

HealthcareMulti-location clinics

Events and live entertainmentEvent production, ticketing

InsuranceBrokerage and trust accounting

MediaInternational operations

Software (SaaS)Subscription software

Technology consultingData and analytics services

Marketing agenciesClient-services and retainer models

Experience

Senior-level controllership, without the full-time cost

Keel Controllers is led by a Certified Management Accountant with 18 years in corporate accounting, including controller and head-of-finance roles at multi-entity companies.

NetSuite Sage Intacct QuickBooks Oracle SAP Microsoft Dynamics

Supported a company through pre-IPO readiness for a public listing: PCAOB-standard audit, SOX-readiness controls, and technical accounting memos.
Ran multi-entity, multi-currency closes across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Built the accounting function from the ground up at a multi-office real estate company and a high-volume e-commerce marketplace.
Built and led accounting teams, set review and close standards, and managed outside CPA, tax, and audit relationships.
Designed approval matrices, reconciliation standards, and written procedures that held up as transaction volume grew.

Find out where your books really stand

Tell us where the books stand and what is breaking. We will reply with a short diagnostic call and a written scope, whether or not we end up working together.

Best fit: companies with roughly $5M to $50M in revenue and no in-house controller. Engagements start at $6,000 per month.

Request a proposal hello@keelcontrollers.com