Bookkeeping and controller questions, answered.
What owners ask before working with us, including the things we do not do.
Getting started
What is the difference between a bookkeeper and a controller?
A bookkeeper records and reconciles transactions and produces clean monthly statements. A controller works one level up, owning the close, checking the numbers are right, and turning them into margin analysis, KPIs, and forecasts you can act on. Bookkeeping tells you what happened. Controller work tells you what it means.
Can I start with just bookkeeping?
Yes, and many do. Bookkeeping gets the books clean and reliable first. Controller work is added when the questions change from “are these numbers right” to “what do these numbers tell me.”
When should I add controller services?
The usual trigger is a decision you cannot make from the books you have, such as a hire, a price change, a second location or a lender asking questions. If you are exporting to a spreadsheet every time you need an answer, that is the signal.
Who is Averan for?
Averan works with businesses at any stage, from startups that want the books right from day one to companies that need a monthly close and controller-level reporting. We organize by how a business gets paid, because that decides how the books work. See who we serve.
How do we get started?
It starts with a 30-minute call, then a look at your current books. From there you get a written scope of what we would take on, what it costs, and what changes in the first ninety days. Get in touch to start.
What we do and don't do
Do you provide fractional CFO services?
Yes. Averan Advisors provides fractional CFO leadership: planning, capital, margin and pricing work, and board reporting. Bookkeeping, controller, and strategic planning sit underneath it, so the numbers that leadership runs on are the ones we keep.
Do you run payroll?
Averan does not run payroll. We connect it to the books, so wages, taxes, and employer burden post to the right accounts instead of landing as one lump. Running payroll stays with your provider. See Systems & Automation for how payroll connects to the books.
Do you do the billing or collections?
No. We account for what your billing produces and make the results legible, separating what a customer owes from what a third party owes, and aging each properly. Chasing the money stays with you.
Are you an audit firm?
No. We keep records in audit-ready condition and provide the schedules and support your auditors ask for. We do not perform the audit.
Do you replace our current bookkeeper?
Sometimes, and sometimes not. Plenty of businesses keep an internal person for day-to-day entry and bring us in at the controller level above them. Both work.
How the work runs
What actually happens in a monthly close?
Accounts are reconciled, transactions are categorized and reviewed, accrual accounting and adjustments are booked, and the statements are produced and checked, then sent. A close is finished when the numbers have been verified, not when the last transaction is entered.
What do you need from us each month?
We need bank and card access or statements, payroll reports, and answers on anything ambiguous. The goal is a short list that shrinks as we learn the business.
What is a cleanup, and do we need one?
A cleanup brings historical books into a state you can rely on. It corrects miscategorized transactions, fixes reconciliations that never tied, and rebuilds the chart of accounts where it is working against you. If your books have never closed properly or nobody trusts the numbers, you need one before ongoing work makes sense.
Can you handle multiple entities or locations?
Yes. Each entity is kept on its own books with intercompany activity reconciled, and consolidated reporting is produced on top. Location-level P&Ls only compare if every location uses the same structure, so standardizing that is usually step one.
How quickly can you close our books each month?
That depends on how fast third-party information arrives, such as bank feeds, payroll reports and merchant statements. What we commit to is a set close date each month, because a predictable close is what makes the numbers usable.
Who owns our accounting file?
You do. It is your file, your subscription, and your data. If we stop working together you keep everything, including the structure and documentation we built.
Software and systems
What accounting software do you work in?
We work primarily in QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop, where we hold ProAdvisor certification. We also work in Sage Intacct and NetSuite environments, and handle migrations between platforms.
Do we have to switch software to work with you?
Usually not. Most of the work is connecting and correcting what you already run. We recommend a move only when the current tool genuinely cannot do the job.
Can you migrate us from QuickBooks Desktop to Online?
Yes, and we will tell you when Online is the wrong destination. Multi-entity companies and some inventory-heavy operations are often better served on Desktop or Enterprise. See Systems & Automation for migration work.
Do you work with our existing tools?
That is the usual arrangement. Your practice-management system, point-of-sale, job-costing software, or field app stays the operational source of truth. The accounting close ties back to it each month.
Working together
How is this different from my current accountant or CPA?
Averan keeps the books, closes them every month and sends you a report on the month. Most of our clients keep their CPA.
How does pricing work?
Pricing is scoped to the work, and quoted after we have looked at the books. Cleanup of historical records is quoted separately as a one-time piece, since it is finite work with a defined end.
What happens in the first ninety days?
The first weeks are learning the business and reviewing what exists. The first month is cleanup and rebuilding the structure. By the end of the first quarter the close runs on schedule and reporting arrives when it is supposed to.
What if we outgrow you?
Then we say so. When the work becomes constant, an outside investor arrives, or the capital structure gets complicated, Averan adds fractional CFO support as the work grows. When the CFO role becomes a full-time job, Averan helps you hire a full-time CFO.
Where to next
Still have a question?
If it is not here, ask it. We will give you a straight answer, including when the answer is that we are not the right fit.
Free Consult →Also worth reading
Not sure which one you need?
The decision guide starts from the symptom and ends at the role, with the revenue band each one usually sits behind. Work through it.
Related work
- Fractional controller, controller work without a controller salary