Virtual CFO and Controller Services in Santa Clara

Most growing companies reach a point where the bookkeeping gets done but nobody owns the outcome. Transactions are recorded. Accounts are more or less reconciled. What is missing is a person accountable for whether the numbers are right, whether the close lands on time, and what any of it actually means.

We fill that gap. You get controller-level ownership of the monthly close and reporting, and CFO-level work on planning, modeling, and board or lender conversations when the business needs it. Both are delivered by named people, on a schedule you can plan around.

Do you need a CFO or a controller?

These are different jobs and they solve different problems. Getting this wrong is expensive, so it is worth a minute before you start shopping.

Signs you need a controller

• Your close takes more than 15 days
• You do not trust the numbers you are looking at
• Your bookkeeper is doing work above their level
• You are preparing for an audit or review
• Reporting is inconsistent month to month

Signs you need a CFO

• You are raising a round or negotiating debt
• You need scenario models for a hire, a product line, or an acquisition
• Your board wants forward-looking analysis, not historicals
• You are planning an exit

Here is the honest version. Most companies at this stage need a controller and think they need a CFO. The title sounds like the answer because the pain shows up in board meetings and financing conversations, which is where a CFO operates.

But strategic advice built on unreliable numbers is worse than no advice, because it carries false confidence into decisions that are hard to reverse. If your close is slow and your reporting moves around, fix that first. Our controller services page covers that work in detail.

What we do

Controller work

Owning the monthly close end to end: reconciliations, accruals, revenue recognition, and a reporting package delivered on a fixed calendar. We fix the chart of accounts when it no longer fits the business, document the close so it does not live in one person's head, and hold the accounting positions that have to survive outside review.

This also covers audit and lender support, budget versus actual with variances you can explain, and margin reporting by whatever dimension your business actually runs on.

CFO work

Forecasting and scenario modeling, cash and runway planning, pricing and unit economics, board and investor reporting packages, and support through a raise, a lending conversation, or diligence.

We do this on top of books we already run, so the model and the actuals reconcile to each other. That is the part most companies cannot get from an advisor who arrives once a quarter.

You will see this sold as a virtual CFO, a fractional CFO, or a part-time CFO. The terms are used interchangeably and we answer to all three. What matters is the engagement: how much of the month we own, what we are accountable for, and who is on the call.

How we work

These are commitments, not aspirations.

• A named controller assigned to your account, not a queue
• A named backup controller, so coverage never depends on one person being available
• CPA review on the work
• We acknowledge client communications within four business hours
• A published close calendar, so you know when numbers arrive before the month starts

What this costs

We bill two ways. Recurring work, meaning the monthly close, annual compliance, and ongoing reporting, is a fixed monthly fee. It is quoted up front and you know it before the month starts. Project and advisory work outside that scope, such as system migrations, audit support, fundraising prep, or one-off analysis, is billed hourly and scoped in advance.

Nothing gets billed that was not agreed first. If work falls outside the fixed scope, we tell you before we start it, not after you open the invoice.

Four things drive the fixed fee: transaction volume, the number of entities, how complex your close is, and what your reporting requirements look like. We work those out during scoping rather than guessing at them.

For comparison, a full-time controller in Santa Clara runs roughly $140K to $180K in salary, and closer to $180K to $230K once you load benefits and payroll tax. That is the number worth holding this against, along with the fact that one hire is one person with one set of skills and no backup.

We are not a fit for everyone. If you are pre-revenue, or you need bookkeeping only, you will do better and pay less somewhere else. We will say so on the call rather than sell you something you do not need.

Who we work with

We fit best with companies up to 200M in revenue, where complexity has outgrown the current setup. Multi-entity structures, inventory, multi-state exposure, or an auditor, board, or lender asking real questions matter more than headcount.

• IT services and managed service providers
• SaaS and technology companies
• E-commerce and multi-channel retail
• Nonprofit organizations
• Established small businesses
• Companies in an accounting crisis

What actually determines fit is complexity rather than sector. Multi-entity structures, multi-state exposure, inventory, or an auditor, board, or lender asking real questions all matter more than what you sell.

Frequently asked questions

1. What does a virtual CFO cost? Recurring work is a fixed monthly fee based on transaction volume, entity count, close complexity, and reporting needs. Advisory and project work is scoped and billed separately. We quote after a scoping conversation rather than publishing a number that would not mean anything without knowing your business.
2. How is this different from a bookkeeper? A bookkeeper records what happened. We own whether the record is right, close it on a fixed calendar, and tell you what it means for the decisions in front of you. If clean data entry is genuinely all you need, a bookkeeper is the better buy.
3. Do you work with companies outside the Bay Area? Yes. Most of the work happens in shared systems and on scheduled calls, and we serve clients across the country. Our office is in Santa Clara for the conversations where being in the room helps.
4. How long does onboarding take? Typically three to six weeks from the first call to a stable monthly rhythm. We assess first, correct the historical record and rebuild structure where needed, then move into the recurring close. Companies with significant cleanup take longer, and we tell you that up front.
5. Do we have to change accounting systems? Usually not. We work with the stack you already run and recommend a change only where the change pays for itself. We hold no reseller relationships, so nobody pays us to move you.
6. Is a fractional CFO the same thing? Yes. Fractional, virtual, and part-time all describe senior financial leadership bought in less than full time, and the labels get used interchangeably. The real differences are scope, how many days a month you get, and whether the same person owns the numbers underneath the advice.
7. Can you support an audit or tax filing? Yes for support, no for performing either. We do not prepare tax returns and we do not audit. We get you audit ready, carry the weight of the request list, and hand your CPA a clean set of books along with answers to the questions that come back.