Controller Services for Close, GAAP Reporting, and Audit Readiness

A controller owns the accuracy of a company’s financial information. That usually means running the month-end and year-end close, reviewing reconciliations and accruals, preparing GAAP financial statements, maintaining internal controls, and producing management reports. A controller also keeps records organized for auditors and lenders and gives leadership, or a fractional CFO, reliable numbers for budgeting, forecasting, and decisions.

Controller services give a business controller-level oversight without a full-time hire. With Porter Accounting LLC, that can include close management, financial data review, accrual adjustments, GAAP reporting, ASC 606 revenue recognition, budget tracking, cash-flow monitoring, and audit preparation. Scope is set around your operations, transaction volume, systems, and the reporting deadlines you need to meet.

Bookkeeping records and categorizes transactions and reconciles accounts. Controller work sits on top of that foundation: it reviews the books for accuracy, books accruals and adjustments, enforces a close calendar, applies GAAP and revenue recognition rules, and produces statements that can be shared with lenders, investors, or auditors. Many clients keep bookkeeping and add controller oversight as reporting needs grow.

Yes. Porter Accounting LLC prepares GAAP financial statements on an accrual basis, including the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement, with supporting schedules. Controller oversight of the close, accruals, and revenue recognition is what keeps those statements consistent month to month and ready for lenders, investors, and other stakeholders.

Yes. Controller work includes budget tracking and cash-flow monitoring, and it produces the reliable actuals that forecasting depends on. When a business needs forward-looking planning, KPI tracking, or financial strategy, Porter Accounting LLC can extend the engagement into fractional CFO support, so the same team that closes the books also builds the forecast.

Yes. Porter Accounting LLC provides controller services virtually to businesses across the United States, working inside your accounting system and shared document folders on an agreed close calendar. In-person meetings are available by appointment around Santa Rosa, San Francisco, and San Jose, California.

Yes. Audit readiness is a core part of controller work. Porter Accounting LLC can reconcile balance sheet accounts, build supporting schedules, organize the auditor’s PBC request list, review revenue recognition, and help respond to questions during fieldwork. Porter is not an audit firm; the goal is to make your records ready so the work with your external auditor or CPA runs efficiently.

Controller services start at $100 per hour. The Advanced Monthly Plan starts at $2,100 per month and includes month-end close oversight, accrual adjustments, financial analysis, budget tracking, cash-flow monitoring, detailed reporting, and audit prep. ASC 606 projects, ERP work, and one-time audit preparation are quoted separately based on scope.

Common signs include a close that drifts past the middle of the following month, lenders or investors asking for GAAP statements, deferred revenue or contract terms that are hard to track, an upcoming audit or review, or leadership that no longer trusts the monthly numbers. If any of these apply, controller oversight on top of your existing bookkeeping is usually the next step.

Yes, when your contracts call for it. Porter Accounting LLC applies the ASC 606 five-step model: identify the contract, identify performance obligations, determine the transaction price, allocate it, and recognize revenue as obligations are satisfied. That work produces deferred revenue schedules and is especially relevant for SaaS, subscription, construction, and manufacturing businesses.

A typical close follows a set calendar: bank, card, and balance sheet reconciliations; accrual, prepaid, and deferred revenue entries; a review of unusual changes against prior periods; and a final package of GAAP-basis statements and management reports. Timing and depth depend on your volume and systems, and the process is documented so it runs the same way every month.

A controller makes sure the historical numbers are right; a fractional CFO uses those numbers to plan what comes next through forecasting, budgeting, KPI tracking, and strategy. Porter Accounting LLC offers both, starting at $100 per hour for controller work and $150 per hour for fractional CFO support, so a business can add strategy without changing teams.