Controller services: a second set of expert eyes on your books
Accuracy and efficiency are essential in a bookkeeper — but even a good bookkeeper should have their work reviewed. We put a skilled controller behind yours, every single month.
No bookkeeper should be working alone
A bookkeeper working in isolation — with no skilled controller reviewing the work — leaves you exposed in three specific ways: cash-flow inaccuracies that make your numbers say something untrue, fraud risk that grows when one person both records and reconciles, and coverage gaps when that one person is out sick, on vacation or gone entirely.
None of those are hypothetical, and none of them show up on a P&L labelled as a problem. They show up as a balance that never quite ties, a vendor nobody recognizes, or a month that simply never closed.
You get a team, not a person
That’s why Duban works as a team: a bookkeeper keeping the books and a controller reviewing them. Your controller reviews the finances, then works with you and your bookkeeper to make sure the practices are efficient and the results are accurate — so your books stay balanced correctly, month after month.
The controller can sit on top of our bookkeeping team, or on top of the bookkeeper you already have. If you like your bookkeeper and just want someone qualified checking the work, that’s a perfectly good reason to call us.
Bookkeeper vs. controller vs. CFO
These three roles get used interchangeably, and that’s how businesses end up paying for one and expecting another. Here’s the plain-English version:
- A bookkeeper records what happened. Transactions, reconciliations, bills, invoices, payroll entries — the daily and monthly work that produces a set of books. See bookkeeping services →
- A controller makes sure what was recorded is right. They review the close, test the balances, tighten the process, enforce separation of duties and sign off that the financial statements can be trusted.
- A CFO decides what to do about it. Forecasting, budgeting, benchmarking, pricing, financing and the big calls about where the business goes next. See fractional CFO services →
Put simply: the bookkeeper produces the numbers, the controller guarantees them, and the CFO uses them. Most growing businesses hire the first and skip straight to wanting the third — the controller is the piece in the middle that makes the third one worth anything.
Built for the way your business actually runs
One entity or ten, one bank account or thirty, QuickBooks or a platform of your own — the review is built around your business, not a checklist. And because your controller knows your business personally, they catch the thing that’s wrong for you, not just the thing that’s wrong on paper.
What a controller actually does for you.
Your controller reviews reconciliations, balances and entries before the month is called done — not after you’ve acted on the numbers.
Profit & loss, balance sheet and cash reports checked for accuracy and consistency, so what reaches you is trustworthy.
Separation of duties, approval paths and a second reviewer on the money — the basic protections a solo bookkeeper can’t provide.
Timing, accruals and unrecorded obligations corrected so your cash position reflects reality instead of a lag.
Your controller works with your bookkeeper on how the work gets done — fewer manual steps, cleaner coding, faster closes.
Vacations, illness and turnover stop being crises, because someone else already knows your books firsthand.
How the review runs, month after month.
Talk with us
A consultation to understand your books, who keeps them today and where you’re not confident in the numbers.
Baseline review
Your controller reviews the current state of the books and reports back on what’s accurate, what isn’t and what’s exposed.
Tighten the process
Controls, coding and close procedures set with your bookkeeper — ours or yours — so the same issues stop recurring.
Review every close
Each month the close is reviewed and signed off, and you get statements someone qualified has actually stood behind.
Controller services, answered.
What does a controller actually do?
A controller owns the accuracy of your financial records. They review the monthly close, test that balances and reconciliations hold up, set the controls that keep one person from both spending and recording money, and work with your bookkeeper on how the work gets done. When a controller signs off on your statements, the numbers have been checked by someone whose job is to find what’s wrong with them.
What’s the difference between a controller and a CFO?
A controller looks backward and guarantees the numbers are right. A CFO looks forward and decides what to do with them — forecasting, budgeting, benchmarking and the big financing and growth calls. You need accurate history before forward-looking work means anything, which is why controller oversight usually comes first.
Do I need a controller if I already have a bookkeeper?
That’s exactly when you need one. A bookkeeper without oversight is a single point of failure — no one reviewing the work, no separation of duties and no coverage when they’re out. This isn’t about doubting your bookkeeper; good bookkeepers usually welcome the review, because it means someone else is watching for the mistake anyone can make.
How does the monthly review actually work?
Your bookkeeper closes the month as usual. Your controller then reviews the close — reconciliations, balance sheet accounts, unusual entries and anything that moved unexpectedly — raises questions directly with the bookkeeper, and signs off once it’s clean. You get statements that have already been through a second qualified pair of hands, plus a plain-English read on anything worth your attention.
What does outsourced controller work cost?
It depends on the size and complexity of your books — entities, accounts, transaction volume and whether we’re also handling the bookkeeping. After a consultation we’ll quote a flat monthly engagement, so you know exactly what it costs before we start, with no hourly surprises.
Ready for numbers someone stands behind?
Book a free consultation and we’ll determine the best way to help your business reach its full potential. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll point you to a resource that is.