Outsourced Controller Services
for Manufacturers
Financial reporting, cost accounting oversight, and compliance management for manufacturing companies between $3M and $75M — delivered by controllers who understand how manufacturing operations actually work.
Tolani Lawson
Founder & Fractional CFO
CPA
ACCA
MSc Finance
15+ Years
Direct Access to the Expert
When you work with Fiscal 12, you work directly with me—not a rotating team of junior associates learning your business on your dime.
This means faster answers, deeper context, and strategic guidance from someone who has evaluated hundreds of manufacturing businesses from the investor's perspective.
One industry. One focus. Your dedicated financial partner.
General Controllers
Generic close processes
Standard month-end close without manufacturing-specific steps — no WIP reconciliation, no production variance analysis
Overhead allocation guesswork
Blanket overhead rates applied without understanding production flow — distorts product and job-level margins
Audit prep scrambles
Documentation assembled after the fact when auditors or lenders request it — creates delays and exposes gaps
QoE unpreparedness
WIP valuation and cost accruals not documented to the standard PE buyers and acquirers require during diligence
Fiscal12 Controller Services
Manufacturing close in 7–10 days
WIP valuation, inventory reconciliation, variance analysis, and COGS calculation — completed within 10 business days, every month
Job-level margin visibility
Product profitability by SKU, customer, and job — with overhead allocation that reflects how your costs are actually consumed
Always audit-ready
Every entry has support. Every reconciliation has a workpaper. Auditor or lender requests are fulfilled immediately, not assembled over weeks
QoE-ready records maintained continuously
WIP methodology documented, earnings normalized, supporting schedules maintained — your records hold up under diligence scrutiny
Manufacturers We Work With
Discrete manufacturers ($3M–$75M revenue)
Process manufacturers with batch production
Multi-entity / multi-location operations
PE-backed manufacturers preparing for exit
Companies requiring lender covenant compliance
Businesses outgrowing bookkeeper-level reporting
What Our Manufacturing Controller Services Include
Controller services sit between transactional bookkeeping and CFO-level strategy. Our controllers manage the financial close process, produce the reporting packages your business and lenders need, and maintain the cost accounting infrastructure that drives management decisions.
Monthly Financial Close Process
We manage and execute your monthly close — reconciling all accounts, reviewing journal entries, calculating depreciation and amortization, and producing a complete set of financial statements within 7–10 business days of month-end. Includes inventory reconciliation, WIP valuation, and COGS calculation.
Manufacturing Cost Accounting & Variance Analysis
We maintain your standard costing system, produce monthly variance reports covering material price, usage, labor efficiency, and overhead spending — and provide the analysis that connects production performance to financial outcomes.
Multi-Entity Consolidation
For manufacturers with multiple legal entities, production facilities, or distribution subsidiaries — we manage the consolidation process and produce consolidated financial statements that meet lender and investor requirements.
Lender & Investor Reporting
We manage your covenant compliance reporting — monitoring ratios proactively and flagging approaching thresholds before they become a compliance issue. For PE-backed manufacturers, we produce the board-ready packages sophisticated investors expect.
Audit Preparation & Support
Whether you're undergoing an annual audit, a bank review, or a pre-transaction QoE assessment, we manage the preparation process — organizing documentation, reconciling supporting schedules, and coordinating with your external auditors.
Quality of Earnings Preparationystem Integration
We maintain your records to the standard that makes QoE a confirmation process, not a remediation project. WIP methodology documented, earnings normalized, supporting schedules current — your numbers hold up under diligence scrutiny.
Reports We Produce for Manufacturers
Every engagement includes a reporting package that gives management, lenders, and investors the visibility they need. Reports are customized to your business — not a generic template.
Report
What You Receive
Monthly Financial Close Package
Full financial statements (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow) with WIP reconciliation and inventory valuation — delivered within 10 business days of month-end close.
Manufacturing Variance Report
Material price variance, material usage variance, labor efficiency variance, and overhead spending variance — with explanatory commentary connecting production performance to financial outcomes.
Product & Customer Profitability
P&L by product line, customer, and job — with fully loaded margin including overhead allocation. Updated with each monthly close.
Lender Compliance Package
Covenant calculations, borrowing base certificates, and supporting schedules required by your credit facility — delivered on your lender's required schedule.
KPI Dashboard
PLACEHOLDER — Tolani to confirm: what does the standard controller KPI dashboard include? (metrics tracked, delivery format, frequency) · Sushovan: replace with live copy once confirmed
Board & Investor Package
Professionally formatted financial summaries for non-financial audiences, including trend analysis and forward-looking commentary.
Quality of Earnings Reporting for Manufacturing Transactions
A quality of earnings report tells a buyer, investor, or lender whether your reported earnings are real, repeatable, and sustainable. For manufacturers, it's also one of the most complex due diligence documents to prepare correctly.
Why Manufacturing QoE is Different
Manufacturing businesses have accounting complexity that general QoE analysts often don't understand: job cost accruals, WIP valuation methodologies, standard cost variances, and inventory write-downs that affect reported margins. Without a controller who can explain and document these correctly, QoE adjustments can mischaracterize your business's true earning power.
How We Prepare Your Records for QoE:
Normalize earnings for non-recurring items — one-time costs, owner compensation adjustments, and non-operating income documented for appropriate addback treatment
Document WIP and inventory accounting methodology — QoE analysts will scrutinize your WIP valuation; we ensure it's defensible and consistently applied
Reconcile revenue recognition — for manufacturers with percentage-of-completion contracts or milestone billing, revenue is recognized correctly and documented clearly
Prepare supporting schedules — every material accounting balance has documented support that an outside analyst can independently verify
Planning a transaction, PE investment, or bank refinancing?
The quality of your financial records determines how smooth the diligence process is — and how much deal value you retain.
When Manufacturers Need Controller Services
Most manufacturers know they've outgrown basic bookkeeping before they make the move. These are the situations that reliably signal it's time.
You've outgrown basic bookkeeping
Your bookkeeper can record transactions but can't produce the financial close, variance analysis, or lender reporting your business now requires.
Your lender requires more sophisticated reporting
Bank credit facilities typically require monthly or quarterly financial packages with specific ratios, certifications, and supporting schedules your bookkeeper can't produce.
Preparing for investment or sale
Private equity buyers and strategic acquirers will scrutinize your financial records. Clean, well-documented financials are the single biggest factor in deal certainty.
Running multiple entities or locations
Multi-entity consolidation, intercompany elimination, and segment reporting require controller-level expertise to do accurately.
Financial close takes more than 2 weeks
A slow close creates a management blind spot. Every week without current financials is a week of decisions made with stale information.
You need audit-ready records
Annual audits, bank reviews, or transaction diligence require financial records that are well-organized, fully reconciled, and properly documented.
Controller vs. CFO: Which Do You Need?
The controller and CFO roles are complementary, not interchangeable. Many of our clients engage both. Here's the distinction — and when each matters most.
Financial close & reporting
Core controller function — owns the process
Reviews and uses the output
Cost accounting & variance analysis
Core controller function — builds and maintains
Interprets for strategic decisions
Lender compliance reporting
Core controller function — produces and monitors
Manages the lender relationship
Cash flow forecasting
Provides underlying data and actuals
Builds and owns the forecast
Strategic financial planning
Provides historical context and data
Core CFO function — leads the process
Capital structure & banking
Provides supporting financial data
Core CFO function — negotiates and manages
Board & investor advisory
Prepares the financial packages
Leads the discussion
Acquisition analysis
Provides and organizes financial records
Core CFO function — models and evaluates
Need both? Our CFO and controller services are designed to work together. When you engage Fiscal12 for both, the same team handles your reporting infrastructure and your financial strategy — no handoff problem, no data translation.
Explore our Fractional CFO Services →
Manufacturing Controller Expertise
Cost Accounting Methods
Standard costing
development, annual updates, and variance analysis
Job costing oversight
material requisitions, labor hour tracking, overhead application
WIP accounting
for manufacturers with long or complex production cycles
Overhead allocation
methodology development that reflects actual cost consumption
COGS calculation
FIFO, LIFO, or weighted average, correctly applied
Compliance & Reporting
Multi-entity consolidation
intercompany elimination and consolidated statements
Lender compliance packages
covenant calculations and borrowing base certificates
Audit coordination
documentation, reconciliations, and auditor support
QoE preparation
records maintained to PE/acquirer diligence standard
GAAP compliance
revenue recognition, inventory valuation, and lease accounting
ERP & Systems Integration
We produce controller-level reporting from the systems your manufacturing business already runs — no platform change required:
Accounting Systems:
QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Sage 50
Material Cost Volatility:
Tolani to confirm manufacturing ERP systems used with clients (JobBOSS, E2, Fishbowl, SYSPRO, Epicor, etc.) · Sushovan: add as list items once confirmed
Controller role:
We build and maintain the reporting structure above your ERP — chart of accounts, close checklist, variance reports, and lender packages that pull from the data your systems generate
Manufacturers We Serve
Close cycle over 15 days:
Businesses where month-end reporting is consistently late and management is making decisions on stale data
Lender covenant requirements:
Bank credit facilities requiring certified monthly or quarterly financial packages with ratio calculations and supporting schedules
Multi-entity structures:
Manufacturers with intercompany transactions, multiple legal entities, or segment reporting requirements
Pre-transaction or PE-backed:
Operations where financial records need to perform under acquirer or sponsor scrutiny
Job shop, process, and contract manufacturers:
Discrete, batch, and continuous production environments across fabrication, food, chemicals, components, and industrial equipment
How We Work With Manufacturing Clients
Every engagement begins with a structured onboarding process designed to get up to speed on your business quickly — without disrupting your operations.
01
Phase 1 — Diagnose
Assess Your Current State
We audit your existing financial close process, chart of accounts, reporting outputs, and cost accounting setup — identifying the gaps between what you have and what your business actually requires. Lender obligations, compliance status, and any open audit or QoE risks are documented at the outset.
Typically 2–3 weeks
02
Phase 2 — Build
Build the Reporting Infrastructure
We establish the close process, cost accounting structure, and reporting package your business needs — including manufacturing variance reports, lender compliance templates, and the KPI dashboard your management team will actually use. ERP integration and chart of accounts adjustments handled in this phase.
Typically 4–6 weeks
03
Phase 3 — Deliver
Ongoing Controller Services
Ongoing controller services in full operation — monthly close within 10 business days, manufacturing variance reports, lender compliance packages, and proactive cost accounting management. Available between reporting cycles for questions, audit prep, or ad-hoc analysis.
Ongoing monthly engagement
Controller Services for PE-Backed and Exit-Planning Manufacturers
PE-backed manufacturers and owners preparing for a sale or recapitalization have controller requirements that go beyond standard reporting. They need financial records that hold up under diligence scrutiny — and a controller who understands what acquirers and QoE analysts are actually evaluating.
Planning a transaction or working with PE investors?
We work with manufacturing owners and management teams at every stage — from building exit-ready financial infrastructure to supporting the controller workstream during active diligence.
Manufacturing CFO Results
Real outcomes from controller engagements. Every engagement starts with clear reporting goals — and we hold ourselves to them.
Phase 1 — Diagnose
Understand Your Current Books
Challenge: No consolidated financial reporting across two legal entities — management was operating with entity-level P&Ls that couldn't show the true combined picture. Lender was requesting compliance reports the team couldn't produce.
What we did: Built intercompany elimination process, implemented multi-entity close in NetSuite, and established monthly lender compliance reporting package delivered within 8 business days of month-end.
8 days
Monthly close time (down from 4+ weeks)
100%
Lender covenants met since engagement start
$4.2M
Credit facility renewed without disruption
Outsourced Controller Services: Frequently Asked Questions
What does an outsourced controller do for a manufacturing company?
How is a controller different from a CFO?
How much do outsourced controller services cost?
What does the quality of earnings (QoE) process involve, and how do you prepare us for it?
Can you work with our existing accounting staff or bookkeeper?
What accounting software and ERP systems do you work with?
Get a Manufacturing Financial Assessment
Not sure what level of financial support your business needs? We start with a no-obligation assessment of your current financial infrastructure and tell you exactly where the gaps are.
