Strategic Financial Accounting Advisory Services

It's advice on how your company records, reports and uses its financial information. That covers the financial statements themselves, the monthly management package, the close process, internal controls, budgets, forecasts and cash visibility. The difference from ordinary accounting is the focus. We're less interested in whether a transaction got posted and more interested in whether the reports in front of leadership are accurate enough to make decisions on.

A bookkeeper posts invoices, pays bills and reconciles the bank. We look at the result of all that and ask harder questions. Are revenue and costs landing in the right periods? Do the reports separate the profitable work from the rest? Is there a gap in approvals that would let an error slip through? Then we fix what we find, usually alongside your existing bookkeeper.

Growing companies in the $5M and up range, government contractors, and businesses with multiple entities or international activity get the most out of it. It's also useful before a financing conversation, an acquisition or a move to a new accounting system. A common profile is a company that has outgrown basic bookkeeping but isn't ready to hire a full time controller or CFO.

Yes, and it's often the first thing we tackle. We'll review what your reports show today, cut what nobody reads, add the handful of measures that actually drive decisions (margin by job or contract, backlog, days sales outstanding, cash runway), and set a close calendar so the package lands at the same time every month.

Controls are the approvals, reconciliations, documentation habits and division of duties that keep money from walking out the door and keep the numbers trustworthy. Small companies often skip them because one person does everything. We recommend controls that match your size, like dual approval on payments over a threshold or a monthly review of vendor changes, rather than a binder of policies no one follows. Contractors also need controls that will hold up in a DCAA review.

Yes. We build an operating budget from your plan, model the revenue and cost assumptions behind it, and then compare actuals to the forecast every month. When the numbers drift, we update the forecast and talk through what it means for hiring, spending or cash. A forecast that never gets revised is just a wish list.

Almost always. We work regularly in Deltek Costpoint, Unanet and QuickBooks Online, which covers most of the contractors and mid sized businesses we see. Our recommendations start from the system you already have. We'll only suggest a change if the current setup truly can't produce the reporting or compliance you need.

Start with a call. We'll ask about your current reports, how the close works, who does what, and any compliance pressures such as a pending audit or a new federal contract. From there we'll propose a focused scope, whether that's reporting, controls, budgeting, or ongoing CFO support. If an IRS issue comes up along the way, such as unpaid payroll taxes, our Enrolled Agent can take on the resolution too.