Outsourced Finance Department
A complete finance leadership function.
A dedicated accountant maintains daily activity, while senior reviewers assess the work weekly. The result: a 5 to 7 day close, with controller and CFO guidance for operating decisions.
Best for: $5M to $80M owners needing finance leadership.
Separate finance hiring locks in three roles costing $340K yearly.
Without controller and CFO review, owners make cash and hiring decisions on incomplete reporting. The resulting gaps compound as companies grow and demands increase.
The Continuous Close Method, applied to finance leadership.
A dedicated full-time accountant manages daily activity. A senior controller and fractional CFO review weekly, linking close work to leadership decisions.
01
Foundation: systems baseline
Review systems, verify opening balances, and document 5 to 10 Custom Playbook SOPs for handoff.
02
Cadence: daily close
Maintain daily activity, review the close weekly, and follow documented SOPs every month.
03
Intelligence: variance flags
Use live dashboards, surface 3 to 5 anomaly flags, and deliver monthly insight to leadership.
Three finance layers: accounting, leadership, insight.
Accounting: daily execution
- Daily GAAP accounting activity
- QBO, Bill.com, Puzzle, NetSuite
- Daily posting and reconciliations
- AP, AR, and close ownership
Leadership: senior review
- Weekly controller and CFO review
- Controller review for accurate GAAP reporting
- CFO guidance for forecasts and decisions
- Custom Playbook with 5 to 10 documented SOPs
Insight: live visibility
- Live dashboards for operating decisions
- Always-on client chatbot for finance questions
- Monthly reporting for leadership decisions
- One monthly fee across all finance layers
A fit when…
- Need CFO and controller leadership without hires.
- Have a bookkeeper but no senior finance review.
- Cannot justify a full-time CFO hire yet.
- Need current reporting for operating decisions.
Not a fit when…
- Need only part-time bookkeeping support.
- Already have CFO and controller leadership.
- Need daily on-site finance presence.
- Want the three roles priced separately.
Need part-time bookkeeping instead? See Comprehensive Bookkeepers →
Data security: encrypted data, role-based access, 7-day documented offboarding.
Case studies
Rebuilding AP operations for a construction firm on Dynamics 365. →
ArchTile’s accounts-payable backlog cleared within 60 days after an AP redesign in Business Central restored vendor payment accuracy and project-level payable visibility.
From cash to accrual: a surgery center regains financial visibility. →
Gayoso Plastic Surgery compressed its monthly close from several weeks to under seven business days following a structured cash-to-accrual conversion.
Outsourced Finance Department vs. separate hires: about one third the cost.
| Buyer compares | Separate hires | Debit & Co. |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost | Three hires cost $340K+ | About one third that cost |
| Coverage | Three separate seats | Accountant, Controller, CFO |
| Senior review | Additional senior hires | Weekly Controller and CFO review |
| Reporting | Separate reporting handoffs | Live dashboards and client chatbot |
| Management | Manage separate hires | One engagement, one team |
Pricing starts at $10,000 a month.
Scope reflects complexity, reporting needs, and systems. One fee covers accounting, controller, and CFO. Four drivers shape price:
- Company footprint: entities and locations
- Workload: daily activity, AP, AR, and close
- Systems: finance software, dashboards, chatbot
- Starting point: catch-up work and reporting needs
Related thinking from the Playbook.
Finance ops
Why finance reports arrive too late
How delayed reporting constrains operating decisions.
Playbook
Five decisions for a useful Playbook
The procedures that preserve finance continuity.
Finance close
How the Continuous Close Method works
A faster route from activity to monthly insight.
Four questions before you book.
Can I buy a CFO or accountant seat alone?
No. The service is sold as one 3-in-1 team: accountant, controller, and CFO, with dashboards and a client chatbot under one fee.
How do senior finance leaders support us?
A senior controller and fractional CFO review weekly. The controller leads quality and GAAP review; the CFO flags 3 to 5 anomalies monthly.
When do live dashboards go into use?
They go live in Month 1. The team then maintains current views of cash, margin, and runway alongside the monthly close.
How does this differ from Staff Accountants?
Outsourced Finance Department adds controller and CFO leadership to a dedicated accountant in one 3-in-1 engagement. Staff Accountants supplies accountant capacity without the leadership layer. See Staff Accountants →
Stop building $340K of annual hiring cost into finance.
Dedicated accounting, weekly senior review, live dashboards, and documented SOPs. Financials stay current. Leadership gets a monthly close and clearer operating decisions.