Outsourced ControllerOutsourced controller questions owners ask first
You're looking for answers before you bring in an outside controller. These come up most. Tax CFO Steven Palmieri fields these questions daily, alongside Steven and his team. The same reply holds on a video call, in person, or when Steven joins a banker or lender call with you.
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Do we still need a bookkeeper?
Yes, or we can keep the books ourselves. Someone has to record the activity before anyone can watch it. If you already have a bookkeeper, they stay. We add the calendar, the approvals and the checking on top.
Will you have access to our bank accounts?
The login that can send a payment stays with your company. We talk through exactly who sees what on the call. Nobody needs your personal passwords, and nobody on our side can send a payment without you.
Does payroll run through you?
No. A full-service provider runs payday, and you approve it. We help choose the provider, set it up, connect it to the books and then check what it filed. Payroll checks after payday has the details.
What if a notice has already arrived?
Bring it. We read it with you, say whether it is a bill, a question or a deadline and help you gather the proof that answers it. If it calls for a reply made on your behalf to the IRS, we point you to an enrolled agent or an attorney.
Do you file our 1099s?
Who prepares and files them is written down for your company at the start, whether that's us, your bookkeeper or the provider. Whoever it is, we check the vendor list against the forms before January. Ask for the specifics on the free call.
Do you handle sales tax in other states?
We watch your sales by state against each state's level and tell you when one needs attention. Whether we also file in a given state is something we agree on with you, since it depends on the state and the volume.
How long should we keep records?
Three years in the usual case, longer in some situations, and at least four for payroll tax records. The records page lists the exceptions.
Is this the same as an internal review of our controls?
No. We set up and watch a few simple controls sized for a small team. A formal examination of controls or statements is work for a licensed outside firm, and the line page explains the difference.
Can you work in our software?
QuickBooks Online is the ledger we confirm and work in. Around that file we build custom dashboards and reports with AI, shaped to the numbers you actually check each month. If the books live in another ledger, we say on the call whether those reports can still be fed from it.
What happens on the free call about our dates?
It's a call with the practice, on video or in the room with you. We list your recurring dates and every way money leaves the company, and we point out what nobody owns yet. Nothing to sign, nothing to pay. Steven can also sit in on a banker or lender call when that is the useful next step.
When do we hear the fee?
Before any work begins, and in writing. If something would move it later, you hear about that first.