Outsourced ControllerWhat an outsourced controller keeps, and the reports a licensed firm signs
You're looking for what an outsourced controller keeps, and for a plain answer on what falls outside it. Tax CFO Steven Palmieri holds no CPA license, so the practice does not audit statements or controls, does not review or compile statements, and issues no report on them. Everything else on this site sits on the other side of that line.
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What we keep
Our side of the work is practical. We set up who approves what. We keep the filing calendar and a file of vendor forms. We confirm that filings and deposits went in. Each month we close the books and build statements from them, and the return comes out of that same file. We set payroll up with a provider that you run and we read what it files afterward.
Any statement we prepare comes with a brief note that no outside report accompanies it, so nobody mistakes it for something it isn't.
What a licensed firm does
Examining your statements or your controls, signing an outside report, or giving an opinion on your numbers is work for a licensed firm. We are the Tax CFO alternative to a CPA firm, so we keep the records and prepare the statements, and the licensed firm does the examining.
Payroll processing isn't ours either. A full-service provider handles payday, and we do the checking once it has.
When a lender, buyer or investor asks for an audit or a review
Some deals come with a requirement for audited or reviewed statements. A bank covenant might ask for it. A buyer might insist on it. A contract might specify it. When that happens, the work goes to a licensed firm.
What we can do is make that firm's job easier. Organized records, tied-out schedules and closed months are the raw material an outside firm starts from. If the request comes our way, we'll tell you plainly what it is, and there's no charge for telling you.
If the IRS writes to you
Notices arrive for small reasons as well as large ones. We can help you read yours, gather the proof and organize the response. A reply sent on your behalf is work for an enrolled agent or an attorney. We'll help you find the right one and keep your records ready for them.
Telling which kind of request you have
Ask the other party what they want in their own words. Terms like prepared, internal or management statements describe work we do. Terms like audited, reviewed or compiled describe work for a licensed firm. If it's unclear, bring the request to the free call and we'll read it with you.
Many small companies never get asked for a signed report at all. Their owners need to know the dates are met and the records are in order. Bring the letter and we will say whether it asks for records we keep or for a report we do not sign. The records page shows what a good file contains, and the questions page answers more.