Case Study: How buying financial capabilities beat searching for a controller at a $100M enterprise

OVERVIEW

When a middle-market trade contractor with more than $100 million in annual revenue lost a senior finance leader, the executive team initially considered hiring a replacement controller.

A trusted financial advisor introduced kept.pro to provide interim support while the company evaluated its longer-term needs. The immediate priority was maintaining accounting continuity: bank reconciliations, sweep entries, job-costing support, month-end reporting, and management of an upcoming independent financial statement review.

As the work progressed, the company determined that the vacancy involved more than a single controller-level role. It needed a combination of day-to-day accounting capacity, technical accounting support, financial-review coordination, and senior financial leadership. kept.pro provided those functions through a fractional finance team.

The Problem

The company had developed a strong operating business, but its finance function relied heavily on a small number of internal employees. Scaling past $100M brought an operational challenge to the surface: accumulated management debt. In the company's early years, relying on one person made sense. As revenue surged, financial controls fell behind.

The departure of that senior finance lead left the executive team managing years of deferred maintenance. The books contained non-GAAP entries, inconsistent project accounting, and inaccurate schedules. Facing an upcoming review by an independent accounting firm, the business had to resolve these historical records before external auditors reviewed the files.

Limited internal coverage

The company’s remaining accounting staff handled core transactional functions such as accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll. They did not have dedicated coverage for all of the following responsibilities:

• Managing the month-end close and financial-reporting process
• Reviewing WIP and job-costing data used for percentage-of-completion reporting
• Preparing technical accounting schedules and documentation
• Supporting banking, bonding, and executive reporting needs

A controller search may have addressed part of the need, but a single hire would still have required time to recruit, onboard, learn the business, and assume a broad range of responsibilities. To further complicate things, senior leadership lacked the expertise needed to ensure they hired someone with the required knowledge.

Financial statement review readiness

Shortly after the vacancy, the company began preparing for an independent financial statement review by a national public accounting firm.

The review identified areas that required additional accounting support, including:

• Preparation and management of the CPA firm’s PBC requests
• WIP and percentage-of-completion revenue-recognition documentation under ASC 606
• Lease schedules and accounting support under ASC 842
• Balance-sheet reconciliations and historical supporting schedules

The company needed to address these items while continuing to process payroll, manage vendor payments, invoice customers, and support active construction projects.

The Solution

Rather than immediately recruiting for one permanent position, the client retained kept.pro first for basic technical support and reporting, then to guide them through the financial statement review, and finally providing full-stack financial support.

Operational continuity

kept.pro assumed key accounting and financial-reporting responsibilities during the transition. The team stabilized bank reconciliations, sweep entries, and job-costing reviews while supporting the client’s existing accounting staff.

kept.pro also organized the external CPA firm’s PBC list, maintained a request tracker, assembled supporting documentation, and coordinated responses. This allowed the internal AR, AP, and payroll team to remain focused on daily operating needs.

Technical accounting and review support

Before the company submitted information to the external accounting firm, kept.pro reviewed and rebuilt supporting schedules for relevant financial-statement accounts. The team also supported WIP reporting, lease accounting, revenue-recognition documentation, and identified journal entries.

During fieldwork, kept.pro worked with management and the external accountants to respond to questions, explain documentation, and provide support for technical accounting matters.

Fractional finance team

kept.pro assigned resources at several levels based on the company’s current requirements.

• Sr. Controller - Provide oversight, advise on the development of accounting and related policies, serve as accounting subject matter authority
• Controller - Manage team execution of month-end close process, review monthly financial statements, present monthly KPIs and WIP report to management
• Sr Technical Accountant - Prepare monthly financial statements and WIP reporting
• Project Manager - Track PBC for financial statements review and track strategic initiatives for client operating executives
• Accountant - Complete month end close activities including reconciling accounts, update schedules, etc.

This structure allowed the company to use specialized support where needed without expecting one new employee to manage every function immediately.

The Results

The company completed its financial statement review and received an unqualified report from the national public accounting firm.

• The company maintained accounting coverage during the leadership transition without waiting for a controller search and onboarding process to conclude.
• The client had access to controller-level, technical-accounting, project-management, and staff-accounting support as needs changed.
• kept.pro provided continuity across the team, reducing reliance on one individual for critical financial processes.

The company was able to increase support during the financial statement review and adjust the level of support after the review was complete.

Talent and Cost Model

A finance-function transition does not always require choosing between a lengthy search and operating without support. kept.pro can provide interim and ongoing accounting leadership, technical accounting resources, and operational capacity while a company builds the finance structure that fits its next stage of growth.