That is the point of the fractional model: a fraction of a senior leader's time plus a team that executes to a fixed process, so the subsidiary gets a complete finance and tax function without paying an executive salary for a role that has not yet reached full-time scale. B&G offers three fractional roles, matching the three seats most often empty in a U.S. subsidiary.
Solutions · Fractional Leadership
Someone in the U.S. who answers to headquarters: fractional CFO, controller and tax director
At a certain stage, a Chinese company's U.S. subsidiary does not need another bookkeeper or another tax preparer. It needs one person who understands U.S. rules and headquarters' requirements, and who is accountable for the finance and tax function. A full-time executive is expensive, hard to hire and hard to keep. B&G fills the seat on a fixed monthly basis: a CPA with in-house experience leads, and our team and systems execute.
13+ yearsaccounting and tax experience
Big Four + in-houseprofessional services and global tax management
15+ entities · 12 countriestax and compliance scope led in-house
Since 2016focused on Chinese companies in the U.S.
Why a leader on the U.S. side
Between headquarters and the U.S. team, the missing piece is one person who knows both rulebooks and owns the outcome
Headquarters' position
- The finance team knows PRC GAAP and group requirements, not U.S. GAAP, state tax, Form 5472 or transfer pricing
- Monthly U.S. reports cannot be read or consolidated; the group auditor's questions go unanswered
- U.S. tax and cash problems surface only after they have become problems
The U.S. team's position
- The general manager is not a finance person; the bookkeeper records; the tax preparer appears once a year
- Sales tax, payroll, income tax and customs each sit with a different vendor and nobody sees the whole
- Nobody can explain to headquarters, in Mandarin, why the U.S. does things this way
The person in between
- Bilingual, fluent in both U.S. rules and headquarters' framework
- Has actually held the seat inside a company and knows how decisions get implemented
- Attends headquarters meetings and owns results, rather than only giving advice
Three roles
Pick the role that matches your most pressing problem
兼职 CFO
Fractional CFO
Where the money comes from, where it goes, and whether it is worth it.
- Annual budget and 13-week cash forecast
- Headquarters and board reporting
- Equity vs. loan funding, U.S. banking and financing
- Financial models for plants, acquisitions and fundraising
- Building the finance team and systems
Fractional Controller
Are the books right, closed on time, and consolidable by headquarters?
- Close calendar and a 10-business-day close
- Bank, AR/AP, inventory and intercompany reconciliations
- U.S. GAAP to headquarters mapping and consolidation package
- Internal controls, approvals and audit PBC
- Review and supervision of the bookkeeping team
Fractional Tax Director
Is tax filed correctly, completely and on time, with a provision headquarters can use?
- Ownership of the full U.S. tax calendar
- Quarterly tax provision (ASC 740 / IAS 12)
- Transfer pricing and intercompany transaction register
- Multistate nexus and withholding on cross-border payments
- IRS and state notices (Enrolled Agent representation)
Side by side
How the three roles divide the work
| Fractional CFO | Fractional Controller | Fractional Tax Director | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core question | How much cash the U.S. business needs, where it comes from, where to invest it and what it returns | Whether the books are accurate, timely and auditable, and whether HQ can consolidate them directly | Whether tax is filed right, in full and on time, and whether HQ receives a usable tax provision |
| Typical triggers | Building a warehouse or plant, hiring a team, negotiating a U.S. credit line, HQ asking for budgets and forecasts, preparing for financing or M&A | Late closes, consolidation rework, inventory and intercompany that do not reconcile, unanswered auditor questions, a first U.S. finance hire who needs supervision | Operating in more states, growing related-party transactions, group auditors asking for a provision, accumulating notices, tariffs colliding with transfer pricing |
| Monthly deliverables | Monthly financial analysis (in Chinese), 13-week cash forecast, HQ meeting | Bilingual management reporting package, consolidation workpapers, reconciliation binder, control-exception list | Tax calendar status report, monthly tax memo; quarterly provision package |
| Interface with headquarters | Group CFO / board: budget, forecast, investment decisions | Group finance / consolidation team: account mapping, templates, year-end PBC | Group tax / group auditors: provision, related-party transactions, group tax policy |
| Relationship to B&G bookkeeping and tax services | Sits above the controller and bookkeeping; owns planning and funding | Directly manages the execution of bookkeeping, reconciliations and reporting | Directly manages the execution of filings, estimates and tax records |
| Most common combination | Added when the subsidiary enters an investment or financing phase | The usual starting point: controller + tax director | Paired with the controller to cover both "books" and "tax" |
Each role can be engaged alone or in combination. Most U.S. subsidiaries of Chinese companies start with a fractional controller plus a fractional tax director to get the books and the tax under control, then add a fractional CFO when a plant, a financing or an acquisition comes into view.
How it is delivered
One leader, one execution team, one set of numbers
All three roles are led by the same person: Jenny Gao, CPA, EA — a Florida-licensed CPA and IRS Enrolled Agent who spent part of her career in Big Four professional services and part inside a multinational, responsible for tax and compliance across more than 15 entities in 12 countries, including tax provision, audit and transfer pricing. Since 2016 she has focused on Chinese companies entering and operating in the United States. She attends headquarters meetings, reviews every report and filing before it goes out, and answers every "why" that comes from China.
Day-to-day bookkeeping, reconciliations, filings, reports and registers are completed by B&G's execution team to a fixed SOP and monthly calendar — the same team, the same chart of accounts, the same definitions — and reviewed by the leader before delivery. What headquarters receives is a functioning U.S. finance and tax department, not an adviser's memo plus a stack of vendors to coordinate.
If you already have a bookkeeper or tax preparer you trust, you can engage the leadership layer alone: we review their work, set the process and own the outcome; they keep executing.
Leadership layer
Judgement, review, accountability to HQ
- Attends HQ and management meetings
- Signs off reports, filings and related-party arrangements before release
- Answers headquarters' questions and explains the U.S. in Mandarin
- Manages outside counsel, banks, payroll and other advisers
Execution layer
Delivered to SOP and calendar
- Bookkeeping, reconciliations, close workpapers
- Filings, estimates, registrations and registers
- Reporting package, consolidation workpapers, PBC lists
- Document archive, audit-ready at any time
Your team
Business and decisions
- Provides documents, contracts and business information
- Approves and pays — authority never leaves your hands
- Headquarters decides; we translate decisions into books, tax and cash
Levels of involvement
Choose how deeply you need us involved
Advisory
You have a capable team and need a leader to review and answer questions
- Monthly review and one-page memo
- Quarterly HQ package (finance or tax)
- Questions answered in writing within 48 business hours
- Annual planning session
Most common choice
Accountable
You need someone to actually run this function
- Everything in Advisory
- Owns the calendar, process and execution team for the function
- Bi-weekly working sessions; attends HQ monthly meeting
- We deal with advisers, banks and tax authorities
Embedded
A plant build, financing, acquisition, audit or system migration is under way
- Everything in Accountable
- Intensive project involvement; attends HQ and board meetings
- Project models, data room and diligence responses
- Step back down to Accountable when the project ends
Every tier is a fixed monthly fee with the scope written into the engagement letter; we do not bill by the hour, and we re-confirm the tier when the business changes. When combined with B&G bookkeeping, payroll, sales-tax and annual-return services, the "leader" and the "execution team" are the same firm, so nothing falls between two vendors. Fees are quoted after a free initial conversation.
Industry experience
Sectors we know from the inside
Energy storage and renewables
Project revenue, multistate installation, parent-company technology licences, plant depreciation and state incentives.
Manufacturing and equipment
Inventory and cost, tariffs and landed cost, capital investment, multistate apportionment.
Cross-border e-commerce and consumer brands
Marketplace settlements, 3PL inventory, sales-tax nexus, returns and chargebacks.
Software and technology services
Revenue recognition, R&D costs and §174, SaaS sales tax, cross-border licence fees.
Restaurants and multi-unit concepts
Multi-location and platform revenue, tips and sales tax, franchise-fee arrangements.
Trading and distribution
Importer of record, distributor settlements, exemption certificates and multistate registrations.
Getting started
From the first conversation to a monthly rhythm
01
Initial conversation (free)
Ownership structure, business model, states, team and headquarters' requirements; together we decide which role and which tier fit.
02
30-day diagnostic
A full review of books, tax, funding and processes, producing a gap list, remediation order and proposal. Can be engaged on its own.
03
Proposal and engagement letter
Role, scope, delivery cadence and responsibilities set out clearly; fixed monthly fee written into the engagement letter.
04
Monthly operation
First 90 days build the function; then it runs to the calendar, with scope and tier reviewed each quarter.
FAQ
Common questions about fractional CFO, controller and tax director services
How do we choose between the three roles?
Start with the most painful problem. Consolidation rework, late closes and unanswered auditor questions point to a controller. New states, related-party transactions, a group auditor asking for a tax provision and accumulating notices point to a tax director. A plant, a financing, a bank negotiation or HQ asking for budgets and forecasts point to a CFO. Most U.S. subsidiaries start with controller plus tax director. We give you a direct recommendation in the first conversation.
Can we engage all three? Would we pay three times?
Yes, and one leader coordinates them with a single set of definitions and one calendar. Combined engagements are priced on the overall scope rather than by adding three separate fees; overlapping work, such as the HQ meeting, is counted once.
Who is the leader? Will the work be handed to someone else after signing?
The leader is Jenny Gao, CPA, EA, in person — she attends the meetings, reviews the work and is accountable to headquarters. Day-to-day execution is done by B&G's team to SOP and reviewed by her. We deliberately keep a small structure and do not hand engagements down a chain.
We already have a bookkeeper and a tax preparer. Can we engage only the leadership layer?
Yes. We review their work, build the process and calendar, and own the outcome; they keep executing. If execution quality falls short we tell you plainly and lay out the options; the decision to change is yours.
Can meetings with headquarters be held in Chinese? When are they scheduled?
Yes. Headquarters meetings are conducted in Mandarin with bilingual materials, scheduled around headquarters' working hours. With U.S. banks, tax authorities, attorneys and other advisers we work directly in English, so both sides hear the same facts.
Will you become a corporate officer or a bank signatory?
Normally not. Decision, approval and payment authority stay with your management; we design the process, recommend and review after the fact. Where the IRS is involved, the leader represents the company as an IRS Enrolled Agent within the scope you authorize.
How is this different from a Big Four firm or a local CPA firm?
An hourly adviser answers the questions you ask. We are responsible for finding the issues, driving them to completion and owning the result, for a fixed monthly fee, so you can ask anything at any time. We are bilingual, we sit inside the business and we attend headquarters meetings. Where an audit or review is required, we help you engage the right firm and prepare for it.
How quickly can we start, and what are the contract terms?
A proposal usually follows the initial conversation within one to two weeks; the diagnostic is complete 30 days after signing and the function is built out within 90. The engagement letter runs annually, billed monthly, terminable on 30 days' written notice, with a full handover of books, workpapers and registers, which remain your property.
Connect With Us on WeChat
If your company is entering or already operating in the United States, connect with us on WeChat to discuss your accounting, payroll, sales tax and ongoing compliance needs.
When reaching out, please briefly share:
- Your industry
- Your current stage of U.S. expansion
- The entity type you have formed or plan to form
- The states where you operate or sell
- The type of support you are looking for
Prefer email? Write to us at jenny@bgusatax.com
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