Short answer: A fractional controller's first 90 days run in three phases. Days 1 to 30, diagnosis: obtain access to QuickBooks or NetSuite, the banks, payroll and sales tax systems; review the chart of accounts, bank and credit card reconciliations, intercompany balances, fixed assets and inventory, and the compliance calendar; deliver a "current state and priorities" report. Days 31 to 60, repair: build the monthly close checklist and cutoff rules, clear historical unreconciled items, complete accruals and prepaid amortization, align intercompany agreements with the books, and produce the first headquarters report. Days 61 to 90, operation: close within 10 business days, deliver the monthly package with variance notes and KPIs, document every process for handover, and set the improvement list for the next quarter.
Why 90 days rather than "let's see how it goes"
A fractional controller's value is not the hours worked per week; it is whether, three months in, the company has an accounting and reporting rhythm that someone else could take over. Without an explicit 90-day target, the engagement drifts into senior bookkeeping billed by the hour: a little fixed each month, never finished.
Ninety days is also the natural period for headquarters in China to judge whether the spend is worth it. Three on-time reports with numbers that can be explained and no missed compliance deadlines build trust; if the first quarter does not deliver that, the arrangement should change. B&G US Tax's fractional controller service is a fixed monthly fee, and the 90-day roadmap is written into the scope at signing.
Days 1 to 30: diagnosis
The rule for this month is see first, then act. Before changing any entry, you need to know which numbers are right and which are guesses.
| Action | What is reviewed | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Accounting system, read-only bank and credit card access, payroll platform, sales tax system, company file share | Access list, with gaps closed by business day 5 |
| Chart of accounts | Whether accounts map to the business (channels, product lines, related parties separated) and whether "other" accounts have become dumping grounds | Chart of accounts recommendations, without altering history |
| Bank and credit card reconciliations | Whether every month of the last 12 was reconciled; count and value of unreconciled items | Unreconciled items list, sorted by amount |
| Intercompany | Whether balances with the parent and sister companies agree to their books and are supported by agreements | Intercompany difference schedule |
| Revenue and cost | Whether platform settlements (Amazon, Shopify) are booked gross and whether COGS matches inventory movements | Revenue recognition memo |
| Fixed assets and inventory | Whether a register exists, depreciation follows policy, and a count has been done | Register gap list |
| Payroll and sales tax | Whether Form 941 agrees to payroll reports; whether sales tax registrations match where sales actually occur | Compliance gap list |
| Compliance calendar | Federal, state, 1042, 5472 and annual report deadlines with owners | Draft 12-month compliance calendar |
The day-30 review has one agenda item: the "current state and priorities" report. Which issues undermine the credibility of the reports (fix first), which affect tax compliance (fix by a deadline), and which are merely untidy (later). The company confirms the scope for days 31 to 60 at that meeting.
Days 31 to 60: repair the foundations
The day-60 review looks at two things: how many days last month's close took, and whether headquarters could read the first report. Where they could not, the answer is to change the presentation, not add pages.
- Monthly close checklist: break the close into tasks by day: business days 1 to 3 collect bank, platform and payroll data, days 4 to 6 reconcile and accrue, days 7 to 8 review, days 9 to 10 issue reports, each with an owner. Template in how a China–U.S. team closes the books in 10 days.
- Cutoff rules: revenue recognized on shipment or delivery; platform settlements split into sales, refunds, fees and advertising; vendor invoices accrued by service period, not payment date.
- Clear the backlog: work the unreconciled items from largest to smallest, batch the small ones with a documented rationale; agree intercompany balances line by line and memo the differences.
- Accruals and amortization: prepaid insurance, software and rent amortized monthly; bonuses, audit fees and annual taxes accrued monthly; fixed assets depreciated per policy with a register.
- Intercompany alignment: service fees, purchase prices and loan interest booked per the agreements, so Forms 5472, 1042-S and the transfer pricing file all show the same numbers.
- First headquarters report: P&L, balance sheet, cash, intercompany and compliance status, bilingual; format in what the monthly report to headquarters should contain.
Days 61 to 90: run it and write it down
The third month is about a stable rhythm and lower dependency. The close finishes within 10 business days; the report goes out on a fixed date with a one-line explanation for every account whose variance exceeds the threshold; three to five KPIs are defined once and kept (gross margin, inventory turns, cash versus the 13-week forecast, receivables aging, for example).
At the same time every process is written into handover documentation: what happens each month, where the data comes from, who approves, how exceptions are handled. The goal is that the company is not tied to any one person, including the fractional controller.
The day-90 review produces the improvement list for the next quarter: usually budget and forecast, cash flow forecasting, controls over payments and vendor master changes, and system optimization. Depending on the company's stage, it may be time to add a fractional CFO; see does the U.S. company need a controller, a CFO or a tax lead.
What the company has to provide
| The company provides | When | Without it |
|---|---|---|
| Admin access to the accounting system; read-only bank and credit card access | Week 1 | Diagnosis relies on exported reports and never sees the source data |
| A named contact (usually headquarters finance or the U.S. lead) | Week 1 | Questions go unanswered and the close stalls waiting |
| Intercompany agreements, leases, loans, major customer and vendor contracts | Week 2 | Accruals and intercompany balances are guesswork |
| Prior-year returns and every tax notice received this year | Week 2 | Blind spots in the compliance calendar |
| A 45-minute review on day 30 and day 60 | On schedule | Priorities never confirmed; rework |
Six questions to ask before signing
- Are the 90-day deliverables written into the scope?
- Who does the bookkeeping and who reviews it? Does the fractional controller personally review the close?
- Can the monthly report be bilingual, and can headquarters finance ask questions directly?
- Is tax compliance (1120, 5472, 1042, sales tax) handled by the same team, or does that need another provider?
- Is the fee a fixed monthly amount or hourly, and what is included and excluded?
- If the role changes hands or moves in-house after 90 days, who owns the handover documentation?
