FRACTIONAL CONTROLLER • FINANCIAL OPERATIONS PARTNER
Compass Accounting provides fractional financial leadership for growing businesses and experienced backend accounting capacity for CPA firms, entertainment business managers, family offices, and CAS teams. Whether you need better visibility inside your own business or a trusted resource behind your client work, support is tailored to the way your team operates.
CHOOSE YOUR PATH
Work directly with Compass as your fractional controller, or bring me in behind the scenes as an extension of your professional-services team.
FOR GROWING BUSINESSES
For established owner-led businesses that have outgrown basic bookkeeping and need stronger reporting, cash-flow visibility, budgeting, and financial operations.
FOR FIRMS & FAMILY OFFICES
For CPA/CAS teams, entertainment business management firms, family offices, and private offices that need a dependable senior accounting resource.
SERVICES
Reconciliations, month-end close, financial statement review, workpaper preparation, management reporting, and issue resolution—performed within your firm’s established process and standards.
Entity and personal accounting, cash-flow tracking, owner activity, investment and property-related schedules, bill-pay oversight, and reporting across complex private-client structures.
Backend accounting for entertainment and business-management teams, including AP/AR, cash management, entity accounting, reconciliations, reporting, documentation, and client-specific workflows.
Recurring or overflow capacity for Client Accounting Services teams, including close support, controller review, cleanup, workpapers, tax-ready books, and special projects.
Entity-level reporting, intercompany activity, due-to/due-from reconciliations, owner transactions, real estate accounting, and schedules that keep complex structures organized.
Historical cleanup, staff transitions, system conversions, backlog support, process documentation, and focused engagements that require experienced accounting judgment.
FOR GROWING BUSINESSES
You do not need a full-time controller to have a disciplined finance function. Compass works directly with established businesses that need more than bookkeeping: a reliable monthly close, useful financial reporting, cash-flow planning, better processes, and an experienced accounting partner who can help connect the details.
This is a strong fit for owner-led companies with meaningful revenue, employees or contractors, multiple accounts or entities, growing operational complexity, or a CPA who needs cleaner and more consistent financial information.
COMMON REASONS TO BRING IN A FRACTIONAL CONTROLLER
WHO I SUPPORT
Compass works directly with established businesses and as an extension of professional-services teams. The common thread is the need for experienced accounting judgment, reliable financial information, and a finance function that can keep pace with complexity.
WHERE I CAN STEP IN
FOR FIRMS
Compass can work behind the scenes as an extension of your accounting, business management, or client service team. The goal is simple: give you experienced capacity when and where you need it, without asking you to build another permanent layer into the firm.
Support can be structured as recurring fractional capacity, overflow coverage, transition support, or a defined project. I can work within your existing systems, workflows, reporting formats, and communication structure—including white-label arrangements where appropriate. Engagements can be client-facing or fully behind the scenes, depending on your firm’s preference.
A FLEXIBLE RESOURCE FOR
ABOUT
Caroline Gallagher, M.Acc., is the founder of Compass Accounting and a fractional controller with more than a decade of experience across public accounting, entertainment business management, and complex privately held operations.
That background allows Compass to serve both sides of the market: working directly with business owners who need a stronger finance function and integrating into established firms that need experienced backend capacity. In either model, the focus is the same—accurate accounting, useful reporting, disciplined processes, and dependable execution.
View Caroline on LinkedInAPPROACH
Learn the business or firm, existing systems, reporting needs, communication preferences, and where stronger support is needed.
Own the agreed-upon accounting, close, reporting, cleanup, or special-project work with minimal hand-holding.
Work effectively with partners, managers, bookkeepers, tax teams, advisors, vendors, and client personnel as needed.
Build clearer reporting, more dependable processes, and a finance function that supports better decisions and stronger client service.
START A CONVERSATION
Tell me about your business, firm, family office, or current accounting need. Engagements can be structured as ongoing fractional controller support, recurring backend capacity, transition coverage, or a defined project.
