Controller Services in Dallas: An Outsourced Controller for Growing Businesses

What an outsourced controller does that a bookkeeper doesn’t

A bookkeeper’s job is recording: entering transactions, categorizing them and keeping accounts current. A controller’s job is making sure what was recorded is complete, correct and useful, and that the process holds up month after month. For a growing company, that means someone senior owns the numbers instead of everyone assuming someone else checked them.

• Owning the month-end close. A set close calendar, a checklist, and a firm date when the books are final each month.
• Reviewing the bookkeeper’s work. Miscodings, duplicates and missing entries get caught before reports go out, not at tax time.
• Reconciliations and accruals. Bank, credit card, loan and clearing accounts reconciled; revenue and expenses recorded in the month they belong to.
• Financial statements an owner can rely on. A Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows that tie out and make sense together.
• Budget-to-actual and KPI reporting. Where you are against plan, and the handful of numbers that tell you whether the business is healthy.
• AP/AR oversight. Bills paid on time and on approval, receivables followed up, and aging reports that match the ledger.
• Cash planning. Visibility into what is coming in and going out, so payroll and large payments are never a surprise.
• Internal controls. Approval rules, separation of duties, and access limits so no one person can both pay a bill and record it unreviewed.
• Audit, lender and CPA readiness. Clean schedules and supporting documents when your CPA, bank or an auditor asks.
• Multi-entity and intercompany. Separate books per entity, intercompany transactions that balance on both sides, and combined reporting.

Bookkeeper vs. controller vs. fractional CFO

These three roles are often blurred. The simplest way to separate them: the bookkeeper records the past, the controller makes sure the past is right and reported well, and the CFO uses those numbers to plan the future. For a longer breakdown, read our guide on choosing between a bookkeeper, controller and fractional CFO.

Who handles what on LUCI’s team

Controller services at LUCI are delivered by a team, not one person wearing every hat. That structure is what gives you separation of duties: the person who records an entry is not the person who signs off on it.

Controller services in Dallas: which LUCI plan includes them

LUCI doesn’t sell a separate “controller” package. Controller-level work sits inside the Growth and Scale tiers, priced as a fixed monthly fee after a discovery call.

If what you really need is pricing, margin and growth strategy, see our fractional CFO services in Dallas.

Industries where controller oversight matters most

Some businesses reach controller-level complexity early, usually because of regulation, multiple entities or project accounting.

• Law firms. Operating and trust accounts kept strictly separate, with trust reconciliations reviewed every month. See bookkeeping and trust accounting for law firms.
• Medical and dental practices. Including group practices with several locations or entities, where provider compensation and management fees need clean books. See accounting for medical and dental practices.
• Multi-entity businesses. Holding companies, real estate entities and operating companies that need intercompany entries to balance. See multi-entity accounting.
• Contractors. Job costing, retainage and progress billing that a basic bookkeeping setup tends to blur.
• Professional services firms. Agencies and consultancies where utilization, margins by client and receivables drive cash.

How an engagement starts

1. Discovery call. We learn how your business runs, what reporting you need, and where the current process breaks down.
2. Fixed-fee proposal. A clear monthly fee based on transaction volume, accounts, payroll and reporting needs, plus a one-time onboarding fee.
3. Onboarding, typically 2–4 weeks. Access to QuickBooks and your systems, a review of the books for accuracy, and reporting configured. If the books are behind, bookkeeping cleanup and catch-up is scoped separately first.
4. Monthly close and review. The close runs on a set calendar, senior staff review the results, and you receive reports and recommendations.

The initial commitment is three months, then month-to-month.