Frequently Asked Questions

The terms ‘fractional CFO’ or ‘fractional controller’ typically suggest a staffed solution, i.e. a company purchases a fraction of a single person’s time. Ballast’s services are similar to that of a ‘fractional CFO’ or a ‘fractional controller’ but the way in which we resource and deliver our services is unique. We do not provide a person or a fraction of a person, instead we provide a service, via a proven and consistent process, delivered by a team of professionals.

We believe that a staffed solution - a true fractional resource - presents a significant single point of failure for a business. We believe that our process and approach provides a higher quality service with a lower overall risk to our clients.

Although we are experienced in a wide variety of accounting systems, we heavily prefer and lean towards Quickbooks, particularly Quickbooks Online.

The truth is that Quickbooks Online provides a solid core general ledger with advanced integrations with a variety of industry specific systems. We approach financial systems as a hub-and-spoke, with Quickbooks Online as the hub and industry specific systems to manage inventory, point-of-sale, time tracking, etc. as the various spokes that push information to Quickbooks as the general ledger.

Additionally, Quickbooks’ popularity and wide use reduce the risk and cost of an esoteric and customized software solution.

Excel. We do not implement or manage any advanced financial planning and analysis software for our clients. Why? Because candidly SMEs do not need this level of complexity to manage the finance requirements of their business. Many advanced FP&A software tools are expensive to implement and manage. Additionally, the tools shrink the market of people capable of managing/extracting value out of the tool (you don’t want to be stuck with a consultant because they are the only ones who know how to manage your tools!).

We have experience with a wide array of payroll systems and providers, including ADP, Paychex, Paylocity, Gusto, and regional groups like Dominion Payroll. Ballast is able to work with any payroll systems/providers so long as we can export the appropriate financial information.

We charge a fixed monthly fee for our services. We believe this provides for the most alignment with our clients. An hourly pricing model creates misalignment. We do not want our clients shying away from us developing improvements to accounting or finance processes or investigating trends or areas of concern within the business. In a fixed fee model this drive for improvements isn’t tapered or restricted by a client’s budget.

Every client at Ballast works with a minimum of two team members at any point in time. This includes an Engagement Manager (primary deliverer of Ballast process and engagement) and a Relationship Manager (supervisor to Engagement Manager and responsible for strategy and broader client relationship). If the client has a large transaction volume, the Ballast team also includes an Analyst. We rotate Team Members on clients over time to broaden the bench of team members who understand the client’s particular situation, further diminishing single points of failure and reducing risk for the client.

We are industry agnostic and work with a wide variety of businesses, including professional services, B2C consumer products, tech start-ups, life sciences, medical, and old economy services.

The only businesses we typically avoid are heavy manufacturing as they generally require a fully integrated ERP/MRP system (e.g. SAP, Oracle, IFS, etc.).

We work with private operating businesses generating between $3m and $50m in revenue + funded start-ups (anything post friends and family funding).

Our office is located in Richmond, Virginia but we have clients located all over the United States.

Yes – we believe it is important that our clients’ financial statements reflect the revenue and expense-generating activities within the organization, at the time those activities occur (NOT necessarily at the time those activities generate/consume cash). Companies that use cash basis financials can obscure the profitability and financial health of a business by mixing fluctuations in working capital (increases/decreases in accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory, etc.) into the profit and loss statement, which can reduce clarity in decision making.

Ballast generally implements ‘modified accrual’ accounting methods, which recognizes revenues and expenses on an accrual basis when they are material and reasonable to record and cash basis for transactions that are not reasonably recorded on an accrual basis or do not have a material impact to financial performance. Most businesses and local governments/agencies operate modified accrual accounting.

For those clients currently on cash basis, Ballast handles the conversion from cash to accrual, i.e. as part of our implementation we convert the client’s books from cash basis to accrual basis for historical periods as well as all go-forward periods.