Fractional Controller, Operations & Growth Services · Florida · Veteran-owned
MTL Services is a fractional controller, operations and growth firm for Florida companies from $1M to $25M+ in revenue: month-end close and cash forecasting, a fractional COO, sales management on HubSpot, marketing, social media and e-commerce operations. Every engagement has a fixed monthly fee, a fixed number of included hours and a usage statement — so the invoice is never a surprise.
Who this is for
Florida trades and e-commerce brands, $1M–$25M
Trades and e-commerce look different and break the same way. You pay for materials or inventory weeks before the customer pays you. Your margin lives at the job, the truck, the route or the SKU. And the system that runs the work — ServiceTitan, Jobber, Buildertrend, Shopify, Amazon — never quite agrees with QuickBooks.
MTL Services is the controller who reconciles the two, then answers the monthly question: which jobs, routes, channels or SKUs made money, and where did the cash go.
Exports we reconcile to QuickBooks Online and Xero: ServiceTitan · Housecall Pro · Jobber · Buildertrend · Knowify · Tekmetric · Shopify · Amazon Seller Central · A2X · Link My Books · Cin7 · ShipBob · TaxJar · Avalara
In the owner’s words
Trades
I know which jobs felt profitable.
a 30% markup is a 23% margin2
A 30% markup on cost is a 23% gross margin on the selling price (0.30 ÷ 1.30).
E-commerce
The Shopify report and the bank deposit never agree.
one net number every 14 days3
from Amazon (reported)
Gross margin looked fine until landed cost showed up.
about 10 points4
of margin hidden in freight, duties and 3PL receiving (reported)
We are growing and there is less cash every quarter.
35% → 22%5
median DTC contribution margin, 2021 to 2025 (reported)
Roles
Most owners at this size have the first and need the second. Here is the difference.
| Bookkeeper | Controller | CFO | Outside accountantTax returns and signed statements. We are not a CPA firm. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What they do each month | Enters bills, invoices and payroll, and reconciles the bank. | Owns the close: reviews the reconciliations, accruals and job or SKU costing, then produces the financial package. | Plans: forecasts, capital, pricing strategy, lender and investor relationships. | Little until year-end, then the tax returns and any statement a lender or surety needs signed by a licensed firm. |
| What they hand you | Books that are up to date. | A closed month on a fixed date, with KPIs and the cash position. | A plan, a forecast and the financing to fund it. | Tax returns, and the signed statements a bank or surety asks for. |
| Who you call when | A bill is missing or a payment looks wrong. | The numbers look off, a lender wants statements, or margins slip. | You are raising money, buying a business or planning a large bet. | A tax question, or a bank or surety needs statements with an opinion. |
| Typical Florida cost, loaded | $70,591Source 2Source 1Source 10Source 11Source 21 | $162,637Source 3Source 9Source 20Source 54 | $266,822Source 20Source 3 | Engaged by the return or the review, not salaried. |
| MTL Services | Controller scope, with CFO-style reporting from Band B up. Not a CPA firm, so no audit, review or tax work: we make your outside accountant’s work faster and cheaper. |
MTL Services
Controller scope, with CFO-style reporting from Band B up. Not a CPA firm, so no audit, review or tax work: we make your outside accountant’s work faster and cheaper.
Tax returns and signed statements. We are not a CPA firm.
MTL Services is not a CPA firm. What we do not do
How it works
Free · 30 minutes
We ask about revenue, entities, who does the books today, what your lender or surety asks for, and what is late. Then we tell you whether the Diagnostic is needed or you can start with Controller Essentials directly.
$2,500 · 10 business days, when needed
Books current and one entity: you start on Controller Essentials and month one includes an onboarding review. Anything uncertain — behind on reconciliations, more than one entity, a lender covenant, revenue above $6M, or a cleanup smell: the Financial Health Diagnostic, $2,500, 10 business days. Credited to month one of any band signed within 30 days.
Day 15 · Day 10
Your package lands on day 15 for Controller Essentials and day 10 for Controller + Cash. The usage statement comes with it.
Notice at 80%
At 80% of included hours we tell you in writing what is consuming the time, and offer to defer it, add an add-on, or bill the overage.
Packages
One package per revenue band, a fixed fee and a fixed number of hours. See packages and pricing
Intro
Band A · $1M - $3M
$2,000/mo
8 included hours
Month-end close oversight, reconciliations reviewed, a six-KPI package on day 15 and a 30-minute call.
Instead of hiring: Controller-level oversight without a controller's payroll.
Most chosen upgrade
Band B · $3M - $6M
$3,500/mo
15 included hours
Monthly balance-sheet reconciliations, a 13-week cash forecast, AP/AR cadence and a quarterly lender pack on day 10.
Instead of hiring: The close, the cash forecast and the lender pack, without a first controller hire.
Bands C · D · E · $6M+
from $5,500/mo to quoted
24–50 included hours
A package on day 10 with twelve KPIs including your industry, a quarterly reforecast and a 60-minute review call.
Instead of hiring: This is the size at which a controller usually gets hired.
Add what applies
Included hours
Usage statement · April 2026
Harbor & Pine Builders · Band B with WIP schedule
15.5of 19.0 included hours
80% notice sent| Close and reporting | 6.25 h |
|---|---|
| Reconciliation | 4.50 h |
| AP / AR | 2.00 h |
| Meetings and calls | 1.50 h |
| Ad-hoc questions | 1.25 h |
Written notice at 80%
Close and reporting is taking most of the time this month. Choose to defer the budget review to May, add an add-on, or have the overage billed at $225/hr.
Operations and growth
A fractional COO, a sales manager, a marketing manager, a social media team and an e-commerce operator, each with included hours and written notice before anything extra is billed. All five lines and the bundles
Fractional COO and business operations
Someone who runs the operating rhythm, a few days a month.
From $1,750 a month · 8 hours included
Fractional sales management and revenue operations
A pipeline you can read, and someone who works it with you.
From $1,250 a month · 6 hours included
Fractional marketing management
A marketing plan with a budget, a calendar and a number to hit.
From $1,500 a month · 8 hours included
Social media management
Posted on schedule, answered the same day, reported monthly.
From $695 a month · 6 hours included
E-commerce, Etsy and marketplace operations
Listings, orders, inventory and the payout, run like a business.
From $595 a month · 5 hours included
Need more than one line? The bundles pool the hours: Launch partner, Seller ops partner, Fractional ops partner, from $3,450 a month.
Cost to hire
Florida 2026 figures, loaded for payroll tax, health, retirement match, software and recruiting. Move the slider; we only compare against the role your package actually covers.
Band A · Controller Essentials · $1M - $3M
Controller-level oversight without a controller's payroll.
MTL Services
Hiring: Part-time controller (20 hrs/week)
Difference
Per hour, we cost more: $250/hr against $80/hr. Per year, less: you buy 96 hours, not 1,040.
Businesses at this size rarely hire a full-time controller, so we do not compare against one. Other outsourced controllers at the oversight tier charge about the same; the difference is the enforced hours cap.
Cost-to-hire estimates use Florida 2025–26 market pay (BLS OEWS May 2025, Robert Half 2026, Indeed), Florida 2026 payroll taxes, KFF 2025 employer health costs, and SHRM 2025 hiring-cost benchmarks; they exclude the owner's management time, vacancy and turnover. Fractional work costs more per hour than an employee's hour; the saving comes from buying only the hours you need. Full assumptions on request.Source 2Source 3Source 15Source 9Source 27Source 28Source 29Source 31
Industries
01 · Trades
ServiceTitan · Housecall Pro · Jobber · Buildertrend · Knowify · Tekmetric
02 · E-commerce
Shopify · Amazon Seller Central · A2X · Link My Books · Cin7 · ShipBob · TaxJar · Avalara
Florida
Florida rules that change what the books have to track, each with its source.
Credentials and best practice
QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor — Level 2 (2026)Intuit
QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor — Level 1 (2026)Intuit
QuickBooks Payroll (Workforce) CertificationIntuit
Admin CertifiedMonday.comCertifications our partners are completing for the operations, sales, marketing and e-commerce lines. Listed here so you know what is coming, not as credentials held.
Veteran-owned. Mission first.
MTL Services is a veteran-owned Florida firm, with partners who served in the U.S. Air Force. We bring the same standard of preparation and follow-through to your business.
We truly appreciated working with MTL, not only did they help get our financials in order, but they also taught us how to be smarter and more confident in managing them. Additionally, they helped brainstorm meaningful business development ideas to increase our net income for the coming year. Highly recommend!
Andrew has become a go-to resource for large scale projects like this one, and constantly exceeds expectations. The quality and speed of the data delivery is always appreciated, as well as his proactive communication and kindness.
Andrew does excellent work; he follows the project instructions and understands each instruction's purpose, eliminating revisions. I plan to work with Andrew long-term.
Amazing experience. Great quality. Will be working with again.
Reviews of work delivered by Drew Thomsen, including through our Fiverr practice, which is now part of MTL Services.
Three partners. 30 years between them.
Veteran-owned. Florida. Not a CPA firm.
You get a one-page note on what we heard and what we would propose.