Controller Service
Financial oversight for manufacturers of all sizes – from small job shops to large production facilities.
Managing a manufacturing company comes with unique financial challenges – whether you produce consumer goods, electronics, food products, or industrial components. From tracking production costs in detail to forecasting cash flow for raw materials and equipment, manufacturing finances can be complex. As part of our Controller Services suite, Ontrack Bookkeeping provides specialized controller services tailored to manufacturers. We offer the expert guidance you need to maintain healthy margins, optimize production investments, and keep your business growth on track.
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Our Manufacturing Controller Services Include:
Production Cost Tracking & COGS Accuracy
We implement systems to track all your production costs – raw materials, direct labor, and overhead – in real time. Every product’s cost of goods sold (COGS) is recorded correctly, giving you an accurate picture of your true production costs and gross margins for each product line.
Job Costing & Product Profitability
Gain insight into profitability for each job, batch, or product line. Ontrack consolidates your financial data to show the revenue and costs for each production run or custom order, so you know which products or contracts are the most profitable and which may be costing you money.
Work-in-Progress & Inventory Management
We handle the financial side of your supplier relationships, tracking purchase orders, invoices, and payment schedules. Ontrack ensures your vendors are paid accurately and on time – preventing supply disruptions due to payment issues. We also help you manage procurement budgets, so you maintain strong relationWe monitor your raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP), and finished goods inventory to ensure your books match reality. Our team applies proper inventory valuation methods (FIFO, LIFO, average cost) suited to your operations and regularly reconciles recorded stock and WIP against actual counts. You’ll have confidence that your balance sheet correctly reflects the value of materials on hand and products in production.
ships with suppliers and get the best terms.
Vendor Management & Accounts Payable
We handle the financial side of your supplier relationships, tracking purchase orders, invoices, and payment schedules. Ontrack ensures your vendors are paid accurately and on time – preventing supply disruptions due to payment issues. We also help you manage procurement budgets, so you maintain strong relationships with suppliers and get the best terms.
Overhead Allocation & Cost Control
Understand your true product costs by allocating overhead expenses appropriately. Our controllers set up methods to distribute indirect costs (like facility expenses, utilities, and maintenance) to your products or departments. We then analyze your cost reports to identify areas where overhead or labor is higher than expected. By catching variances and inefficiencies, we help you take action to improve production processes and protect your margins.
Cash Flow Forecasting & CapEx Planning
Plan ahead for major expenses – from bulk raw material purchases to new equipment investments. We analyze your production schedules, lead times, and sales trends to forecast cash flow needs related to manufacturing. With proactive budgeting and scenario planning, you’ll know how much to invest in inventory or machinery and when to do it, helping prevent cash crunches and allowing for smart growth decisions.
Why Choose Ontrack for Manufacturing-Focused Financial Oversight
Deep Manufacturing Accounting Expertise
Our controllers are experienced in the nuances of manufacturing finance. We understand cost accounting for complex bills of materials, tracking WIP through various production stages, and the impact of production cycles on your financial statements. This specialized knowledge means we catch issues and opportunities that a generalist bookkeeper might overlook.
Advanced Tools & Integrations
Ontrack leverages cloud accounting tools and integrates with your manufacturing systems. Whether you use QuickBooks, Xero, or an industry-specific ERP/MRP platform, we connect the dots so that your production data flows seamlessly into your financial records. From automated COGS calculations to real-time inventory and WIP tracking, we use technology to keep your finances accurate and up-to-date.
Proactive Financial Guidance
We don’t just produce reports – we help you interpret them and plan ahead. Expect regular financial reviews where we highlight trends like increasing material costs, production bottlenecks affecting your costs, or products with shrinking margins. Our proactive advice helps you adjust pricing, budgeting, or production strategies before small cost issues become big problems.
Scalable & Cost-Effective Partnership
Hiring a full-time controller with manufacturing expertise can be costly. Ontrack offers a fractional controller service that scales with your business. You gain high-level financial insights and dedicated support at a fraction of the cost of an in-house hire. This means you can dedicate more resources to operations and production while we handle the financial oversight.
Clear Communication & Trust
Count on down-to-earth explanations, timely updates, and a team that cares about your success. We translate complex cost accounting data into clear, actionable insights for your management and shop floor teams. With Ontrack as your partner, you’ll always know where your production costs stand, where your money is going, and what steps to take next to stay on track.
Questions?
We’ve Got Answers
How are controller services different from basic bookkeeping for a manufacturing business?
Basic bookkeeping records day-to-day transactions, but our controller services provide higher-level financial oversight and strategy. For a manufacturing business, this means we ensure your product costing is accurate, maintain proper WIP and inventory valuations, and produce detailed cost analysis reports. Essentially, we act as your part-time financial manager — interpreting the numbers and advising you on improving profitability and cash flow, not just recording data.
Can Ontrack integrate with our production management or ERP systems?
Absolutely. We’re well-versed in syncing with manufacturing and inventory management software. Whether you use QuickBooks with a manufacturing module, an ERP system like NetSuite or SAP Business One, or specialized MRP software, Ontrack will integrate these tools into your accounting process. This ensures every material purchase, labor hour, and finished product is captured automatically, giving you consolidated financial reports without manual data entry.
How will these controller services help us improve margins or avoid cost overruns?
One of our main goals is to help optimize your production costs and profitability. By analyzing your costs and margins for each product, we can identify if certain jobs or product lines are running over budget or underperforming. We’ll alert you to issues like rising material costs, excessive scrap or waste, or labor overruns. With this insight, you can make informed decisions – such as adjusting prices, finding alternative suppliers, or improving processes – to protect your margins. Over time, our guidance helps you reduce surprise expenses and increase overall efficiency and profit.
Real Feedback From Real Clients
"Ontrack has completely transformed how we manage our manufacturing finances. Before, we often discovered too late that a production run went over budget or that our pricing didn’t cover all our costs. Now, thanks to their controller services, we have real-time insight into our raw material and labor costs for each job. Last quarter, we improved our gross margin by 15% by addressing inefficiencies that Ontrack identified in our process – a game changer for our business. I finally have peace of mind that an expert eye is watching our numbers and guiding our decisions."
Alex R., Co-Founder of Precision Parts Co.
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Ready to Streamline Finances?
Keeping control over production costs and cash flow is vital for sustainable growth in the manufacturing world. Ready to get started? Contact Ontrack Bookkeeping today for a free consultation and learn how our outsourced controller services can benefit your manufacturing business. Let our experienced team provide the financial oversight you need to keep your operations efficient and your business on track for success.