Q&A: Laura Mleko on the Value of Controllership Services

Laura Mleko is a manager in our accounting and controllership department with over 20 years of experience in public accounting and private industry. As part of the firm’s controllership team, she provides outsourced accounting, payroll, and tax services for small to medium size closely held businesses.

She sat down recently to talk about Weiss’s accounting and controllership services, who should consider them, and what value they bring.

First, what are controllership services?
Controllership services are accounting services for businesses who don’t have in-house accounting departments. Businesses can outsource their accounting needs to us, and we act as their controller. This often means helping companies set up new accounting systems, create monthly financial statements, set up critically important internal controls, conduct regulatory reporting, develop budgets, and even train staff.

What sort of businesses need controllership services?
Any firm, regardless of size, for whom it simply doesn’t make sense to hire a full-time accountant or controller. We work with small businesses, family businesses, and multi-million-dollar firms. Often, a business owner has been doing the accounting and is now wearing too many hats, or is just not enjoying the accounting work anymore. We also provide temporary accounting services to businesses if their bookkeeper or accountant is on leave or has resigned, and they need some time to hire the right person.

What about startups? Should they consider controllership services?
Absolutely. Many of our clients are founders of startups who need advice on what kind of accounting systems they should have, what sort of payroll provider they need – questions like that. We can lay down the right financial infrastructure for them from the start.

What does Weiss offer above and beyond traditional controllership services?
One of our biggest assets is our client relationships. Many of our clients have been with us for several years, even decades, and it’s in our interest to do whatever we can to make sure they remain successful. Often that goes beyond accounting services – we also offer our clients strategic advisory services to help them use the information we gather to guide decision-making. And of course, we have the entire Weiss team behind us on every decision – tax experts, audit experts, and financial advisors.

Who is part of the controllership team?
We have an excellent team with experience aligned to the small and mid-sized firms we serve. In addition to myself, team members include CPAs Chris Bozarth, Eve Fugiel, George Bernstein and Ashley Cichlar as well as Matthew Doestch, Robert Webber, Aijan Talantbek Kyzy and Katy Papach.

Personally, I have more than 20 years of experience in controllership services. My financial accounting is really strong, and my private accounting experience and knowledge of controls lends itself to insightful financial statements. I have the ability to take all of your accounting information and tell you what it means.

I hire an accountant at tax time. Do I need controllership services?
Oftentimes, businesses will call us up when they are facing accounting or tax challenges at the end of the year. But if we provide services for them throughout the year, we can proactively manage their accounting, give them tax planning advice, and save them a lot of pain and suffering.

Does a controllership save businesses money?
The answer is yes. We can save you time and money. Business owners already manage so many aspects of their company. We can make sure they aren’t missing any opportunities. It also reduces fraud – we can keep an eye on the books and make sure everything is in order. Why not bring us in as your virtual senior accountant or virtual controller?