Controller Job Openings in Colorado

At Ascent CFO Solutions, we often hire experienced controllers for fractional roles supporting high-growth startups, scale-ups, and PE/VC-backed companies. If you are a senior accountant or controller with 12+ years of experience and you are ready to trade single-employer life for a portfolio of meaningful client engagements, this is the role to look at.

The work is varied, the clients are interesting, and the team is built around fractional finance professionals who chose this model on purpose.

The Clients You Work With As a Fractional Controller

Ascent’s client base is intentionally diverse. In any given quarter, your portfolio might include:

• A SaaS company preparing for a Series B raise.
• A construction firm building out its first real reporting cadence.
• A healthcare or biotech company managing rapid hiring and equity complexity.
• A professional services firm transitioning from project to recurring revenue.
• A manufacturing or CPG business preparing for an exit.
• A VC- or PE-backed company being readied for its next reporting milestone.

Industries Ascent works in regularly include SaaS and technology, professional services, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, eCommerce, CPG, FinTech, real estate, and aerospace. The variety is the point. A fractional controller at Ascent sees more company stages, more business models, and more financial situations in 18 months than a W2 controller at a single company sees in five years.

How the Fractional Model Works

Most senior controllers come into the conversation with one practical question: how does this actually work day to day? The answer is more structured than people expect.

You work with a small portfolio of clients. The exact number depends on the size and complexity of each engagement. Most fractional controllers at Ascent serve between three and six clients at a time. Each engagement has a defined scope, a regular cadence (usually weekly or bi-weekly meetings), and a clear set of deliverables. You are not chasing a different fire every day. You are running a stable book of business.

The work is remote, with periodic in-person time for clients in the Denver/Boulder area and occasional team gatherings. You set your weekly schedule around client meeting cadences. You are accountable for your portfolio, not for showing up at a desk.

Compensation starts at $75+/hour and scales with experience and the complexity of the engagements you support. Hours per week vary by portfolio size. A controller managing four to five active client engagements typically works between 30 and 40 hours per week.

Who Thrives in This Role

Fractional work is a different shape of career. Some senior controllers are wired for it. Some are not. The ones who thrive at Ascent tend to look like this:

• 12+ years of finance and accounting experience, with at least 5 in a leadership role.
• CPA, or a strong GAAP background with the credential in progress.
• Track record of leading close, audit, and board-grade reporting in more than one industry.
• Comfortable in QBO and at least one ERP (NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or similar).
• Strong with Excel modeling. Comfortable in cloud finance tools (Gusto, Bill, Ramp, Expensify, and the newer category of finance SaaS).
• Confident communicating with founders, CEOs, and boards in plain language. The work is technical. The client relationship requires translation.
• Self-directed, organized across multiple workstreams, and able to switch context cleanly between clients without dropping detail.

This role is not the right fit for someone who wants a single employer, a single set of books, and a quiet end-of-month close. It is a fit for someone who wants variety, autonomy, and the chance to work alongside a tight bench of senior CFOs and controllers on companies that are actively moving.

Compensation, Location, and Schedule

• Pay: $75+/hour, scaling with experience and engagement complexity.
• Hours: Part-time to full-time depending on portfolio. Most active fractional controllers work 30 to 40 hours per week across their client book.
• Location: Boulder/Denver, Colorado preferred. Strong remote candidates considered. Occasional in-person client meetings and team events expected.
• Engagement type: Long-term role on the Ascent team supporting ongoing client engagements rather than one-off projects.

What Does a Controller Do?

A Controller serves as the senior accounting leader for a portfolio of client companies. You are the person closing the books, owning the financial reporting, managing the audit, overseeing payroll, and producing the dashboard and KPI packages the client’s CEO and board rely on.

Specific responsibilities include:

• General ledger oversight, journal entries, and monthly close.
• Financial reporting packages, dashboards, and KPI reporting.
• Payroll process oversight (weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly depending on the client).
• Year-end audit management.
• Balance sheet account reconciliation.
• Bank reconciliations, cash management, and intercompany accounts.
• Consolidating financial statements with eliminating entries.
• Debt compliance and bank reporting.
• Researching and implementing new accounting pronouncements.
• 1099 and sales tax filings.

You typically work alongside a fractional CFO assigned to the same client. The CFO owns the strategic and forward-looking work. You own the accuracy, the close, and the clean financial output the CFO and the client rely on.

1. Is Fractional Controller W2 or 1099?

Both structures exist within the Ascent team depending on the engagement and the candidate. The specific structure for a given role is discussed during the interview process. 

Fractional Controllers at Ascent work under a W2, while Interim or Temporary Controller engagements often work under a 1099 contract.

2. How many clients will I work with at once?

Most fractional controllers at Ascent carry between three and six client engagements simultaneously. Newer team members typically start with two or three and expand as they learn Ascent’s operating cadence.

3. Do I need a CPA?

CPA is preferred but not required. A strong technical accounting foundation, deep GAAP knowledge, and a track record of leading close and audit processes can substitute at the right level of experience.

4. Is the role fully remote?

Boulder and Denver candidates are preferred because some clients value periodic in-person meetings. Fully remote candidates with strong fractional or multi-client experience are considered. Occasional in-person team gatherings are part of the role.

5. What does the work look like in the first 90 days?

The first 30 days are onboarding into Ascent’s operating systems and getting introduced to your initial client portfolio. Days 30 to 60 are about taking ownership of those engagements and running the first full cycle of close and reporting under your name. Days 60 to 90 are when the cadence becomes steady and your portfolio starts to shape into the client mix you will run going forward.

6. What kinds of companies are Ascent’s clients?

Ascent works with high-growth startups, scale-ups, and private companies, including VC- and PE-backed businesses across SaaS, technology, professional services, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, eCommerce, CPG, FinTech, real estate, and aerospace.

7. Where is Ascent located?

Ascent has offices in Boulder and Denver, Colorado, and serves clients across the country. The team is distributed, with a core of Colorado-based fractional CFOs and controllers.

Apply for a Fractional Controller Role at Ascent

If the role and the model fit, the next step is the application. The hiring team reviews qualified resumes weekly and responds to candidates who match the experience profile.

Apply for the Fractional Controller role

Questions about the role or the team? Send a note through the careers contact form or message the Ascent team on LinkedIn. We are happy to talk to senior controllers thinking about a portfolio career.