I would structure this as a fixed monthly retainer with a separate one-time implementation scope, not an open-ended hourly arrangement. The ongoing retainer should cover the close, cash, and KPI cadence; the implementation scope should have explicit deliverables and dates: reporting definitions, data owners, first forecast, first management pack, and handoff to the bookkeeper. I would also tie the engagement to decision outcomes, not report production. A weekly call is only valuable if every variance ends with an owner, action, and due date. Before pricing it, define which problem matters most today: cash visibility, close speed, margin visibility, or management accountability. Otherwise the controller can produce a lot of finance activity without changing the business. Which of those four is actually driving the hire?

Chris, Agree with the others on a fixed retainer rather than hourly, but having worked closely with someone who has held this exact role I would add three things from the delivery side that tend to get missed at the structuring stage. (These are her comments) First, put a limit on the retainer. Scopes like this one almost always expand once the work starts. The moment the controller begins building the cash forecast they discover the bookkeeping cannot support it and designing reporting alongside the bookkeeper quietly becomes redoing the bookkeeping. Price the ongoing work as a retainer with a defined number of days each month, say two or three, and treat the clean up and build out as a separate implementation phase with its own fee and end date. That protects both sides. Second, sort the data before the routine. A rolling forecast updated weekly against actuals only works if the actuals are current. If the bookkeeper is posting two weeks behind then the variance analysis is fiction. Make timely data an explicit deliverable of the implementation phase before the weekly reporting begins. Third, be careful with daily reporting. A one line daily flash covering cash, sales and one operational number is useful. A full daily reporting pack is finance theatre. The weekly call earns its keep when every variance leaves the room with an owner and a deadline. Fewer reports that get actioned beat more reports that get admired. On fees, a fixed monthly retainer scaled to the complexity of the business and the days committed, with the implementation phase priced separately. Hourly punishes the controller for being efficient.