Fractional CFO Services in New York City
Fractional CFO and controller services for New York City construction, contractors, distribution, manufacturing, and service businesses.
The Market
New York's mid-market sits inside the densest sponsor ecosystem in the country, and that raises the bar on what a finance function has to look like.
The Tri-State's mid-market spans nearly every operating industry that matters: apparel and fashion brands headquartered in Manhattan, consumer packaged goods and DTC brands running national distribution from the region, media and creative agencies scaling into holdcos, aerospace and precision manufacturers across Long Island, chemical and pharma-adjacent industrials in Northern New Jersey, and the professional services firms that support all of it. Layer in the country's deepest PE and family-office community, and the reporting bar for an operator here is closer to what a $200MM business needs elsewhere.
Multi-state complexity is baked in from day one. NY, NJ, and CT each have their own tax, payroll, and sales tax regimes; most companies here touch all three whether they intended to or not. Labor and real estate costs are the highest in the country, so margin discipline isn't optional. And because so many operators have a sponsor conversation, a strategic sale, or a generational transition already on the horizon, finance-function decisions get made against an exit clock that isn't always spoken out loud.
What we see most:
- Founder-led CPG, DTC, and beauty brands scaling past initial retail rollouts and needing channel-level margin visibility.
- Apparel and fashion brands managing seasonal working capital, wholesale exposure, and multi-entity structures.
- PE-backed platforms rolling up services, consumer, and industrial operators across the Northeast.
- Long Island and New Jersey industrial manufacturers and distributors with real inventory, cost, and multi-warehouse complexity.
- Media, creative, and professional service agencies moving from founder-owned to sponsor-backed or holdco structures.
- Family businesses in industrial, distribution, and specialty consumer — often navigating the second- or third-generation handoff.
Industries
Where we work most across New York and the Tri-State.
Apparel, fashion, and consumer brands
Fashion houses, apparel brands, beauty and personal care operators, and DTC consumer businesses. Seasonal working capital, wholesale-vs-DTC channel economics, inventory obsolescence, and the multi-entity structures fashion inevitably grows into. See our DTC piece on why blended metrics mislead.
PE-backed platforms and portfolio companies
Sponsor-backed rollups across services, consumer, and industrial verticals. EBITDA quality, 100-day integration work, add-on absorption, and the quarterly sponsor reporting cadence institutional owners expect.
Media, agencies, and professional services
Advertising and creative agencies, media production companies, PR and marketing services, engineering and technical services firms. Utilization economics, project profitability, and the reporting depth holdco and sponsor buyers require. More on how we serve agencies and professional services firms.
Industrial manufacturing and distribution
Long Island precision and aerospace manufacturers, Northern New Jersey industrial and chemical-adjacent operators, and regional distribution businesses. Inventory accuracy, standard cost discipline, and gross margin visibility are the recurring pressure points. Our manufacturing case study shows the pattern.
New York / New Jersey / Connecticut
Fractional CFO and Controller services for Tri-State-area businesses.
Our team includes CFOs and Controllers local to the Tri-State who have run finance functions in the industries that operate here — consumer and apparel, sponsor-backed platforms, agencies, and Long Island and New Jersey industrials — backed by a vetted national bench when scope demands additional depth.
The Tri-State mid-market is unlike any other in the US. Sponsor density is the highest in the country, retail and consumer brands sit on top of the world's biggest end market, and the industrial base across Long Island and Northern New Jersey rivals any legacy manufacturing hub. Finance-function complexity here has to keep pace with all of it.
How can we help?
What’s going on in your business and where would you like help?
An Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Company for two consecutive years.
Coverage
We cover the Tri-State.
We staff engagements with local presence and pull in the vetted national bench when scope requires additional depth.
Coverage area: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island; Long Island including Nassau and Suffolk counties; Westchester and Rockland; Northern New Jersey including Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Union, and Morris counties; and Fairfield County Connecticut including Stamford and Greenwich.
Nearby coverage: Washington DC and the DMV to the south along the Northeast Corridor.
Call the team
866-324-4473New York Taxes and Compliance
New York City adds its own business taxes to the state's, and it ignores the S election.
The city has a separate tax for C corporations, S corporations and unincorporated businesses, and the state's MCTMT payroll tax rose for the largest city employers in July 2025. The city's leave law expanded in February 2026, and New Jersey and Connecticut apply their own rates and credits to owners and staff who live across the line.
Taxes
City business taxes
8.85% on corporations, 4% on unincorporated businesses
The Business Corporation Tax is 8.85% of a C corporation's business income, with lower rates for small businesses and qualified manufacturers. The city doesn't recognize the S election, so S corporations pay its General Corporation Tax at 8.85%, while a New York S corporation pays the state only a fixed dollar minimum. Partnerships, LLCs taxed as partnerships and sole proprietors pay the 4% Unincorporated Business Tax, fully credited when it comes to $3,400 or less.
State franchise tax
7.25% at the top, now through 2029
Article 9-A taxes a C corporation on the highest of three bases: business income at 6.5%, or 7.25% when that base exceeds $5 million; capital at 0.1875%; or a fixed dollar minimum. The fiscal 2027 budget extended the 7.25% rate and the capital tax through tax year 2029. A 30% MTA surcharge applies to the share of the tax attributable to the commuter district, which includes the city.
Owners' income tax
Up to 10.9% for the state, 3.876% for city residents
Income from S corporations and partnerships reaches owners at state rates from 3.9% to 10.9%, and owners who live in the five boroughs add the city's 3.078% to 3.876%. The five lower state brackets fall again in 2027, and the 9.65%, 10.3% and 10.9% rates are scheduled to continue through 2032.
Payroll tax (MCTMT)
0.895% of the whole payroll once a quarter tops $2.5 million
Since July 1, 2025, an employer with more than $2.5 million of NYC payroll in a quarter pays 0.895% on all of it, not on the excess alone. Smaller NYC payrolls pay 0.055%, 0.115% or 0.60%, and the tax applies once payroll in the commuter district passes $312,500 in a calendar quarter. Partners and other self-employed owners pay 0.60% of their NYC self-employment earnings once those exceed $150,000.
Commercial Rent Tax
3.9% of rent for Manhattan tenants paying $250,000 or more
The tax applies south of the center line of 96th Street once annualized base rent reaches $250,000: 6% of base rent, after the rent is reduced by 35%. The small-business credit fully exempts tenants with total income of $5 million or less and base rent under $500,000. A return is required once gross rent paid exceeds $200,000.
Sales tax
8.875% in New York City
The combined rate is 8.625% in Nassau County, 8.75% in Suffolk and 8.375% in Westchester outside its cities. Prewritten software is taxable however it is delivered, SaaS included, while custom software is exempt and services are taxed only when the statute lists them.
Employers
Minimum wage
$17.00 an hour, unchanged for 2027
The rate covers New York City, Long Island and Westchester, and the rest of the state pays $16.00. Neither rises on January 1, 2027, because an off-ramp in the state's indexing law was met, and only home care aides get an increase. The city sets no minimum of its own.
Sick leave and protected time
40 or 56 paid hours, plus 32 unpaid hours up front
Employers with 5 to 99 employees provide 40 paid hours a year, and those with 100 or more provide 56. Since February 22, 2026, the city's Protected Time Off law adds 32 hours of unpaid time, available at hire and at the start of each year, and pay statements must show the balances. State and city law also both require 20 hours of paid prenatal leave.
Paid Family Leave and disability
0.432% of pay for Paid Family Leave, up to $411.91 a year
Employees fund Paid Family Leave through that 2026 deduction, and the program pays 67% of their average weekly wage, up to $1,228.53 a week, for up to 12 weeks. For disability benefits, employees contribute 0.5% of wages, up to $0.60 a week, and the employer pays the rest of the cost.
Unemployment insurance
4.1% for new employers, no FUTA credit reduction for 2025
New employers pay 4.025% for unemployment insurance and 0.075% for the Re-employment Service Fund, and experienced employers pay from 1.7% to 9.5%. From 2026 the taxable wage base resets each January to 18% of the state's average annual wage and can't go down. New York repaid its federal loan, so employers face no FUTA credit reduction for 2025, after 0.9% for 2024.
Retirement plan mandate
Auto-IRA required at 10 or more employees
An employer with 10 or more employees, at least two years in business and no qualified retirement plan must register for New York Secure Choice, which auto-enrolls employees in a Roth IRA. Newly eligible employers register by November 18, 2026. The employer has no fiduciary duty and may not add a match, and one that already offers a plan certifies its exemption.
Crossing the state line
Commuters and remote staff
A day at a home office can count as a New York workday
For an employee whose office is in New York, a normal workday at home in New Jersey or Connecticut counts as a New York day unless the home office qualifies as a bona fide employer office. New Jersey credits the tax its residents pay to New York, up to the New Jersey tax on the same income, and Connecticut gives the same kind of credit.
New Jersey
11.5% top corporate rate, 10.75% top personal rate
Corporations pay 6.5%, 7.5% or 9% depending on entire net income, and for 2024 through 2028 the Corporate Transit Fee adds 2.5% for companies whose allocated taxable net income exceeds $10 million. Credits can't reduce the fee, combined filers pay it at the group level and New Jersey S corporations are exempt. Individuals pay up to 10.75%, on income over $1 million, and the sales tax is 6.625%.
Connecticut
6.99% top rate and an elective entity tax
Connecticut taxes a single filer's income over $500,000 at 6.99%, and its sales tax is 6.35%. Its pass-through entity tax, mandatory from 2018 through 2023, has been elective since 2024: a business elects each year by checking the box on a timely return, extensions included, and can't revoke the election.
Questions New York City owners ask
Can my partnership or S corporation pay New York income tax at the entity level?
Yes, through the pass-through entity tax, New York's workaround for the federal SALT cap. The business elects online by March 15 of each tax year, and the state rate runs from 6.85% to 10.9%. The city's 3.876% version can only be elected together with the state's, and it requires at least one partner who is a city taxpayer or, for an S corporation, resident-S-corporation status with every shareholder a city taxpayer. Single-member LLCs without an S election and sole proprietors can't elect, and a tax professional can't make the election for the client.
Does New York follow the federal deduction for 2025 research costs?
No. The fiscal 2027 budget decoupled New York from the federal research-expensing rule retroactively, for tax years beginning January 1, 2025, so research costs paid after 2024 are amortized over 60 months on the New York return. The federal write-off for production property is added back and depreciated instead, and bonus depreciation stays decoupled. Under Notice N-26-1, 2025 returns already filed must be amended, and penalty and interest relief applies when the return is filed or amended on time.
When does a brand shipping into New York from another state have to collect sales tax?
Once it has more than $500,000 of gross receipts from goods delivered into New York and more than 100 sales, both measured over the preceding four sales-tax quarters. Both tests have to be met, the quarters end in February, May, August and November, and marketplace providers apply the same two tests.
Does New York tax a manufacturer's equipment and inventory?
No. New York's property tax reaches only real property, and personal property, tangible or intangible, is exempt from it. The state has no R&D credit open to every company, but a business admitted to the Excelsior program by Empire State Development can claim 50% of its federal research credit attributable to New York research, capped at 6% of its qualified New York R&D spending. In the city, qualified manufacturers pay the Business Corporation Tax at rates from 4.425% to 8.85%.
What does a buyer of a New York business's assets have to file before closing?
A bulk-sale notice under Tax Law §1141(c): Form AU-196.10, sent to the Tax Department by registered mail at least 10 days before the buyer takes possession or pays, whichever comes first. If the state answers with a notice of claim, the buyer withholds or escrows the price, and the state has 90 days to name the amount. A buyer who skips the notice is personally liable for the seller's sales and use taxes, up to the higher of the purchase price or the assets' fair market value; buying the seller's stock instead isn't a bulk sale. More on our work with newly acquired businesses.
Does a new New York LLC have to publish a notice in the newspaper?
Yes. Within 120 days of formation, the LLC publishes its articles or a notice once a week for six successive weeks in two newspapers, one weekly and one daily, designated by the clerk of the county where its office is, and then files a certificate of publication with the Department of State for $50. An LLC that doesn't comply has its authority to do business in New York suspended. LLCs also file a $9 biennial statement.
How fast does a private owner have to pay a New York contractor?
On private projects of $150,000 or more, the owner approves or disputes an invoice within 12 business days and pays within 30 days of approval, and the general contractor pays its subcontractors within 7 days of receiving good funds. Late payments carry 1% interest a month. Since the 2023 amendments, retainage is capped at 5% of the contract sum and must be released within 30 days after final approval, and no contractor may hold back a higher percentage than the owner does. Public works and homes of one to three families fall outside these rules.
How long does a New York contractor have to file a mechanic's lien?
On a private job, the notice of lien is due within 8 months after completion or the last labor or materials furnished, or 4 months for a single-family home, and no preliminary notice is required first. On a public improvement, the deadline is 30 days after completion and acceptance. Money that owners, contractors and subcontractors receive for an improvement is held in trust under Article 3-A of the Lien Law, and diverting it before trust claims are paid is larceny. See how we work with construction companies.
Figures verified October 2026 against New York statutes, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and Department of Labor, the NYC Department of Finance and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, New York Paid Family Leave, New York Secure Choice, the U.S. Department of Labor, the New Jersey Division of Taxation, the Connecticut General Statutes and the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.
New York Finance Talent
The New York metro employs 89,960 financial managers, more than a tenth of the U.S. total.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 89,960 financial managers, the category that covers controllers and finance directors, in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro. Median pay is $221,010, 32.7% above the national median of $166,570. Pay at the 90th percentile reaches $371,170, against $323,270 nationally, and accountants and auditors earn a median $105,650, compared with $83,680 nationwide.
Census counts 24,111 business locations with 50 to 499 employees across the metro, and each one that adds a controller or finance director recruits in that market. A company that needs CFO judgment doesn't have to outbid them for a full-time hire to get it.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ MSA. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 and Vintage 2025 population estimates.
How we engage.
When It's Broken
Put out the fire.
Interim CFO & Controller. At the loss of a key employee. When things crash or break. We deploy interim professionals — repairing what's broken and keeping the system running while you decide what's next.
When You're Building & Exiting
Advise and serve.
CFO, Controller & Accounting Team. Right-sized financial leadership — and the team to execute. Embedded for the long run. The CFO Power Team: right roles, right cost.
When You Don't Know What You Don't Know
Assessment services.
Financial Discovery Assessment. A structured deep-dive that reveals where your finance function stands today — and what it needs to support where you're going.
Transaction Readiness Assessment. Will the books and reporting tell the right story to a buyer or investor — and do the systems and processes support merger or acquisition activities?
Our Proprietary Diagnostic
The Financial Discovery Assessment shows you what’s working, what’s missing, and the plan to get where the business needs to go.
Every Assessment applies the same structured examination — accounting systems and technology, processes and procedures, team members and team structure, and team-member will-skill — refined across hundreds of engagements in businesses that look like yours.
The output is the Financial Heat Map System: dollarized findings, hidden inefficiencies, and a sequenced plan. It’s presented at the Executive Action Meeting, where your stakeholders review findings and recommendations in non-clinical, non-technical language they can act on.
We’ve walked into hundreds of businesses at the stage yours is in now. We know where to look. We know how to fix what we find.
Prefer to call? 866-324-4473