Fractional CFO Services in Reno
Fractional CFO and controller services for Reno construction, contractors, distribution, manufacturing, and service businesses.
The Market
Reno's economy shifted, and the finance functions are still catching up.
The Reno-Sparks metro reshaped in the last ten years. The Tesla Gigafactory at USA Parkway anchored a manufacturing and supplier ecosystem that keeps expanding. Amazon, Walmart, and every major retailer runs distribution and fulfillment out of the metro because of its no-inventory-tax status and proximity to the Bay Area consumer base. Gaming and hospitality, long the anchor, has evolved into a broader tourism economy. And the tech spillover from San Francisco continues to bring businesses across the Sierra.
The finance-function pattern reflects the pace of change: companies that scaled with the region's transformation and never rebuilt the accounting infrastructure the current business requires. Manufacturers running standard costs that haven't been touched in three years. Distribution operators without SKU-level margin visibility. Gaming and hospitality operators without per-property P&L discipline.
What we see most:
- Manufacturers in the Tesla and battery-supply ecosystem and adjacent specialty industrial.
- Distribution, warehousing, and 3PL operators serving the western US from the Reno hub.
- Gaming, hospitality, and destination operators serving the Reno-Tahoe tourism economy.
- Technology and specialty tech operators spilling over from the Bay Area.
- General contractors and specialty trade contractors building the industrial and residential capacity the growth requires.
- Family-owned businesses across distribution, construction, and specialty consumer.
Industries
Where we work most in Reno and northern Nevada.
Manufacturing and industrial
Battery-supply, specialty industrial, and consumer product manufacturers serving the Tesla ecosystem and the broader western supply chain. Standard cost, inventory accuracy, and gross-margin visibility. See our manufacturing pillar.
Distribution and 3PL
Warehouse operators, 3PLs, and consumer distribution businesses serving the western US from the Reno hub. Customer contribution after freight, terms, and service load. See our distribution cluster.
Construction and specialty trades
General contractors, industrial builders, and specialty trades building the warehouse, plant, and residential capacity the region's growth demands. WIP schedule accuracy, over- and under-billings, retention, and bonding capacity. See our construction practice and how cleaner WIP supports larger bonded work.
Gaming and hospitality
Gaming operators, hotels, restaurant groups, and destination hospitality serving the Reno-Tahoe economy. Per-property P&L, prime cost, and the multi-unit reporting hospitality operators need.
Technology and specialty tech
Software operators, specialty tech, and Bay Area spillover businesses. Unit economics, cohort economics, and the specific reporting that scaling technology companies need.
Family-owned businesses
Multi-generational family operators across distribution, construction, and specialty consumer. Governance, succession, inter-company clarity, and the finance function that supports a real ownership transition. See our family-business cluster.
Nevada Coverage
Fractional CFO and Controller services for Reno-area businesses.
We staff Reno engagements with CFOs and Controllers who have run finance functions in the industries that operate here — industrial manufacturing, high-volume distribution, construction, and multi-property hospitality — and pull from a vetted national bench when scope demands additional depth.
Reno's economic base shifted in the last decade. What was a gaming and hospitality economy is now, at least equally, a manufacturing and distribution economy — driven by the Gigafactory ripple, Amazon and Walmart fulfillment, and spillover from a Bay Area that priced its manufacturers and distributors out. The finance functions of the businesses that came with the shift often haven't caught up with the pace.
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 Reno.
We serve northern Nevada from our vetted national bench. Coverage area: Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Fernley, Fallon, Minden, Gardnerville, the Lake Tahoe basin, and the broader Washoe and Douglas county region.
Call the team
866-324-4473Nevada Taxes and Compliance
Nevada collects no income tax in Reno. It collects on gross revenue and payroll.
The Commerce Tax applies once Nevada revenue passes $4,000,000, and the Modified Business Tax takes 1.17% of quarterly wages above $50,000. Reno and Sparks base their license fees on gross receipts, floor space or headcount.
Taxes
Commerce Tax
0.091% for manufacturers, 0.101% for wholesalers
Each industry has its own rate, from 0.051% to 0.331%, applied to Nevada gross revenue above $4,000,000. Accommodation pays 0.200%, food service 0.194% and publishing, software and data processing 0.253%. A business at $4,000,000 or less files no return.
Modified Business Tax
1.17% payroll tax, matched to UI wage reports
The tax applies to each quarter's wages above $50,000, less employer-paid health coverage. Since January 1, 2026, the state again compares those wages each quarter with the wages reported for unemployment insurance and bills any mismatch. A business has 45 days to petition, and 10% is added if the bill goes unpaid.
Reno business license
About $14,065 a year at $20 million in receipts
Reno charges $150 plus 0.085% of receipts between $100,000 and $5 million, then $4,315 plus 0.065% of receipts above $5 million. Distribution, manufacturing and warehouse businesses pay by floor space instead, from $0.10 a square foot with a $70 minimum down to $0.03 a square foot plus $8,950 above 500,000 square feet. The city re-adopts the schedule every fiscal year; these rates took effect July 1, 2026.
Sparks business license
A fee that grows with in-city sales
Sparks bases its license fee on gross receipts, and it counts only sales made within city limits. Manufacturing, processing and warehousing businesses pay by headcount instead, plus the receipts-based fee on any retail or wholesale sales.
Sales tax
8.265% in Reno and Sparks
Both cities share Washoe County's rate, which includes a 0.54% tax for school facilities that voters approved. Starting with January 2026 periods, returns are due the 20th of the next month rather than month-end, so collected tax leaves the account about ten days sooner.
Personal property tax
Equipment assessed at 35%, raw materials exempt
Raw materials and finished goods held for sale are exempt. Equipment carries an assessed value of 35% of its depreciated taxable value and is declared by July 31 each year, with 30-day extensions available on petition.
Employers
Wages and overtime
$12.00 minimum, daily overtime below $18.00
The $12.00 minimum covers tipped staff too, since Nevada allows no tip credit, and Reno and Sparks set no local rate. Anyone paid under $18.00 an hour, one and a half times the minimum, earns overtime after 8 hours in a day unless working an agreed schedule of four 10-hour days.
Hours worked
Federal Portal-to-Portal rules through October 31, 2029
SB 8, passed in the November 2025 special session, wrote the federal exclusions for waiting, preparatory and concluding activities, training and travel time into Nevada's hours-worked law, answering the 2025 Amazon.com Services v. Malloy decision. It also adopted the federal regular-rate rules for overtime. The provision expires October 31, 2029.
Paid leave
Leave for any reason at 50 or more employees
Once a private employer has 50 Nevada employees, it provides about 40 hours a year, accrued or front-loaded, and may cap both use and carryover at 40 hours. The balance must be shown each payday. Unused leave isn't paid out at separation, but it is reinstated when an involuntarily separated employee is rehired within 90 days.
Final paychecks
Immediate pay when the employer ends the job
Since 2023, laying off an employee carries the same deadline as a discharge: final pay is due immediately. Once it runs more than three days late, the employee's wages continue to accrue for as long as 30 days. An employee who quits is paid within seven days or on the next regular payday, whichever is first.
Retirement savings
NEST enrollment at six or more employees
A business at least 36 months old with more than five Nevada employees and no qualified plan in the current or prior three years auto-enrolls employees 18 or older with 120 days of service in a Roth IRA at a 5% default. Registration was due September 1, 2025 for existing employers and June 30, 2026 for newly eligible ones. Employers that already offer a plan certify an exemption.
Unemployment insurance
$43,700 wage base in 2026
New employers pay 2.95%, plus 0.05% for the Career Enhancement Program, for 14 to 17 quarters; experienced employers pay 0.25% to 5.40%. The base rises to $45,400 in 2027, and construction has no separate rate.
Questions Reno owners ask
Does Nevada charge sales tax on a construction contract?
No. The contractor is treated as the consumer of its materials and pays sales or use tax at purchase, so the contract price carries none. Above $4,000,000 of Nevada gross revenue, a contractor's Commerce Tax rate is 0.083%, and Reno and Sparks license contractors on gross receipts. More on fractional controllers for contractors.
What are the payment and retainage rules on private Nevada jobs?
Without a payment schedule in the contract, the owner has 21 days from a pay request, and an owner that withholds must say so in writing by the due date. A general contractor has at most 10 days from its own payment to pay its subcontractors. Retainage is capped at 5% of each progress payment at every tier, and late payments carry interest at the prime rate of Nevada's largest bank plus 4%, unless the contract rate is higher.
How far back does a Nevada mechanics' lien reach?
For a claimant without a direct contract with the owner, only 31 days before its notice of right to lien is served. The notice can go out at any time, but labor or materials furnished earlier than that fall outside the lien. Once the lien is recorded, the claimant serves the owner within 30 days and sues within six months. Contract terms that waive lien rights or choose another state's law are void.
Are delivery and installation charges subject to Nevada sales tax?
Not when they are stated separately on the invoice. Nevada taxes tangible personal property and generally not services, so consulting isn't taxed, but fabrication labor is. Software delivered electronically isn't taxed either.
Does Nevada offer a research and development tax credit?
No. With no income tax, there is nothing for a credit to offset. The Governor's Office of Economic Development offers abatements instead: sales and use tax on capital equipment cut to as low as 2%, a 50% Modified Business Tax abatement and a personal property abatement of up to 50% for up to 10 years. Under a 2025 law, its board can deny or reduce an abatement it finds not in the best interests of the state.
What does a seller need to produce before closing on a Nevada business?
A receipt or certificate from the Department of Taxation covering the Commerce Tax, the Modified Business Tax, sales tax and the department's other taxes. Until the seller produces one, the buyer withholds part of the price to cover them, and a buyer that skips the holdback is personally liable for them, up to the amount it paid. The department has 60 days from the request to issue the certificate, 90 at most, and the Employment Security Division runs the same process for unemployment insurance contributions. See how we help owners prepare a business for sale.
Does community property give my spouse a say in the family business?
Nevada is a community property state, so an interest acquired during marriage is community property unless a written agreement says otherwise. When both spouses help manage the business, neither can buy, sell or encumber its assets, including real property and goodwill, without the other's consent. When only one spouse manages it, that spouse acts alone in the ordinary course. No Nevada statute requires a spouse to sign a business guaranty.
Does a Nevada business file an unclaimed property report with nothing to report?
Yes. Every business incorporated, licensed or doing business in Nevada files a report before November 1 each year, covering the 12 months ending June 30, and files a “no property” report when it holds nothing. Wages, payroll and commissions go dormant after one year and most other property after three. For items of $50 or more, the holder sends due-diligence letters 60 to 120 days before filing.
Figures verified October 2026 against the Nevada Constitution, the Nevada Revised Statutes, the Nevada Department of Taxation, the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, the Office of the Labor Commissioner, the Nevada State Treasurer, the Governor's Office of Economic Development, the City of Reno's business license fee schedule and the Sparks Municipal Code. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.
Reno Finance Talent
Reno pays its 1,740 financial managers a median $133,470.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 1,740 financial managers, the category that covers controllers and finance directors, in the Reno metro. Median pay is $133,470, about a fifth below the national median of $166,570, and the top tenth earns $273,400 or more.
The same metro has 757 business locations with 50 to 499 employees, and they recruit from that pool. A company that needs CFO judgment can get it without competing for a full-time hire there.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Reno MSA. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023.
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