Fractional CFO Services in St. Louis
Fractional CFO and controller services for St. Louis construction, contractors, distribution, manufacturing, and service businesses.
Eastern Missouri and Metro East
Fractional CFO and Controller services for St. Louis-area businesses.
Vessel Advisors supports businesses across Metro St. Louis, St. Charles County, and Metro East Illinois — aerospace and defense suppliers, agtech and agri-food operators, healthcare and life sciences services, industrial manufacturers, and family-owned mid-market operators. Our team includes CFOs and Controllers local to St. Louis, backed by a vetted national bench of senior finance leaders who support businesses that need expert help.
St. Louis has one of the country's most industry-diverse mid-markets. Aerospace and defense anchored by Boeing, an agtech and agri-food cluster built around the Bayer / former Monsanto ecosystem, deep healthcare and life sciences infrastructure, and a family-owned industrial and distribution base that goes generations deep.
How can we help?
What’s going on in your business and where would you like help?
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The Market
St. Louis's operating base is more industry-diverse than the outside narrative captures — aerospace, agtech, life sciences, and industrials all sit in the same mid-market.
Eastern Missouri's mid-market runs across four distinct industrial clusters. Aerospace and defense — anchored by Boeing's St. Louis operations — supports a deep bench of tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers, precision manufacturers, and defense services operators. The agtech and agri-food cluster around Chesterfield and Creve Coeur (the Bayer / former Monsanto ecosystem) supports specialty seed, biotech ag, and food ingredient operators. Healthcare and life sciences infrastructure spans BJC, Ascension, and Washington University, with a large healthcare services and health-tech operating base beneath them. And multi-generational family-owned industrial manufacturing and distribution runs throughout.
Finance-function work here reflects the diversity. Aerospace and defense suppliers need program economics, indirect rate management, and DCAA-adjacent reporting. Agtech and agri-food operators need milestone contracts, licensing revenue, and commodity exposure planning. Healthcare services businesses need payor contracting and revenue cycle rigor. And family-owned industrials often need to modernize reporting for a generational transition or first sponsor conversation.
What we see most:
- Tier 2 and tier 3 aerospace and defense suppliers, precision manufacturers, and defense services operators.
- Agtech, specialty seed, biotech ag, and food ingredient operators in the Chesterfield / Creve Coeur cluster.
- Healthcare services, life sciences suppliers, and health-tech operators in the BJC / Ascension / WashU ecosystem.
- Multi-generational family-owned industrial manufacturers and distribution operators.
- PE-backed platforms rolling up services, industrials, and specialty food across the Midwest.
- Construction contractors and specialty trades serving the regional build-out.
Industries
Where we work most in Eastern Missouri.
Aerospace and defense
Tier 2 and tier 3 aerospace and defense suppliers, precision manufacturers, and defense services operators supporting Boeing St. Louis and the broader defense industrial base. Program economics, indirect rate management, and DCAA-adjacent reporting.
Agtech, agri-food, and beverage
Agtech, specialty seed, biotech ag, food ingredient, and beverage operators in the Chesterfield / Creve Coeur cluster. Milestone and licensing revenue, commodity exposure, mix and margin reporting.
Healthcare services and life sciences
Healthcare services, life sciences suppliers, medical device support, and health-tech operators in the BJC, Ascension, and Washington University ecosystem. Payor contracting, revenue cycle discipline, and multi-site consolidation.
Industrial manufacturing and distribution
Multi-generational family-owned industrial manufacturers and regional distribution operators across Eastern Missouri and Metro East Illinois. Inventory accuracy, standard cost discipline, and gross margin visibility. Our manufacturing case study shows the pattern.
Missouri Taxes and Compliance
The City of St. Louis taxes earnings at 1% and charges employers 0.5% of payroll. St. Louis County has no earnings tax.
A business inside the city limits also pays a license tax set by headcount, while 12 fire and ambulance districts in the county raised the sales tax a point on October 1. Missouri's rates and its 2025 and 2026 employer changes apply on both sides of the city line, and Metro East businesses answer to Illinois.
Taxes
St. Louis earnings tax
1% on wages and net profits, renewed with 84.70% of the vote
Residents owe it on earnings from anywhere and nonresidents on work in the city, and businesses pay 1% of net profits allocated to the city with a three-factor formula. Prop E passed on April 7, 2026, keeping the tax for the five years from January 1, 2027. Calendar-year businesses can extend the April 15 return; individuals can't.
Graduated business license
$150 to $25,000 a year, set by headcount
The tax steps up with the number of St. Louis employees in the prior year, from $150 for two or fewer to $25,000 for more than 500, and owners count. The license year runs June 1 to May 31, and applicants need a Collector of Revenue clearance that city taxes are paid.
City sales tax
9.679% sales and 9.013% use in the city
Most community improvement and transportation development district rates in the city are 10.679% or 11.679%. SaaS and most services aren't taxed in Missouri, while canned software sold on a tangible medium is.
St. Louis County sales tax
8.738% in 12 fire and ambulance districts since October 1
Those districts began a 1% sales tax on October 1, 2026, lifting unincorporated areas inside them from 7.738% to 8.738%, and many municipal rates rose a point. Outside the districts, unincorporated St. Louis County charges 7.738% sales tax and 4.225% use tax, the rate a remote seller over Missouri's $100,000 threshold collects.
Capital gains
100% of individuals' capital gains exempt since 2025
From tax year 2025, individuals subtract all the capital gains they report federally; their other income is taxed at up to 4.7% in 2026. Corporations still pay the 4% corporate rate on gains, and get the same subtraction only from the year after the individual top rate reaches 4.5%.
Pass-through entity tax
4.7% at the entity level, elected each year
Any partnership or S corporation, LLCs taxed as either included, can opt in on Form MO-PTE, due the 15th day of the fourth month and extended with a federal extension. Owners claim a credit for the tax, with a carryforward but no refund. Missouri levies no franchise tax and no LLC fee.
Employers
Payroll expense tax
0.5% of city payroll, paid by the employer
It applies to pay for work done in the city and isn't withheld from employees; nonprofits and governments are exempt. Employers file it quarterly on Form P-10 with their W-10 withholding, due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. Late payment costs 5% a month, up to 25%, plus interest of 1% a month.
Minimum wage
$15.00, fixed by HB 567
The 2025 law canceled the inflation increases set to begin in 2027, so the rate stays at $15.00 unless the federal minimum is higher. Tipped employees get at least $7.50 in cash wages, with a tip credit covering the rest. Cities can't set their own rate, and St. Louis's former $10 ordinance is void.
Paid sick leave
Required only from May 1 to August 27, 2025
Prop A's earned sick time accrued at one hour for every 30 hours worked during that window. HB 567 repealed it effective August 28, 2025, and state law bars cities and counties, St. Louis included, from requiring their own.
Unemployment insurance
2.376% for new employers on the first $9,000
The 2026 wage base fell from $9,500 in 2025 and $10,000 in 2024, and it moves up $1,000 or down $500 a year with the trust fund. Nonprofits and governments pay 1.0%, and after about two years an employer's own experience sets its rate.
Non-solicits
One year or less is conclusively reasonable
Under Missouri's 2001 statute, an employee's written covenant not to solicit the company's employees is enforceable when it protects trade secrets or customer relationships, and conclusively reasonable at one year or less after employment. Since 2023, an owner's covenants are presumed enforceable for up to 2 years on employees and 5 years on customers the owner dealt with. Non-competes have no statute; courts apply a reasonableness test.
Metro East Illinois
Illinois income tax
4.95% individual, 9.5% corporate
The corporate figure combines a 7% income tax with the 2.5% personal property replacement tax, and partnerships and S corporations pay a 1.5% replacement tax. On the Missouri side, the top individual rate is 4.7% and corporations pay 4%.
Metro East sales tax
8.10% in Belleville, 7.60% in Edwardsville
Those are the citywide base rates for general merchandise. Business districts add a point at listed addresses, 9.10% in Belleville and 8.60% in Edwardsville, where one district began July 1, 2026.
Questions St. Louis owners ask
How does the St. Louis earnings tax treat days worked outside the city?
Nonresidents owe nothing for them, but any part of a day worked in the city counts as a city day. A nonresident claims a refund for out-of-city days on Form E-1R, which the employer verifies. City residents owe the 1% on all their earnings, wherever they work.
Does a business in Clayton or Chesterfield owe an earnings tax?
Not to the county or to its own city. St. Louis County has no earnings tax, and state law bars any city other than Kansas City and St. Louis from adopting one. Work inside the City of St. Louis still counts: the city taxes nonresidents' pay for that work and the share of a business's net profits allocated to it. Both cities' taxes are capped at 1% and phase out over ten years if voters decline to renew them.
What does a manufacturer in the City of St. Louis owe the city?
Manufacturers need a Graduated Manufacturers License and pay an ad valorem tax on machinery, tools and appliances, filed every year before July 1. That tax is a subclass of the personal property tax rather than a separate state tax. The 1% earnings tax on net profits and the 0.5% payroll expense tax apply as they do to any other city business.
Is there a Missouri tax credit for research spending?
Yes, through 2028. The credit is 15% of qualified research spending in Missouri above the three-year average, or 20% when the work is done with a Missouri college or university, capped at $300,000 per taxpayer a year within a $10 million program. It isn't refundable, but it carries forward 12 years and can be transferred, and the Department of Economic Development certifies it.
When does a general contractor have to pay its subcontractors in Missouri?
On private work, Missouri ties payment to the contract's terms at every tier, late payment can draw interest of up to 1.5% a month, and the prevailing party can recover attorney fees. Private retainage is capped at 10%, and a general contractor passes a subcontractor's share through within 7 days and can't hold back more than the owner holds for that work. On public works, RSMo 8.960 requires payment within 15 days of the contractor being paid, with no more than 5% held. More on how we work with general contractors.
How does a subcontractor protect its lien rights in Missouri?
It serves the owner 10 days' notice before filing, then files with the circuit clerk within 6 months after the debt accrues, or within 60 days after removal for rental equipment. The original contractor's lien has its own condition: the statutory notice to owner, given at contract, delivery, the start of work or with the first invoice, before it takes any payment.
Can a general contractor be liable for a subcontractor's unauthorized workers?
Yes, since August 28, 2026, if it knows its direct subcontractor is violating Missouri's E-Verify law. The Attorney General can seek damages of 10 times the wages paid to unauthorized workers and the suspension of state, county and city licenses. The 2009 safe harbor for contractors holding an affidavit and a contract clause is gone, and E-Verify participation is an affirmative defense.
What tax clearance does a seller need before closing?
The seller needs a Department of Revenue certificate showing no sales or withholding tax is due, and files a final return within 15 days. Until the certificate arrives, the buyer holds back enough of the price to cover those taxes, and a seller that doesn't deliver the sales tax certificate before closing owes a 25% penalty. For sales tax, the department answers within 15 business days, and its certificate can be relied on for 120 days. See how we help owners prepare a business for sale.
Figures verified October 2026 against the Revised Statutes of Missouri, the Missouri Department of Revenue, the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the City of St. Louis Collector of Revenue, License Collector and Board of Election Commissioners, and the Illinois Department of Revenue. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.
St. Louis Finance Talent
St. Louis, the 23rd-largest U.S. metro, employs 7,190 financial managers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 7,190 financial managers, the category that covers controllers and finance directors, across the Missouri and Illinois sides of the St. Louis metro. Median pay is $158,780, 4.7% below the national median of $166,570, and one in ten earns $304,260 or more.
Census counts 4,099 business locations with 50 to 499 employees in the same metro. A company that needs CFO judgment can have it without competing with them for one of those financial managers.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, St. Louis, MO-IL 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?
Coverage
We cover St. Louis and Eastern Missouri.
Our team includes CFOs and Controllers based in St. Louis. We staff engagements with local presence and pull in the vetted national bench when scope requires additional depth.
Coverage area: St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Clayton, Chesterfield, Creve Coeur, Ballwin, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, and St. Charles County including St. Charles, O'Fallon, and Wentzville; plus Metro East Illinois including Belleville, O'Fallon IL, and Edwardsville.
Nearby coverage: Kansas City and Western Missouri, Chicago and the Midwest, and Indianapolis and Indiana.
Call the team
866-324-4473Our 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