Marina Controller

Controller Services for Marinas

A marina is four businesses sharing one dock — slips, fuel, service, and retail — and a single blended P&L lets the steady slip income quietly cover whichever one is leaking. A controller reports the four separately and reviews the close, so you can finally see where the money is actually made.

Four segments, one reviewed close

Slip and storage income is recurring and high-margin — the crown jewel. Fuel is high-volume and thin. Service and retail sit in between and tie up parts inventory. Blend them and the dock revenue subsidizes whichever operation is bleeding without anyone noticing. A controller breaks out the four, reviews each, and keeps the picture honest.

Reconciliation is the enforcement. Fuel and POS systems, slip billing, and the bank all have to agree, and AR on slips can't be left to drift. A controller ties them together each month so nothing hides between systems.

What a controller adds over a bookkeeper

A bookkeeper records the transactions. A controller makes them right and turns them into a reviewed package: per-segment P&Ls, occupancy and revenue-per-linear-foot KPIs, and the discipline that keeps a thin fuel operation from being invisible.

Across multiple marinas or a mixed operation, standardized reporting lets you compare segments and sites fairly and catch the one drifting before it drags the whole property.

How Kaizen runs it

We sit on top of your bookkeeping — ours or yours — and run a documented monthly close on the same date every month. Fuel, POS, and slip billing get reconciled to the accounting so the segments and the bank agree.

Then the improvement part we're named for: each month the segment reporting tightens and the review catches more before it reaches you. Controller judgment without the salary or the eventual departure.

What's included

Reviewed monthly financials with a documented, same-date close
Segment P&Ls — slips/storage, fuel, service, retail
Fuel / POS and slip-billing reconciliation
Occupancy and revenue-per-linear-foot KPIs

Service-bay utilization and parts-inventory review
Slip AR aging watched before it goes stale
Standardized reporting across segments and sites
Oversight of your bookkeeper or bookkeeping team — a second set of senior eyes

New engagements usually begin with the 1-2-3 CFO™ Reset: Month 1 clean, segment, and reconcile, Month 2 stand up occupancy KPIs and segment P&Ls, Month 3 systems and a budget.

Pricing

$3,000–6,000/moscoped to segments, sites, and volume · no contract

~$120K+/yrwhat a full-time controller costs fully loaded — steady through your off-season too

One hire, one riskan in-house controller who needs managing and takes your reporting with them when they leave

Team + reviewcontroller oversight plus a bookkeeping team and a close that doesn't wobble

Straight answers

We have a bookkeeper. Why a controller?

A bookkeeper records; a controller reports the segments separately, reconciles fuel and POS, and reviews the close. Many marinas keep their bookkeeper and add us for oversight.

Can you separate slip, fuel, and service margin?

Yes, and it's usually the first revelation — each segment has its own economics, and splitting them shows which one carries the marina and which is along for the ride.

Do you reconcile our fuel and POS systems?

Yes — fuel, POS, and slip billing get tied to the accounting and the bank so nothing hides between systems.

Small, simple marina. Overkill?

Sometimes, and we'll tell you. A good bookkeeper and a KPI report may be enough until you have multiple segments or sites to compare.

Free 20-minute books assessment

We'll show you the five things we'd fix first in your books — useful whether you hire us, hire someone, or do neither.

Talk to Sales

Or call us directly: +1 786 789 0969