About Ballast
We build the finance function your business doesn’t have yet.
Ballast is a finance, accounting, and management consulting firm built for businesses between $3m and $75m in revenue.
Our Approach
We start by asking: what are you trying to achieve with this business?
Most firms lead with a service menu. We lead with your goal.
A client says they want to grow. We ask - growth how? New clients or new products and services? If new clients, what’s the retention rate of existing clients? Can we ensure adding new clients won’t deteriorate the tenure of existing clients? If you’re set on adding new clients, what are you willing to invest in sales and marketing?
These types of questions, this process is where the work is done. This is how we ensure the finance and accounting is purpose built.
A Note From Our Ceo - Why we Do this
“I grew up in small businesses.
My great-great grandfather started a bakery in Little Falls, Minnesota. My grandfather ran a TV and appliance store in St. Cloud — I remember squeezing between washing machines as a kid to surprise him at work and steal a Werther's off his desk. My dad started a CPA practice - built it from the ground up, client by client, nights and weekends, with five kids at home. My mom started a catering company, then opened a wedding venue. In the early days, she kept a futon in the office — work until midnight, wake up at 4am, and do it again.
These are the people we fight for.
We believe small businesses are a requirement for markets to function. Without them, we might as well be feudal Russia. This isn't a market segment to us. It's a conviction.
We've chosen sides. We don't work for big companies. We work for founders, operators, and owners building real businesses — people like my grandfather, my mom, dad, and brother, my aunt and uncle, my cousins, and the 100+ clients we've helped over the past seven years.”
-Kyle Benusa, our co-founder and CEO
Why ‘Ballast’
We named our firm after the stones in the bottom of merchant ships.
Ballast stones sit in the hold to give ships stability at sea. Unseen. Unsung. But without them, the ship doesn't make the crossing.
At the end of the journey, merchants would throw the stones overboard and fill the hold with cargo for the return trip.
That's our vision: provide the stability to help you get where you're going — then get out of the way when you don't need us anymore.
How we work
a managed service,
not another thing to manage.
You’ve got a business to run. The last thing you need is another team to oversee, another person to manage. We show up, execute, and own the outcome.
a team,
not a unicorn hire.
One person cannot be the controller, financial analyst, and a strategic advisor. With Ballast, you get a coordinated process with the right person for each part of the job.
Tired of reading a webpage?
What this looks like in practice
We’ve talked about the approach, here’s what we actually do.
…Or ready to talk now?
