Kruse Control Inc

Kruse Control Inc Maximize resources. Secure your profit. Kruse Control Inc.

was built on 25 years inside car dealerships - as a controller, CFO, and the person owners called when the numbers stopped making sense. Founder Kathi Kruse grew up in a Los Angeles car family and spent her career managing the financial and operational realities of new car franchises in Southern California. She's seen what happens when dealerships run without real financial leadership - and she built Kruse Control to fix that. Today, Kruse Control provides fractional CFO services, accounting consulting, and hands-on training for dealership owners, controllers, and auto groups who need expertise without the full-time overhead. Our signature service, Automotive CFO To Go™, gives dealers access to senior-level financial guidance on demand. We specialize in:
Accounting assessment, cleanup & recovery | Financial performance consulting | Controller mentoring & training | Forensic accounting | Expense control | Buy/sell facilitation | Expert Witness | OEM & executive training

đź“© [email protected]
đź“ž 714-251-6440

A dealership controller recently told me she returned from a three-day weekend to discover a new responsibility:Mice in ...
09/17/2026

A dealership controller recently told me she returned from a three-day weekend to discover a new responsibility:

Mice in the service department.

Apparently, mice are a Controller problem.

She joked about counting them, assigning stock numbers and calculating cost per mouse. Then she did what controllers so often do. She solved the problem.

It’s funny, but it also illustrates something I see all the time.

When nobody knows who owns a problem, it often lands on the controller’s desk.

And every time the controller takes on someone else’s responsibility, something more important gets pushed aside. Schedules. Reconciliations. Expense review. Getting an accurate financial statement done on time.

Controllers need boundaries.

My article looks at how controllers can stop being the dealership’s catch-all and spend more time actually leading the accounting office.

👇 Read the full article here: https://www.krusecontrolinc.com/the-dealership-controllers-guide-to-setting-boundaries/

You’d be amazed what hides inside dealership accounting records. It’s like lifting the couch cushions of your financials...
09/16/2026

You’d be amazed what hides inside dealership accounting records. It’s like lifting the couch cushions of your financials and finding not just a few quarters, but a family of raccoons living rent-free on the balance sheet. I’ve been talking and writing about these issues for years, and somehow, the raccoons are still there. Maybe wearing little visors now, pretending to reconcile schedules.

Some dealers and general managers know what’s going on and do the hard work to fix it. And thank goodness for them. But for every one of those, there’s a small army of others—plus a rotating cast of fresh recruits—who treat clean financials like an optional upgrade, somewhere between a window tint and the extended warranty.

Read more: https://www.krusecontrolinc.com/dirty-half-dozen-dealership-accounting-habits-that-haunt-your-financials/

Let’s be honest for a second.A lot of people in dealership leadership roles are sitting in financial meetings…nodding al...
09/15/2026

Let’s be honest for a second.

A lot of people in dealership leadership roles are sitting in financial meetings…
nodding along…
following just enough to keep up…

But not fully confident in what they’re looking at.

And it’s not because they’re not capable.

It’s because no one ever actually showed them how to read a dealership financial statement in a way that makes sense.

I’ve sat across from dealer principals and GMs for years as a CFO.
Smart operators. Strong businesses.

Still unsure where to look. What matters. What’s a red flag.

So I put together a plain-English guide:

👉 How to actually read your dealership financial statement
👉 What to pay attention to (and what to ignore)
👉 How to stop relying on someone else to tell you if you're doing okay

If you’ve ever had that quiet moment of “I should probably understand this better” - this is for you. https://www.krusecontrolinc.com/how-to-read-a-dealership-financial-statement-a-practical-guide-vip-ebook/

There’s a particular confidence that comes with a dealership financial statement once it’s been submitted. It arrives cl...
09/10/2026

There’s a particular confidence that comes with a dealership financial statement once it’s been submitted. It arrives cleanly through the portal, lines in their proper places, totals tying as they should, like a pressed shirt that suggests the wearer has their life together.

And yet, as any seasoned operator knows, a well-presented statement can conceal just as much as it reveals. Somewhere between the neat columns and the reassuring totals are the small distortions, the timing issues, the “we’ll fix that next month” entries that don’t announce themselves but quietly reshape the story. And that’s where things begin to slip past even the most attentive OEM business teams.
Read more: https://www.krusecontrolinc.com/what-oem-business-teams-miss-in-dealer-financial-statements/

A dealership controller recently sent me a message that stopped me in my tracks.Not because it was unusual.Because it wa...
09/09/2026

A dealership controller recently sent me a message that stopped me in my tracks.

Not because it was unusual.

Because it was painfully normal.

She wrote:

I'm at work today, juggling all issues of the store and thought, 'Kathi should write about the silent work of a Controller.'

Then she proceeded to list everything she had handled before 1:00 PM.

By the time I finished reading her note, I was exhausted.

Not because I had done any of the work.

Because I have lived it.

For years.

And if you've never worked inside a dealership, it's almost impossible to explain what controllers actually do all day.

Most people think a controller manages accounting.

That's a nice thought.

In reality, the controller often becomes the unofficial Chief Problem Solver, Chief Firefighter, Chief Therapist, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Notary Coordinator, Chief HR Manager, and occasionally, Chief Adult in the Room.

All while trying to close the books every month in a timely fashion.
Read more: https://www.krusecontrolinc.com/the-silent-work-of-a-dealership-controller/

You can be:Hitting your numbersSelling carsRunning a busy store…and still not know if you’re actually doing okay.That’s ...
09/08/2026

You can be:

Hitting your numbers
Selling cars
Running a busy store

…and still not know if you’re actually doing okay.

That’s the gap.

I put together a short, practical guide to help dealership operators:

âś” Understand their financial statement
âś” Know what to look for each month
âś” Stop relying on someone else to interpret the numbers

It’s free - grab it here: https://www.krusecontrolinc.com/how-to-read-a-dealership-financial-statement-a-practical-guide-vip-ebook/

There is a moment in every dealership acquisition when everyone starts speaking in numbers so large they stop sounding r...
09/08/2026

There is a moment in every dealership acquisition when everyone starts speaking in numbers so large they stop sounding real.

The buy-sell broker says the store is earning $4 million.

The seller's accountant says the trend is strong.

The lender says the projections look reasonable.

The OEM approves the transfer.

The attorneys bill by the hour.

And somewhere in the middle of it all sits the buyer, nodding thoughtfully while imagining a future filled with healthy cash flow, happy employees, and manufacturer awards.

Then six months later, the buyer is sitting in a conference room staring at a financial statement that looks nothing like the one they bought.

That appears to be the heart of a recent lawsuit involving the buyer of a Ford dealership in Georgia.

Read more: https://www.krusecontrolinc.com/dealership-buyers-guide-to-avoiding-a-multi-million-dollar-surprise/

According to a recent Digital Dealer article, new vehicle sales rebounded 14% in the second quarter of 2026 after a slug...
09/04/2026

According to a recent Digital Dealer article, new vehicle sales rebounded 14% in the second quarter of 2026 after a sluggish beginning to the year.

Great.

So why does it still feel like all your cash is sitting on the lot?

A dealership can have a strong sales month while carrying too much inventory, paying floorplan interest, discounting aged units and watching gross slowly disappear.

That’s because inventory isn’t just a sales problem. It’s a cash management problem.
And by the time a vehicle hits the 60- or 90-day aging report, the problem didn’t just happen. You finally put it on a report.

In this post, I look at what aged inventory is really costing dealerships, why strong sales can mask cash flow problems, and why inventory strategy belongs in the financial conversation.

Read it here: https://www.krusecontrolinc.com/sales-are-up-so-why-is-all-your-cash-sitting-on-the-lot/

Running a car dealership without understanding your financial statement is like driving blindfolded - and I mean that in...
09/03/2026

Running a car dealership without understanding your financial statement is like driving blindfolded - and I mean that in the specific way that a blindfolded person behind the wheel is not merely inconvenienced, but is also, statistically, about to ruin someone's afternoon.

You might keep the engine running. You might even feel good about it. But you won't know when you're about to crash, and more importantly, you won't know why, which is the part that really stings.

Dealership financial statements are dense, and nobody is going to pretend otherwise. But like most intimidating things - tax returns, IKEA instructions, conversations with your CFO - they become manageable once you know where to focus. There are four key areas that tell you everything you need to know.

Read more: https://www.krusecontrolinc.com/how-to-read-a-dealership-financial-statement-practical-guide/

Bringing a CFO into your dealership can feel a bit like inviting a houseguest who goes through your medicine cabinet, yo...
09/02/2026

Bringing a CFO into your dealership can feel a bit like inviting a houseguest who goes through your medicine cabinet, your freezer, and your credit card statements, and then tells you what’s expired, what’s rotting, and why you’re broke. It’s unsettling at first, but if you’re smart, you’ll pour them a cup of coffee and let them keep talking.

Timing is everything. Hire a CFO too soon and you’ll wonder why you’re paying someone to keep you awake at night with spreadsheets. Wait too long and you’ll wake up one morning to discover you need to sell a fleet of trucks at a loss just to cover payroll.

Read more: https://www.krusecontrolinc.com/when-to-hire-a-dealership-cfo/

Address

3419 Via Lido Ste 484
Newport Beach, CA
92663

Telephone

(714) 251-6440

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