If your US GAAP conversion is a one-off project with an auditor, an investor or an acquirer waiting at the end of it, work with someone who has done that specific job before. If the work is month-end support, local GAAP statutory accounts or a clearly scoped task with no US GAAP or US listing angle, a good generalist freelancer is often the better fit, and usually the better value. What matters is whether the person has done this kind of work before; freelancer or firm makes much less difference.
I should say up front that I'm a freelancer myself. I work independently under my own name, and it's just me on every project. So this post compares a generalist with a specialist. It's the longer version of the "Generalist freelancer" column in the comparison table on my GAAP conversion page, written for CFOs, VPs Finance and FDs who have just brought in US investors and are wondering whether the freelance accountant they already know (or a cheaper one) could take the conversion on.
Where a generalist freelancer is a great fit
Plenty of finance teams in Europe rely on an experienced freelance accountant, and for good reason. A generalist who knows your business is ideal for:
- Month-end and year-end support: covering a gap in the team, running the close, preparing reconciliations.
- Local GAAP statutory work: the annual accounts under HGB, FRS 102 or your local framework, and the work around the local audit.
- Clearly scoped tasks: a systems migration, a one-off analysis, a cleanup of a balance sheet area, where everyone knows what done looks like.
These jobs have a known shape, and the freelancer's knowledge of your business is worth more than any specialism. If that's what you need, a generalist is usually the right call, and you probably don't need someone like me.
Why a US GAAP conversion is a different kind of job
A US GAAP conversion looks like an accounting task, but three things make it different.
Someone will review every position
The conversion is read closely by an auditor, often one used to PCAOB or Big Four standards, and by investors or an acquirer who will rely on the numbers. Each difference between your local GAAP and US GAAP needs a position, the reasoning behind it, and the evidence from your contracts and ledgers. "This is how we've always done it" doesn't get past the first review meeting.
The judgment calls are the hard part
Most of the effort goes into a handful of areas where US GAAP asks for judgment and documentation:
- Revenue recognition (ASC 606): performance obligations, multi-year SaaS contracts, principal versus agent.
- Leases (ASC 842): classification (which decides where the cost shows up in your income statement), discount rates and the balance sheet effect.
- Share-based payments (ASC 718): valuing and expensing your option plans, which under some local GAAPs have never been expensed at all.
Someone who has worked through these for other European companies knows which questions the auditor will ask and which answers hold up. Someone doing it for the first time will learn on your project, and usually under deadline.
The deadline belongs to the deal
The timeline is set by a closing condition, a first audit under the new framework or a US filing. It doesn't move because the scope turned out to be bigger than expected, which leads to the pricing question.
Hourly pricing or a fixed fee per phase
Most generalist freelancers charge by the hour or by the day. I charge a fixed fee per phase, agreed upfront. Both are reasonable; the difference is who takes on the risk when the work grows.
With hourly or daily pricing, you pay for the time used. That's fair and efficient for a well-defined task. On a conversion, though, scope tends to grow as differences come to light (an extra entity, an unusual contract, a share plan nobody mentioned), and every extra hour comes out of your budget. To budget it, ask for an estimate by workstream, a cap or a check-in point before the estimate is exceeded, and a weekly view of hours used.
With a fixed fee per phase, the fee is set once the scope is agreed, so if the agreed work takes longer than expected, I absorb it. Anything outside the original scope is agreed separately before it starts, so there are no surprises on the invoice. To budget it, check exactly what each phase includes and what would count as a change. My pricing page explains what sets the fee for each phase.
Neither model is cheaper by default. A fixed fee needs a clear scope at the start, which is why I spend time on scoping before quoting. Hourly pricing needs someone on your side watching the hours.
What your team keeps afterwards
The conversion produces positions that your team will apply every month from then on, and that the auditor will ask about again next year. So the most important output is what's written down:
- A GAAP matrix: every account and policy mapped from your local GAAP to US GAAP, with the differences that change your numbers.
- Accounting policies: written for your business and the way it actually runs.
- Technical memos: the reasoning behind each judgment call, in a form the auditor can follow.
A generalist who documents this well is a perfectly good choice. The risk is when the knowledge stays in one person's head: the conversion gets done, the person moves on, and next year your team can't explain why a position was taken. With me, the documented positions are yours to keep, and I walk your team through them as we go (recorded, so nobody has to sit in extra meetings), so they can run it next time.
Questions to ask any freelancer before handing over a conversion
Ask these of anyone you're considering, including me:
- Conversions: how many US GAAP conversions have you done, and from which local GAAPs?
- Audits: have you been through a PCAOB or Big Four audit of a conversion, on the client side or the audit side?
- US listings: if an IPO is possible, have you worked on SEC reporting or a registration statement?
- Documentation: what will I have at the end? Can I see an anonymised GAAP matrix or memo?
- Pricing: is it hourly, daily or fixed? What happens when the scope grows, and how will I know before the budget is used up?
- Who does the work: is it you throughout, or will parts be passed to someone else?
Here are my own answers, so you have something to compare against:
- Conversions: more than 20 European companies through US GAAP or IFRS work for a US transaction, from more than 10 local frameworks, including HGB, FRS 102, Belgian GAAP and Norwegian GAAP. I'm a US CPA, and I read and speak German.
- Audits: both sides. I worked in audit at PwC, and as an independent advisor I take clients through the first audit of their conversion, PCAOB audits included.
- US listings: yes. My PwC years covered capital markets as well as audit and accounting advisory, and I support European companies with US IPOs and SEC reporting as foreign private issuers.
- Documentation: a GAAP matrix, accounting policies and a technical memo for each judgment call, all yours to keep, plus recorded walkthroughs so your team can run it next time.
- Pricing: a fixed fee per phase, agreed upfront. If the agreed work takes longer than expected, I absorb it. Anything outside the scope is agreed with you before it starts, so you know before the budget moves.
- Who does the work: me, from the first call to the final memo. Nothing is passed to anyone else.
The generalist and the specialist side by side
| Generalist freelancer | Working with me | |
|---|---|---|
| US GAAP, IFRS and European local GAAP | Often one framework or one country | US CPA, converting from local GAAPs across Europe; I read and speak German |
| US listing experience | Usually limited | Ex-PwC across audit, capital markets and accounting advisory |
| Who does the work | The freelancer | Me, from the first call to the final memo |
| How it's priced | Usually hourly or by the day | Fixed fee per phase, agreed upfront (see pricing) |
| Time from your team | Varies | Async, with recorded walkthroughs instead of extra meetings |
| What your team keeps | Depends on their documentation | Documented positions, and a team that can run it next time |
| Best when | The task is well defined and has no US GAAP or US listing angle | You need US GAAP or IFRS for a US fundraise, acquisition or IPO, as a defined project |
When the generalist is clearly the right call
Go with the generalist when the task is well defined and has no US GAAP or US listing angle: the close, the statutory accounts, local tax support, a contained project in a framework they know well. It's also a good setup after a conversion. Once the positions are documented, a generalist who knows your business can keep the books in line with them month to month, and bring in a specialist only for new or unusual transactions.
If US GAAP or IFRS is coming because of a US fundraise, an acquisition or an IPO, that's the defined project I'm built for. Snowplow cut its advisory fees by 50% compared with larger firms on its GAAP conversion (read the case study), and I've compared the cost of a specialist with a larger firm in GAAP conversion specialist vs Big 4. If you'd like a head start on what US reporting will ask of your team, the US accounting and reporting guide covers it for European finance teams.
Talk it through for your situation
If you're deciding between someone you already know and a specialist for your conversion, I'm happy to talk it through, including whether you need me at all. You can book a strategy call here.