Hailey Gundersen (left) and Caitlin Deutch (right), acquaintances since childhood, went separate ways but both returned to Fairbanks. The team uses their accounting skills to help small businesses deal with complex accounting matters at a reasonable price.

Fractional Accounting

Fairbanks accounting firm provides full-service accounting at contract rates

By David A. James

any contracting businesses need personalized, professional assistance with tax and financial planning. Finding a company to handle this is critical to maintaining smooth operations. That’s where Fairbanks-based Chinook Accounting is ready to step in.

“We realized that there’s a demand for this contract controller position,” cofounder and co-owner Caitlin Deutsch says. “A position that has higher-level education and accounting that a company might not have a need or budget to hire someone full-time for, but still is really needed. And that’s where we can fill the gap and be that fractional controller.”

Deutsch’s partner Hailey Gundersen explains, “We are this solutions-focused firm where it’s not just, ‘These are our services and this is all we’ll do.’ We’ll sit with our clients and figure out where they’re at in terms of their accounting work and how they use their financial information.”

Chinook opened its doors in 2022, and things rapidly took off. “We established our company and we were working from home,” Deutsch recalls. “And then we got a few big clients. I left my job first and then Hailey a couple months later. We went full-time pretty quickly.”

The two women have deep roots in Alaska and Fairbanks. Deutsch grew up there, while Gundersen, who was raised in Northern California, had family in the Golden Heart City and frequently visited in summers.

Deutsch headed south for college, receiving her accounting degree from University of Portland, and worked for Big Four accounting firm KPMG before returning to Fairbanks. Gundersen, a certified public accountant, or CPA, went the other direction, earning an economics degree with an accounting minor from UAF and obtaining her CPA license shortly after graduating.

The two, who have been acquainted since childhood, both established themselves professionally in Fairbanks working for small firms and Native corporations. They also knew each other through volunteering their time with local nonprofits. The two first considered joining forces when a friend offered to sell them her business.

“We entertained it and then had conversations with her about what it was like for her being on that side of the spectrum and not an employee, and it sounded very appealing to us,” Gundersen says.

When the owner sold the business to a different buyer, they decided to start their own. “We had both decided that we wanted to be in public accounting as opposed to the private side, working for a company in their accounting department,” Deutsch explains. They launched Chinook, she adds, because, “It was really apparent that there was a huge need here in Fairbanks.”

Gundersen says the two of them keep abreast of the rapidly changing tax and regulatory laws their clients need to be aware of. These, she says, include “anything that would help the business stay compliant in the sense of state filings, payroll reports—quarterly and annual for both federal and state—as well as any federal regulations that they need to stay current on, which can vary depending on the business type.”

Deutsch says changes made by the private Financial Accounting Standards Board also impact what business owners need to know.

“A few years ago, the accounting codifications had a large update, which was called ASC 606,” she explains. “That changed a lot about how contractors recognize revenue. I did a lot of my work in public accounting, helping clients adopt that new standard. So, my experience has lent to being able to serve that client base.”

Deutsch says Chinook, which is an Associated General Contractors of Alaska member, can offer specialized services for builders. “I have a lot of experience working with contractors. And Hailey as well has prepared tax returns for contractors.”

Therefore, she adds, “It made sense to join AGC because that’s where our client base is. It’s a good way to connect with those clients. We are able to serve the construction community because we do have a bookkeeping aspect to our business. And we’re a firm that will work in Sage, which is a highly favored accounting program with contractors.”

Contractors aren’t the only ones happy with Chinook. Chris Chambers, owner of Harley-Davidson Farthest North Outpost in Fairbanks says, “We count on Chinook Accounting to manage our internal accounting. They’ve invested and customized their services to fit our business and are a pleasure to work with.”

Gundersen says that as owners of Chinook Accounting, she and Deutsch are “very solutions oriented. And we’re Alaskans. We like serving Alaskan businesses, small businesses, and contractors. We enjoy what we do. We like to be of service.”