The Controller manages accounting and finance operations for small to medium-sized startups, providing client-facing financial reporting, budgeting, and cash flow management. They lead a team of accounting staff to ensure accurate transaction coding, payroll, and month-end closing while maintaining compliance with legal requirements.
The Arightco controller position specializes in meeting the needs of small and medium-size businesses including Series Seed, Series A and Series B startups that do not have resources to build their own Finance and HR teams. The controller is a client-facing position and services a variety of Accounting and Finance needs and supports clients in all areas required. This job profile is not all inclusive. Each client may have unique needs for their Accounting and Finance operations. This profile provides an overview of areas that the Controller should be able to provide to clients or to Arightco, Inc. internal accounting and finance support needs.
Job Duties include but not limited to:
Client Management
- Manages client by directly interacting with the client through email, meetings, or calls
- Must be able to devote full time hours regardless of time zone (if remote) to position during times that coincide the needs of Arightco and client partner schedules.
- Manage client expectations of financial results by establishing, monitoring, and enforcing financial policies and procedures
- Guides financial decisions by becoming fully versed in clients finance operations and establishing, monitoring, and enforcing financial policies and procedures
- Prepare, analyze, and interpret financial data through financial reports and detailed analysis and provide status of client’s financial operations and suggestions for enhancements.
- Prepare, analyze, and interpret specialized financial reports including budgets, financial modeling, and cash flow documents, presentations, etc.
- Maximize return on financial assets by establishing financial policies, procedures, internal controls, and reporting systems based on clients unique needs and operations.
- Protects client’s assets by establishing proper internal controls and financial policies, checks and balances, and procedures.
- Prepares budgets by establishing schedules; collecting, analyzing, and consolidating financial data; recommending budgetary plans or changes. Prepares high level detailed spreadsheets or other presentations when required.
- Manages budget by analyzing financial statements and variances and suggesting alternatives or corrective measures to improve efficiencies.
- Managing client cashflow expectations and expenditures, revenues, and variances; initiate appropriate corrective actions as needed. Communicate such to client.
- Provide and prepare support documentation for client for external Audits.
- Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local requirements by staying up to date on existing and new Federal/State and Local legislation, anticipate and prepare for future legislation, ensure adherence to requirements, filing financial reports, and advise client and management on needed or required actions
- Protect client’s financial information by maintaining Arightco confidentiality guidelines for client records management at all times.
Financial Management Skills:
- Understand and use the customer’s business goals and challenges to analyze and interpret financial data and provide client with feedback when appropriate.
- Understanding general business compliance and the overall impacts on the client’s financial statements and business.
- Develop the client relationship by providing a high standard of accounting and finance support to the client and their partners when needed.
- Proactively communicate with the client about actionable insights on the financial status of the business
- Provide budgeting, cash forecasting, and financial modeling based on the client’s business needs
- Take ownership of the accuracy and completeness of all accounting and financial reporting to the client and meet all deadlines.
- Present financial reports in a timely manner through email, calls, or meetings with the client
- Proactively seek opportunities to grow the scope of accounting and finance work that is provided to the client by actively engaging with the client to understand their business goals, challenges, and needs
Accounting Team Management
- Manage team of Accounting and Finance staff to prioritize the work including daily coding of transactions, Accounts Receivable invoicing, Accounts Payable billing and payment entries, month-end closing, payroll, and ad hoc projects to ensure work is executed in a timely, effective, and high standard. May sometimes need to get into the details and make entries into the financial system.
- Completes client requirements by scheduling and assigning employees, following up on work results.
- Provide technical accounting and procedural guidance to the accounting and finance team
- Act as liaison for communications between the client and accounting and finance team
- Communicate, document, and execute proper financial policies and procedures and any changes to them in a timely manner
- Manage the accounting and finance team’s time to maintain client profitability and provide timely analysis to the management team for any changes
- Review the work of the accounting and finance staff and provide timely feedback and guidance
- Maintains accounting and financial staff by helping in the recruiting, selecting, and training of employees.
- Maintains accounting and financial staff job results by coaching, counseling, and disciplining employees by planning, monitoring, and appraising job results.
Controller Qualifications / Required Skills:
- Experience managing Payroll Processes/ Gusto experience desirable
- Experience with ADP, and other payroll processing platforms.
- High level, recent hands-on use and experience with QuickBooks and QuickBooks online
- Rent hands on experience with Bill.com,
- Managing processes strategically from start to completion
- Financial software – ability to learn and quickly master client finance systems
- Developing standards – Ability to formalize processes in writing
- Auditing, accounting, and corporate finance – Full scope knowledge of Finance processes
- Tracking budget expenses – High level of Microsoft Excel skills required
- Analyzing information, preparing presentations for clients and Leadership Team
- Developing budgets - recent previous experience
- Employee performance management – Ability to assess performance of employees
- Recent operations hands-on use/knowledge in tools, and ability to train and provide guidance to new hires at lower levels in operational roles.
- A high level of people leadership and management skills.
- Experience in working with multiple legal entities including knowledge of US state taxes and registration processes under different legal umbrellas
- Experience with financial reporting and auditing requirements
General Duties
- Manage general administrative duties as needed (i.e. training, presentation, email, task management)
- Participate in team meetings and activities
- Effectively use various tools and software provided to manage daily work and client portfolio
Education, Experience, and Licensing Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance
- Minimum 8-10 years’ experience in accounting/finance
Physical / Work Conditions / Location: Company Office or Remote client business location as assigned. Employee regularly required to sit, stand, type, handle and feel. Use of hands and arms to reach, vision abilities including close and distance. Regularly talk and listen and hear. Employee may be occasionally required to stand and walk or climb stairs. Employee may be required to occasionally lift up to 10 pounds.
FLSA Job Status: Full-time – Exempt
Salary Range: 100,000-130,000 USD