Controller (Internal)
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AI Summary
The Controller will design and modernize financial control systems, leveraging automation and AI to streamline month-end close processes. They will also manage the accounting team, oversee external audits, and partner with cross-functional departments to drive financial strategy.
Controller (Internal)
Department: Corporate Accounting
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: Remote - US
Description
Who We Are: We’re builders, entrepreneurs, and problem-solvers who draw our inspiration from the incredible leaders we serve. Nearly 15 years ago, we set out to find a better way to help the country’s leading startups navigate the financial hazards that follow their first institutional funding. Today, Propeller’s 350+ full-time professionals on three continents are proud to be considered the premier finance and accounting partner to many of the most iconic emerging companies across the CPG, E-commerce, Technology, Crypto, and Professional Services industries. We are more than just an outsourced CFO and accounting provider; we are a growth partner for our clients. With a best-in-class technology platform, coupled with unparalleled data and workflow optimization tools, we give founders the visibility and confidence to make smarter decisions.
Title: Controller
Reports To: Head of Finance
Role overview:
Build Financial Systems That Scale. Design Controls That Compound.
This isn't a role where you process the month-end close on the same timeline, year after year. This is a role where you'll design the financial control architecture that makes the close faster, more accurate, and less dependent on manual effort. You'll own modernization alongside execution. Every month you'll look for bottlenecks to eliminate. Every quarter you'll evaluate new tools and workflows. You'll leverage AI and automation to reduce reconciliation work, surface insights faster, and scale our financial operations without scaling headcount.
You'll partner with every department in the company. You'll build trusted relationships with Service Delivery, Marketing, Sales, HR and our Transformation Teams. You'll make them faster and more confident in their financial data. You'll move from being a back-office function to being a strategic partner. When someone needs to understand how numbers connect to business reality, you'll be the person they ask.
You'll transform Propeller's financial operations from a checklist of tasks into a modern, integrated control system. You'll manage a Senior Accountant. You'll own the external audit and tax coordination. You'll do all the things a controller must do. But the measure of success won't just be accuracy and timeliness. It'll be building controls that work at speed and complexity. It'll be the systems you build that make the next month-end easier than the last one.
Key Responsibilities
Month-End Close Ownership
You live for tighter close timelines and zero errors. You own every step of the month-end close process. You manage the team. You post the complex entries. You complete the hard reconciliations. You review every account reconciliation before it gets signed off. You get satisfaction from the close running on schedule, in spec, with nothing slipping through cracks. If you prefer high-level oversight over hands-on execution, this isn't your role.
Control Design Capability
You understand internal controls. You can design controls over financial reporting and operational processes. You know how to document controls, test them, remediate gaps. You think in terms of ICFR and control matrices, not just task completion. You see a process and immediately think about where the control points should be and how to test them. If you've never owned control design and testing, this role will be harder for you.
Curiosity About Modernization
You're genuinely curious about automation and AI tools. You don't need to be a technologist, but you're willing to evaluate new approaches. You ask questions like: Can this reconciliation be automated? Should we integrate this system with that system? What would it take to replace this manual process? You own the evaluation and implementation of tools that improve efficiency. You partner with our Business Systems team on platform decisions. If you're content with processes the way they are, this isn't your role.
Partner Relationship Building
You're not a back-office function. You're someone who builds trusted relationships across the company. You work with our Transformation teams on capitalizable development tracking. You work with sales on billing and commission accuracy. You work with HR on payroll integrity and benefits accounting. You work with leadership on financial strategy. You communicate financial concepts in a way non-finance people understand. You're patient, clear, and helpful. If you prefer isolation to collaboration, this isn't your role.
NetSuite Fluency (or Rapid Learning)
Strong working knowledge of NetSuite is highly preferred. If you've managed complex accounting systems and integrated them with other platforms, you're ahead. If you haven't used NetSuite specifically but you're comfortable learning new systems quickly and troubleshooting issues, you can get there. What matters is that you have hands-on system experience and aren't intimidated by configuration and integration.
Financial Close and Reporting
- Own the month-end close process across four entities.
- Coordinate tasks across the accounting team and drive toward tighter close timelines.
- Post journal entries and complete account reconciliations for complex areas.
- Review and approve entries completed by the Senior Accountant.
- Complete various month-end financial reports for management and board review.
- Own the audit process end-to-end: planning, interim testing, fieldwork, working-paper coordination, and financial statement sign-off with external auditors.
Control Design and Modernization
- Design, document, and test internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) and operational processes.
- Continuously evaluate control gaps and opportunities to strengthen through process redesign, workflow automation, and system integration (e.g. NetSuite to billing system reconciliation, GL coding validation, exception handling).
- Lead the evaluation and implementation of AI and automation tools to reduce manual reconciliation, improve data quality, and accelerate month-end close.
- Partner with Business Systems on platform roadmap decisions that touch finance.
Fixed Assets and Capitalized Development
- Maintain the asset development tracker.
- Lead monthly check-ins with project owners on capitalizable work, timelines, and placed-in-service decisions.
- Calculate time allocated to capitalizable projects and update payroll cost-allocation files monthly.
- Identify opportunities to automate the capitalization workflow and integrate time-tracking data to reduce manual data entry and reconciliation effort.
Payroll, Benefits, and 401(k)
- Reconcile bi-weekly payroll to the bank and post to the general ledger.
- Calculate and post monthly accruals for wages, taxes, bonus, benefits, and PTO.
- Prepare monthly payroll cost-allocation and distribution journal entries (COGS and SG&A).
- Reconcile and fund 401(k) contributions each pay period.
- Lead annual compliance testing, audit coordination, and Form 5500 filing.
- Partner with HR on payroll data integrity and policy changes.
Billing and Revenue Operations
- Review financial-system charges, flat-fees, and other billing data each month and give final sign-off before invoices are issued.
- Support complex time-reconciliation issues between time-tracking and billing systems.
- Own the accounts receivable aging review (weekly minimum) and advise on collection risk.
- Identify trends in DSO, apply corrective actions, and track to targets.
Accounts Payable and Treasury
- Manage the semi-monthly AP payment cycle and ensure expense reports are reviewed and synced before each run.
- Process benefit carrier payments, international vendor payments, and miscellaneous items.
- Maintain AP controls and escalation protocols.
Tax, Insurance, and Regulatory
- Coordinate multi-state sales tax registrations and compliance with outside registered-agent and tax advisory firms.
- Manage annual insurance renewals with the company's broker.
- Independently prepare and file annual 1099s.
- Coordinate all other tax items: extension filings, estimated payments, partner K-1 distribution.
Equity Administration
- Support the maintenance of the capitalization table and grant documentation.
- Coordinate the 83(b) election process and handle forfeiture and repurchase processing for departing employees.
Commissions
- Calculate quarterly sales commission accruals, coordinate review with sales leadership, and deliver final payout figures to HR.
- Maintain commission accounting controls and reconciliation procedures.
Team Leadership
- Directly supervise the Senior Accountant, providing oversight, coaching, and guidance.
- Review and approve journal entries. Escalate questions and coaching opportunities.
- Serve as the escalation point for accounting questions from FP&A, HR, and company leadership.
- Build trusted partnerships with department heads on financial process improvements and automation initiatives.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Qualifications:
Must Haves
• 7+ years of progressive accounting experience, ideally including multi-entity, multi-client, or complex financial-reporting environments.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field. CPA preferred.
• Prior experience supervising accounting staff and managing external audit relationships.
• Strong working knowledge of NetSuite highly preferred. Proficiency with Bill.com, ADP, and Empower a plus. Ability to learn new platforms quickly.
Critical Mindsets
• Control Designer: You can design and test internal controls. You think in terms of risk mitigation and process design, not just getting tasks done.
• Modernization Focused: You see inefficiency and ask why. You evaluate AI and automation tools. You're not content with 'how things have always been done.'
• Execution Obsessed: You get satisfaction from month-end closes that run on time, in spec, with zero errors. You manage deadlines and hold people accountable.
• Cross-Functional: You build partnerships across the company. You communicate financial concepts clearly. You're helpful, not gatekeeping.
• Systems Thinker: You see how processes connect. You think about root causes, not just symptoms. You ask how to make systems better, not just manage them as-is.
• Accountable: You own results. You hold yourself and others to high standards.
DEI Statement: At Propeller Industries, we encourage our employees and our clients to bring their true selves to the organization. We believe that a diverse team enables us to cultivate and improve upon our culture of inclusion and collaboration. As an equal opportunity employer, we welcome the contributions that you can bring in terms of your education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs. So however you identify and whatever your background, we encourage you to apply for this role if you share our passion for helping great entrepreneurs build great companies. We look forward to meeting you!
Benefits
Salary range: $120,000 - $140,000 plus bonus, benefits and 401k match
Current Benefits Offered: Generous Paid Time Off and Holiday pay, Comprehensive health benefits plus dental, vision, short and long-term disability, and life insurance. HSA contribution, Paid Family Leave, 401k match and Remote Work. We also help you grow in your professional life.
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