About the Financial Controller role
A Financial Controller is the head of the accounting function and the person ultimately accountable for the accuracy of a company's books. Controllers own financial reporting, the close process, internal controls, cash management, and compliance. They also build and lead the accounting team, so the role combines deep technical accounting with genuine people management.
The scope varies sharply with company size. In a scale-up, the Controller is often the most senior finance hire under the CEO or CFO and covers everything: reporting, payroll oversight, tax coordination, budgeting, and picking the accounting systems. In an established company, the Controller leads accounting managers and senior accountants, reports to a CFO or VP of Finance, and focuses on reporting quality, controls, and audit readiness while an FP&A team handles forecasting.
When you write your posting, be clear about where the role sits and what it inherits. State the team size, the reporting line, the systems in place, and the state of the function: is this a build role, a fix role, or a run role? Controllers evaluate opportunities on exactly those terms, and clarity here saves both sides weeks of interviewing.
Financial Controller job description template
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Job brief
We are hiring a Financial Controller to own the accuracy of our numbers and the team that produces them. You will run reporting and the close, design and enforce the controls behind them, manage cash and compliance, and lead the accountants doing the work.
This is a fit if you are technically deep and genuinely enjoy managing people, which is a rarer combination than it sounds. You will also spend real time explaining results to colleagues who do not read financial statements for a living.
Responsibilities
- Own the monthly, quarterly, and annual close and deliver financial statements on a fixed calendar
- Ensure all reporting complies with GAAP or IFRS and with local statutory requirements
- Design, document, and enforce internal controls and accounting policies
- Lead the annual external audit and act as the primary contact for auditors
- Manage cash flow, banking relationships, and short-term liquidity planning
- Oversee accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and tax compliance
- Build, coach, and review the accounting team, from staff accountants to managers
- Partner with FP&A or leadership on budgets, forecasts, and variance analysis
- Select, implement, and improve accounting systems and close automation
- Report financial results and risks to the CFO, CEO, or board with clear commentary
Requirements and skills
- Substantial accounting experience, including managing an accounting team
- Deep in GAAP or IFRS, with a full close cycle owned end to end
- Has led an external audit from planning through to a signed opinion
- Has designed internal controls and accounting policy, not only followed them
- Strong in an ERP such as NetSuite, SAP, or Dynamics, ideally through an implementation
- Explains a set of results in plain language to people outside finance
- Has hired, structured, and developed a team rather than inherited one
- An accounting or finance degree; a CPA, ACCA, or equivalent is strongly preferred
Nice to have
- Experience in a high-growth or PE-backed environment with tight reporting deadlines
- Multi-entity, multi-currency consolidation and transfer pricing exposure
- Experience preparing a company for its first audit, a fundraise, or due diligence
- Background that combines public accounting with in-house industry roles
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