Assistant Financial Controller

The Role

Join GreenLite at a pivotal moment. As Assistant Controller, you'll shape the financial backbone of a company revolutionizing a multi-hundred billion dollar industry. You'll manage our relationship with our external bookkeeping firm, ensuring accurate and timely financial data delivery, and drive process improvements and enhance controls.

You'll ensure the accuracy and integrity of financial statements for critical business decisions, strategic planning, and investor reporting. Your work directly impacts funding and growth. Responsibilities include managing the month-end close process, optimizing cash flow, and implementing process improvements. This role demands trust, given the sensitive financial data, and requires close collaboration with cross-functional teams.

Beyond core controllership, this role offers the opportunity to engage in diverse ad hoc finance activities (up to 50% of time). In our fast-growing startup environment, you'll contribute to projects like leading finance initiatives for process/tooling changes, developing historical financial analyses for budgeting, and supporting ad hoc reporting for internal/external stakeholders. This provides ample opportunity to expand your skillset across critical finance functions.

At GreenLite, we place value in our in-office culture - the relationships and collaboration it builds and the creativity it brings to the table. When possible operate as a hybrid workplace to enable balance for our teammates while keeping GreenLite's goals top of mind.

• role will be NYC-Hybrid based out of our SoHo Office 3 days / week

What you'll be doing

• Oversee timely and accurate financial statements. Manage the external bookkeeping partnership, including reconciling key accounts (A/R, Deferred Revenue, A/P), and ensure accurate expense accruals, revenue entries, and cost allocations. Drive reductions in days-to-close.
• Manage A/R and cash inflow forecasts. Optimize invoicing and payment processes, understanding contract/operational data, customer requirements, and invoicing tools. Resolve data anomalies and improve A/R aging.
• Manage A/P and cash outflow forecasts. Manage the internal spend request (purchase order) process. Evaluate cash flow impacts and improve approval process adherence. Own monthly spend variance analysis and drive strategies to reduce unapproved spending. Ensure accurate billing schedules for open purchase orders.
• Handle ad hoc finance projects (up to 50% of time) related to process/tooling changes, historical financial analysis for budgeting, and internal/external stakeholder reporting.

Collateral responsibilities:

We are a fast-growing startup, and it's a safe bet to expect the unexpected. There will be a broad variety of collateral tasks which could flex up to consume up to half of the time of this role over the course of a quarterly cycle and as the business continues to grow. Examples of these could include:

1. Running point for finance on projects that arise as a result of changing our process or tooling across functions (e.g., a change to our sales or operational tooling or a change in our pricing model could have ripple effects into finance)
2. Creating analysis on historical financial trends to improve the quality of the baseline information as part of the quarterly budgeting process
3. Jumping in on ad hoc financial reporting for internal and external stakeholders. This area of work will likely grow as we approach our next fundraise.

How you'll be evaluated

1. Financial Statement Accuracy and Timeliness: Consistently deliver accurate and timely financial statements, adhering to monthly close deadlines and proactively manage the close calendar to optimize workflow.
2. Expense Accrual and Account Reconciliation: Establish accurate and transparent expense accrual processes for key cost lines, and effectively manage account reconciliations, implementing controls to minimize errors in future close cycles.
3. Process Optimization: Successfully identify and offboard or automate repeatable procedures, demonstrating a commitment to streamlining the controllership function.
4. Cash Flow Prediction and A/R Management: Accurately predict cash inflows and outflows, improve A/R aging through strategic initiatives (e.g., multiple billing cycles, automated reminders), and ensure efficient cash collections from customers.
5. Invoice Accuracy: Maximize invoice accuracy, achieving very high first-submission customer acceptance rate by implementing process improvements such as enhancing customer onboarding and documenting invoice requirements.
6. Purchase Order Compliance and Budget Visibility: Ensure timely budget visibility for spend request owners (refreshed at least bi-monthly) and maintain purchase order compliance, ensuring less minimal amounts of cash outflows lack prior approval.

What we're looking for

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field. CPA strongly preferred. Strong understanding of GAAP and accrual accounting principles.
• 3-5+ years of progressive accounting experience. Public accounting / Big 4 audit, or in-house accounting experience strongly preferred.
• Experience in a fast-paced, high-growth environment in addition to above is desirable, but not required.
• Experience managing external bookkeeping partners is desirable, but not required.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency in accounting software (e.g., QuickBooks) and CRM systems (e.g., HubSpot) - or a willingness to learn through self-paced learning and on the job training.
• Advanced Excel skills (e.g., pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, complex formulas).
• Experience with data validation and reconciliation across multiple systems.
• Familiarity with process automation tools and techniques is a plus.

Controllership Acumen

• Demonstrated ability to manage the month-end close process, including journal entries, accruals, and reconciliations.
• Strong understanding of A/R and A/P processes, including invoicing, collections, and vendor payments.
• Experience in developing and implementing internal controls to ensure data integrity and compliance.
• Ability to analyze financial data and identify trends, risks, and opportunities.

Process Orientation and Improvement

• Proven track record of identifying and implementing process improvements to streamline workflows and increase efficiency.
• Ability to analyze existing processes, identify bottlenecks, and recommend solutions for automation or off-boarding.
• Strong focus on accuracy, attention to detail, and data integrity.

Communication and Collaboration

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively communicate financial information to both financial and non-financial stakeholders.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with internal and external partners.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across departments to resolve issues and drive results.