The Assistant Controller leads monthly, quarterly, and annual close activities, with end-to-end ownership of inventory accounting, reconciliations, reserves, costing, and variance analysis. The role oversees shared-service accounting deliverables, supports revenue recognition and technical accounting, improves ERP and reconciliation processes, and coordinates audits. It also manages and develops accounting staff while partnering with Supply Chain, FP&A, Revenue Operations, Internal Audit, and external auditors.
Key Responsibilities
Close Process & Operations
- Drive a disciplined, well-controlled monthly, quarterly, and annual close; identify and eliminate bottlenecks.
- Own inventory accounting end-to-end: standard costing, valuation, reserves (excess & obsolete, shrink), and period-end reconciliations.
- Partner with Supply Chain, Operations, and FP&A on cycle counts, physical inventory, and inventory variance analysis.
- Work closely with the Shared Service Center (SSC) to coordinate close deliverables, review SSC-prepared reconciliations and journal entries, and ensure consistent accounting treatment between corporate and SSC-managed processes.
- Review and approve inventory-related journal entries and account reconciliations, along with other key balance sheet reconciliations owned by the role.
- Monitor and analyze inventory trends, identifying risk areas (obsolescence, cost variances, slow-moving stock) and driving resolution.
- Standardize recurring reconciliations and reporting packages so they're repeatable rather than ad hoc.
- Identify and implement process and systems improvements (ERP configuration, automation, reconciliation tooling) to reduce manual, error-prone work.
- Serve as a subject matter resource to peers on revenue recognition (ASC 606), including SSP methodology and deferred revenue, and on financial reporting matters more broadly, helping the team work through complex or judgmental accounting questions and, as needed, drafting or reviewing technical accounting memos.
- Support external audit requests related to inventory and, where relevant, other technical accounting areas.
People & Cross-Functional Leadership
- Manage, mentor, and develop accounting staff; build technical bench strength on the team.
- Partner cross-functionally with Supply Chain, FP&A, Revenue Operations, the SSC, and Internal Audit to embed good controls upstream.
- Act as a resource for external auditors on areas of ownership and technical accounting questions.
Required Qualifications
- CPA required (active license).
- Big 4 public accounting experience required.
- Minimum 7–10 years of progressive accounting experience, including significant time in a public company (SEC registrant) environment.
- Strong technical accounting knowledge across inventory accounting (costing, valuation, reserves), revenue recognition (ASC 606) including SSP methodology and deferred revenue, and general financial reporting under US GAAP.
- Demonstrated ability to work at the transaction/data level — reconciling GL to subledgers and source systems, and identifying root causes of variances.
- Experience working with or overseeing a Shared Service Center (SSC) or similar outsourced/offshore accounting operation.
- Strong ERP systems experience (e.g., Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O, Oracle, NetSuite, SAP, or similar); comfort working with large datasets in Excel and ideally SQL or similar tools.
- Proven ability to operate independently, drive projects to closure, and communicate clearly with finance leadership, peers, and external auditors.
- Excellent written communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with an ERP or system migration (e.g., legacy system to D365, Oracle, or similar).
- Experience with revenue recognition tools (e.g., Zuora Revenue, RevPro, NetSuite ARM).
- Manufacturing, hardware, or distribution industry experience relevant to inventory accounting.
- Experience managing a team through a period of process change.
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.
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