Controller

Recruit + Field is a premium qualitative market research recruiting firm. We recruit, screen, qualify, and place respondents — and we hold ourselves to a very high standard in everything we do. We're looking for a Controller who brings that same standard to our finances. This is not a passive reporting role. We need someone who is genuinely invested in the financial health of this company — someone who reads the numbers, understands what they mean, asks hard questions, and flags issues before they become problems. You will have real visibility into the business and direct access to leadership. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable processing an invoice and presenting a financial dashboard to leadership. You execute AP and AR personally, you watch the numbers closely, and you speak up when something is off. This is a do-it-yourself role with real organizational impact. You will own the full financial operations cycle — including personally executing AP and AR transactions daily, month-end close, payroll coordination, reconciliations, and reporting — while also serving as the company's internal watchdog on spending, vendor costs, and financial accuracy. This role is equally about execution and oversight. You are in the weeds and watching the big picture at the same time. WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS We are growing, and our financial infrastructure needs to keep pace. We need a single point of ownership for financial operations — someone who proactively monitors spending, holds vendors accountable, surfaces risks, and ensures that leadership always has an accurate, current picture of the company's financial health. The right person will bring order, visibility, and vigilance to our finances and become a trusted partner to leadership. CORE RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Financial Vigilance & Expense Oversight This is a top priority, not a secondary task. You will actively monitor company finances and flag anomalies proactively. • Conduct regular expense audits — reviewing all company spend across QuickBooks, Ramp (corporate card platform), and vendor invoices • Identify unusual charges, duplicate billing, unauthorized spend, or cost creep and escalate immediately to leadership • Maintain and regularly review a vendor master list; flag redundant, lapsed, or overpriced vendor relationships • Review all invoices before payment to verify accuracy, proper coding, and business justification • Proactively surface cash flow risks, budget variances, and unusual trends — don't wait to be asked • Build and maintain a recurring audit cadence (monthly and quarterly) for all expense categories 2. Accounts Payable & Receivable — Full Execution This is a hands-on execution role, not a supervisory one. You will personally process AP and AR transactions daily — this is a core part of the job, not a delegation task. Accounts Payable • Review, code, and process all incoming vendor invoices — verifying accuracy, proper GL coding, and business justification before any payment is made • Execute vendor payments including check runs, ACH transfers, and credit card settlements — ensuring nothing is paid late or paid incorrectly • Manage all non-autopay items in QuickBooks Online from receipt through to cleared payment • Advance payments when due and proactively manage payment timing to maintain vendor relationships and avoid late fees • Collect W-9 / W-8 forms from all new vendors before first payment is issued; maintain vendor records accurately in QuickBooks Online • Reconcile vendor statements against QuickBooks records and resolve discrepancies directly with vendors • Oversee 1099 preparation and filing at year-end, including respondent 1099 reporting in coordination with the ops team Accounts Receivable • Generate and send client invoices accurately and on time — ensuring invoices match agreed project scopes and terms • Record and apply all incoming payments in QuickBooks Online promptly and accurately • Monitor outstanding receivables and proactively follow up on any past-due balances — escalating to leadership when needed • Maintain clean AR aging — flag any overdue accounts or collection risks early • Reconcile client payments against invoices and resolve any billing discrepancies directly with clients or internal project leads • Keep bank feeds updated and ensure all transactions are assigned consistent, accurate accounting codes 3. Month-End Close & Financial Reporting • Execute month-end close — reconciliations, journal entries, bank/credit card statement reconciliations • Prepare monthly financial package: P&L, cash flow summary, balance sheet snapshot, and budget vs. actuals • Generate dashboard-ready reports for leadership that are clear, accurate, and actionable — not just data dumps • Attend and contribute to monthly financial review meetings; own follow-up action items • Review weekly accounting accuracy and resolve variances promptly 4. Payroll Coordination • Oversee payroll processing in coordination with the payroll processor (Human Resources) and QuickBooks Online payroll • Manage benefits coordination, department/role changes, and new hire payroll setup • Ensure payroll accuracy and flag discrepancies before they are processed 5. Quarterly Financial Management • Conduct comprehensive reviews of budgets, forecasts, and profitability metrics • Lead quarterly vendor contract reviews to identify savings opportunities • Prepare quarterly financial statements and present clear, actionable insights to leadership • Ensure compliance with quarterly tax filing requirements; liaise with external CPA as needed • Run scenario analyses, burn reports, and cash flow projections as needed 6. Process Improvement & Documentation • Identify inefficiencies in financial and operational workflows and implement practical improvements • Document and maintain SOPs for all key financial processes • Leverage tools — QuickBooks Online, Ramp, and others — to their full capability • Partner with Sales, HR, and Operations to ensure financial processes support business goals 7. Financial Support to the VP of Qualitative Research & CEO While this role reports directly to the VP of Qualitative Research, the Controller also serves as a financial resource to the CEO — providing visibility, analysis, and insights that support company-level decision-making. • Keep the VP of Qualitative Research informed with accurate, timely financial summaries and flag anything requiring attention or escalation • Provide the CEO with financial data, reporting, and analysis as needed — including profitability summaries, cash flow snapshots, and budget vs. actuals • Prepare ad hoc financial analyses and scenario models as requested by the VP or CEO • Attend leadership meetings as needed and contribute clear financial context — translating numbers into plain language • Proactively surface financial trends, risks, or opportunities to leadership rather than waiting to be asked • Support budget planning, goal-setting, and financial forecasting in partnership with the VP and CEO WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE In the first 90 days, a successful Controller will: • Have fully taken over AP and AR — all invoices processed, payments advanced, and client invoices going out cleanly and on time • Complete a full audit of current vendor spend and surface any flags to leadership • Establish a clean, consistent month-end close process • Deliver a financial dashboard that leadership can actually use • Have caught at least one thing that wasn't being caught before Ongoing, you will be measured on financial accuracy, the timeliness and quality of reporting, the proactiveness of your issue-flagging, and your genuine partnership with the VP of Qualitative Research and CEO. CORE COMPETENCIES • Financial stewardship — you treat company money with care and take personal ownership of financial health • Proactive communication — you surface issues early, not after the fact • Attention to detail — you notice things others miss • Technical proficiency — advanced QuickBooks Online; experience with Ramp or similar expense platforms • Analytical thinking — you understand what numbers mean, not just what they say • Process discipline — you build systems that prevent problems, not just respond to them • Cross-functional collaboration — you work well with non-finance people and translate financial data clearly SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS Education • Bachelor's Degree in Accounting or a related field (required) Experience • Minimum 7 years of experience in a controller or senior accounting role, including at least 5 recent years with US-based companies. Strong understanding of US finance, tax, and accounting practices is essential. • Minimum 2 years working cross-functionally with non-finance teams • Demonstrated experience with expense auditing, vendor management, and financial controls • Experience in a small business or startup environment strongly preferred — you are comfortable being the only finance person in the room Technical Requirements • Advanced proficiency in QuickBooks Online (non-negotiable) • Experience with corporate card/expense platforms (Ramp experience a plus) • Strong Excel/Google Sheets skills for reporting and analysis • Comfortable with remote tools and virtual collaboration WORK REQUIREMENTS • Must be available to work and communicate during US Eastern Time business hours • High proficiency in written and spoken English required for all communications • Remote position — must be self-directed and reliable without in-person oversight APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS To be considered for this position, please begin your submission or proposal with the sentence: "I AM HUMAN." Applications that do not include this phrase will not be reviewed. In your cover letter or proposal, please include a brief description of a time you identified a financial issue — billing error, cost anomaly, unauthorized spend, or similar — that others had missed, and describe the steps you took to resolve it. This is the most important thing we want to understand about you.