Financial Controller

Summary

Join Urban Insight and Planetizen, sister companies specializing in digital agency and urban planning resources, as their Controller. This role involves leading accounting and finance operations, ensuring accurate financial records, and supporting the company's growth. The ideal candidate is an experienced accountant with a strong understanding of accrual accounting, analytical skills, and a detail-oriented approach. This position offers the opportunity to manage and build robust accounting and finance processes, lead initiatives like budgeting and forecasting, and create KPI dashboards. The role is fully remote and requires a minimum of 4 hours overlap with 9am - 6pm Pacific Time.

Requirements

• Minimum 10 years’ experience in accounting/finance including budgeting, KPI development, and bookkeeping
• Minimum CEFR C1 level with English
• Experience and deep understanding of accrual accounting
• Robust experience with Quickbooks Online
• Strong Excel skills
• Strong PowerBI skills
• Prioritization and time-management skills
• Highly motivated and tenacious personality
• Experience working independently on a finance team of one, with cross-functional support
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree; study in tax, accounting, or finance preferred

Responsibilities

• Own the accurate and efficient execution of all daily accounting tasks (bookkeeping, general ledger, AP, AR, invoicing, contract/payment tracking), maintaining meticulous financial records under both cash and accrual accounting bases
• Lead the timely month-end close process, preparing comprehensive and accurate financial statements (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow), and performing all necessary bank and account reconciliations to ensure data integrity
• Drive the annual budgeting process collaboratively with leadership; own the ongoing maintenance and refinement of financial forecasts, analyze budget variances, and provide proactive guidance on cost control and financial optimization strategies
• Develop, implement, and maintain robust accounting policies, procedures, and internal controls to minimize risk and safeguard assets; ensure full compliance with relevant financial regulations, coordinating effectively with external tax advisors for required filings
• Develop and manage insightful Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dashboards using PowerBI, translating complex financial data and performance metrics into clear, actionable recommendations to support strategic decision-making by the CEO, COO, and department heads
• Become an expert in the Urban Insight and Planetizen's businesses, services, products and financials
• Successfully taken ownership of all daily accounting operations, delivering at least two accurate and timely (within 10 days) month-end close cycles with completed core financial statements and reconciliations
• Demonstrated a clear understanding of the existing financial systems, processes, and reporting structures (including initial use of PowerBI dashboards); reliably producing standard financial reports and analyses for management review
• Built effective working relationships with the CEO, COO, and key department heads, understanding their needs, and begun identifying specific areas for potential improvements in controls, processes, or reporting based on initial findings
• Develop a roadmap for financial reporting, and the future of the finance and accounting department
• Designed and implemented tangible improvements to accounting procedures, internal controls, or system usage, demonstrably increasing efficiency and accuracy within the finance function
• Established as a trusted advisor providing proactive financial insights; significantly contributed to accurate forecasting, developed robust and actively utilized KPI dashboards (PowerBI), and influenced business decisions through insightful cost management guidance and performance analysis
• Successfully led the entire annual budgeting process from development through execution, seamlessly managed coordination with external tax advisors for all filings, and demonstrated consistent mastery and reliability across the full spectrum of the company's financial operations and reporting calendar

Preferred Qualifications

• Ideal candidate will have experience with B2B Professional Services industry such as a web design agency, marketing agency, or consulting firm, or with the eLearning industry
• Corporate Finance knowledge and experience
• Experience in a digital or other marketing agency
• Experience with online news or elearning platforms
• Experience with AI or automation tools such as Zapier or Automate.io
• Masters Degree in accounting or finance
• CPA or equivalent experience

Benefits

• Work from anywhere in LATAM
• The average employee tenure is 6.5 years
• We're stable; We've been in business for 25 years, and continue to grow each year
• We offer a casual and flexible working environment with plenty of opportunities for growth for the right candidate
• We believe in a reasonable life/work balance and enjoy 40-hour work weeks
• We allocate time for training and professional development
• We take on interesting, meaningful projects for appreciative clients
• Learn about using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) in a rapidly-growing agency
• Total compensation: $11,000,000-13,000,000 COP per month
• Paid time off (25 days including holidays)
• Performance and compensation reviews annually
• Annual customized training plan and time to work on it