Controller

Pay: $100,000.00 - $125,000.00 per year

Job Description

Construction Controller

About the Role

We are an outsourced accounting and controller services firm serving construction and home service businesses with $2M–$20M in annual revenue. Our clients are owner-operators — they build homes, remodel kitchens, install HVAC, run service crews. They are excellent at their trade and they need someone who is excellent at the numbers.

As a Construction Controller, you are the financial leader for a portfolio of client businesses. You sit across from the owner and tell them what the numbers mean and what to do about it. You own the relationship, the systems, and the outcome — even when the day-to-day bookkeeping is executed by someone else on your team.

Who Thrives Here

The best controllers on our team share a few traits. Read these first — they matter more to us than any single line on your resume.

• You learn fast. Show you something once and you've got it. When you hit something you've never done, you find the answer, build the checklist, and don't need to be shown twice.
• You're organized by system, not by memory. You run a multi-client book with a repeatable rhythm, so nothing depends on you remembering it at 9pm.
• You fix the process, not just the problem. When something takes too long or breaks twice, you redesign it — an import, a template, an integration, a better handoff.
• You're comfortable with technology. You can tell us what syncs cleanly from JobTread or Buildertrend into QBO and what doesn't, and you pick up new tools quickly.
• You know construction. WIP, change orders, retainage, labor in COGS, deposits versus revenue — you've lived it, not just read about it.
• You delegate and review. You'd rather build the standard and check the work than do every keystroke yourself.
• You think like a partner. You look at a job-profitability report and ask about the billing model, the pricing, and the cash — not just the coding.
• You say the hard thing. You'll tell a client, a teammate, or us when something could be done better, and you bring a fix with it.
• You own mistakes fast. When you get something wrong or you're stuck, you say so early. No one here gets in trouble for saying "I need help." Surprises the night before a deadline are what hurt.
• You communicate clearly. You can explain an under-billing to a remodeler in plain English.

What You'll Own

Client leadership and advisory

— Own the client relationship end to end. Meet with clients monthly, present financials in plain language, build budgets and cash flow forecasts, and proactively flag margin erosion, pricing problems, or cash timing risk before the owner asks.

Onboarding and systems architecture

— Own new client onboarding: scope and execute cleanup, rebuild the chart of accounts and cost code structure, and migrate clients onto our tech stack (QBO Advanced, Ramp, Bill.com, Gusto). Connect field management platforms (Buildertrend, JobTread, Jobber, Housecall Pro, Houzz Pro, D-Tools, ServiceTitan, Adaptive) to QBO and own it when the systems disagree.

Oversight and quality

— Supervise and review your Bookkeeping Specialist's reconciliations, AP, AR, payroll, and general ledger work. Ensure COGS and job-level margin are real, oversee cost-plus billing setup, and review job cost reports and WIP schedules before they reach the owner. Ensure every client's financial package is accurate and on time — and raise your hand early whenever it's at risk.

Continuous improvement

— Spot the repeat problems across your clients and fix them at the source: better templates, cleaner integrations, tighter handoffs. We expect you to make our process better, not just follow it.

What Success Looks Like in Your First Six Months

• When we bring on a new client, you can take the onboarding from day one, getting new clients to adopt new software, systems, and processes.
• You fully service your clients — bookkeeping review, reporting, AR, AP, payroll oversight, and advisory calls — without needing a supervisor to step in.
• You hit deadlines consistently across a multi-client book.
• You communicate issues honestly and early, well before they become a deadline problem.

Who Is Not a Good Fit

• You want to spend most of your time doing transactional bookkeeping yourself rather than architecting, reviewing, and leading.
• You've worked in construction accounting only within a large ERP environment (Sage 300 CRE, Viewpoint, CMiC) and have not worked hands-on in QuickBooks Online.
• You want a single company's books with predictable rhythms — multi-client leadership means competing deadlines and constant context switching.
• You'd rather wait to be trained than go figure it out.
• You're not comfortable giving direct feedback — to a client, a teammate, or your manager.

Qualifications

Required

• 5+ years of hands-on accounting experience, including at least 3 years in construction, trades, or project-based businesses.
• 3+ years working hands-on in QuickBooks Online, including configuring, cleaning up, or rebuilding files.
• Hands-on experience with WIP schedules, job costing, cost code structures, and COGS classification.
• Experience owning or supporting a full month-end close: AP, AR, reconciliations, accruals, and reporting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including explaining financials to non-accountants.
• Experience in an outsourced accounting, fractional CFO, or other multi-client environment.

Preferred

• Experience supervising or reviewing the work of a bookkeeper or staff accountant.
• Experience integrating QBO with Buildertrend, JobTread, Jobber, Housecall Pro, Houzz Pro, D-Tools, or ServiceTitan.
• Hands-on experience with Ramp, Bill.com, and Gusto.
• Payroll experience (processing, 941s, workers' comp classifications). We will train a strong candidate on what's missing.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance, and/or CPA/CMA. We weight demonstrated hands-on capability more heavily than credentials.

Compensation and Benefits

• $100,000 – $125,000 per year, depending on experience
• 3 weeks paid time off, plus paid holidays
• Health insurance stipend
• Fully remote
• A team that invests in your growth — we want you to be measurably better at this work a year from now

This role reports to the Director of Operations.

Experience

Construction Accounting: 3 years (Required) · QuickBooks Online: 3 years (Required) · Supervisory or review experience: 2 years (Preferred)

Work Location

Remote

Pay: $100,000.00 - $125,000.00 per year

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance

Application Question(s)

• Have you prepared or maintained a WIP (work-in-progress) schedule for a construction company?
• This role is fully remote and requires a dedicated, distraction-free workspace during core hours. Do you have one?
• Have you reviewed or supervised another bookkeeper's or accountant's work?
• Have you worked in a multi-client setting (accounting firm, outsourced/fractional, or a role covering several entities)?
• Which of these have you worked in hands-on? Buildertrend, JobTread, Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, Houzz Pro, D-Tools, Ramp, Bill.com, Gusto, None

Experience

• accounting at a construction company: 3 years (Preferred)
• hands-on QuickBooks Online (not just Desktop or an ERP): 3 years (Preferred)

Work Location: Remote