Position: Interim Controller
Reports To: Owner / Chief Financial Officer
Location: Remote (U.S.) — candidates in the Central, Mountain, or Pacific time zones strongly preferred; Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex a plus. Finance and operations teams are concentrated in Texas and California.
Travel: 0 - 10% as needed to business locations across the United States
Compensation: Competitive hourly / contract rate. Initial engagement of approximately three (3) months, extendable based on business needs and mutual fit.
Chamberlain Advisors is conducting a search for an Interim Controller on behalf of a vertically integrated, rapidly scaling Security & Protection services platform that delivers field-based services through a large, nationally distributed, hourly workforce. Executing an active growth strategy, the company seeks a hands-on accounting leader to own the monthly close and multi-entity consolidation, deliver disciplined reporting to ownership and lenders, and stand up the controls and systems a scaling platform requires. The immediate mandate is continuity through a finance-team transition: own the monthly close and multi-entity consolidation, keep multi-state tax filings and contractor (1099) reporting on schedule, potential support of M&A, and deliver reliable reporting to ownership and lenders without interruption.
Core Profile: alignment with the following is required to get you in the conversation.
• Strategic Leadership & Executive Partnership: You will serve as the senior-most accounting leader on the ground, partnering directly with the owner/CFO and leadership to provide decision-grade financial reporting and insight. This is a strategic stewardship role, not a transactional close-the-books function: you will own the integrity of the numbers and translate them into a clear narrative for ownership and lenders. You will bring the judgment and credibility to be trusted with the financial story of a scaling, vertically integrated services platform.
• Hands-On Operational Builder & Functional Stewardship: You will operate as a genuinely hands-on builder, comfortable functioning as a team of one while the broader finance function is built in parallel. You will own the monthly close, multi-entity consolidation, internal controls, and accounting processes of a scaling platform, and do the work yourself rather than direct it from a distance. You will bring the discipline to impose structure where little exists and the resourcefulness to deliver immediate, foundational impact.
• ERP Technical Ownership: You will own the accounting systems environment, including the ERP, chart of accounts, and reporting infrastructure, optimizing existing functionality to support a faster close, stronger controls, and scalable reporting. You will bring CPA-level command of GAAP, including disciplined reconciliations, accruals, and ASC 606 revenue recognition, along with the technical confidence to diagnose issues and drive corrective action. You will treat systems and data integrity as a personal commitment, not a delegated task.
• M&A & Acquisition Integration Discipline: You will bring working knowledge of buy-and-build acquisition integration, including a common chart of accounts, opening balance sheets (ASC 805), and net-working-capital true-ups, to support an acquisitive platform. Because this is an interim engagement focused on reporting, controls, and the close rather than deal leadership, hands-on integration experience is highly valued but not the central mandate. You will be comfortable supporting diligence and integration activity while keeping the core finance function running with rigor.
• Mission-Aligned Cultural Fit & Institutional Growth Orientation: You will bring direct experience inside a private equity- or sponsor-backed professional services or labor-intensive, multi-site platform, the single most important qualification for this search, along with a high-growth, entrepreneurial orientation. A candidate who requires a fully built-out team, a polished steady-state environment, or who operates only at an oversight level without rolling up their sleeves will not succeed in this role.
Core Responsibilities & Scope of Work:
Close, Consolidation & Financial Reporting
• Monthly Close & Consolidation: Own a disciplined, GAAP-compliant monthly close and consolidation across multiple legal entities, supported by a clear close calendar and best-practice reconciliations and accruals.
• Financial Statements & Analysis: Produce accurate financial statements, close packages, and variance analysis with clear narratives on trends, risks, and operational drivers.
• Board, Investor & Lender Reporting: Deliver reporting packages to ownership and lenders on a disciplined cadence, including covenant compliance and cash-flow visibility, and prepare for institutional investor reporting as the platform's capital structure evolves.
• Revenue Recognition: Ensure ASC 606-compliant revenue recognition and appropriate treatment of contract and recurring-revenue billing across the services portfolio.
Accounting Operations & Internal Controls
• Internal Controls: Establish and enforce internal controls and accounting policies across accounts payable, accounts receivable, the general ledger, and payroll-related accounting.
• Process Build: Design and document scalable workflows and a chart of accounts that support the platform as it grows across markets.
• Working Capital: Manage the bill-to-pay working-capital cycle of weekly labor payroll against client payment terms, monitoring liquidity and cash position.
• Audit & Diligence Support: Support audit coordination, quality-of-earnings requests, and diligence in partnership with the owner/CFO.
Systems, Data & ERP Ownership
• ERP Ownership: Serve as functional owner of the ERP environment, optimizing existing functionality to enable a faster close, stronger controls, and scalable reporting.
• Chart of Accounts & Reporting: Configure the general ledger and chart of accounts and maximize native reporting tools to improve accuracy and efficiency.
• Data Integrity: Ensure data integrity and disciplined system controls across the accounting environment.
• Automation: Streamline manual workflows & build scalable, repeatable reporting reducing close-cycle effort over time.
Multi-State Operations, Compliance & Integration
• Multi-State Payroll & Tax: Own multi-state and multi-jurisdiction payroll, sales/use tax, income/franchise tax, and business-license compliance as the platform operates across many states, with the heaviest complexity concentrated in roughly five high-activity states (including California, Texas, New York, Nevada, and Florida). Manage high-volume 1099 contractor reporting across a distributed workforce (including off-duty officer programs), and keep federal and state filings on a disciplined, on-time cadence.
• Entity Setup & Licensing: Oversee business licensing, registrations, and new-entity setup as the operating footprint expands.
• Acquisition Integration (preferred): Apply working knowledge of acquisition integration, including a common chart of accounts, opening balance sheets, and net-working-capital true-ups, recognizing this interim engagement is reporting- and controls-led rather than integration-led.
• Regulatory Compliance: Ensure compliance with applicable state and federal financial reporting requirements.
Stakeholder Partnership & Governance
• Ownership & Finance Partnership: Serve as a trusted finance counterpart to the owner/CFO and finance leadership, providing fit-for-purpose reporting and timely insight.
• Founder & Seller Trust: Earn the trust of founder-operators and acquired-company leadership, balancing platform standardization with seller relationships.
• Reporting Cadence & Rigor: Maintain a disciplined reporting cadence and navigate the inherent tension between growth velocity and financial rigor, supporting institutional reporting requirements as the platform's capital structure evolves.
• Continuous Improvement: Drive continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen data integrity and decision-making across the organization.
Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in accounting or related field is required. Master’s degree, MBA, or equivalent experience is a plus.
• 10 – 15+ years of progressive accounting leadership experience, and a strong track record of career progression.
• Ideally 6+ years of people leadership experience, overseeing and directing the work of an accounting function.
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Charted Accountant (CA) or other accounting related certifications are a plus.
• Experience working for a PE-backed professional services, staffing, or labor-intensive, multi-site platform.
• Demonstrated ownership of multi-entity consolidation and GAAP financial statements within a PE-backed environment.
• Strong GAAP foundation, including the monthly close, reconciliations, accruals, and ASC 606 revenue recognition.
• Multi-state operational finance experience, including multi-state payroll, sales/use and income/franchise tax filings, business licensing, new-entity setup, and high-volume 1099 contractor reporting; experience across 10+ states, with several high-complexity states, strongly preferred.
• Experience producing board, investor, and lender reporting and supporting covenant compliance, audit, and diligence.
• Proven ability to improve accounting processes and controls while operating hands-on alongside the team.
• Functional ownership of a mid-market ERP (e.g., QuickBooks, NetSuite, or Sage), including general-ledger and chart-of-accounts configuration and native reporting; comfort operating in and consolidating mixed or transitioning systems environments.
• Familiarity with the economics of labor-intensive, field-based services, including bill rates versus pay rates, overtime and coverage, and recurring-revenue billing.
• Working knowledge of buy-and-build acquisition integration (ASC 805, opening balance sheets, net-working-capital true-ups) is a plus but not required.
• Ability to earn the trust of owners, sponsors, lenders, and acquired-company leadership
About Our Client
Our client is a vertically integrated, rapidly scaling security & protection services platform that delivers personal & family protection, corporate security, and security consulting services through a large, distributed field-based hourly workforce operating across many states. The company pairs disciplined operations with a service model built on reliability, coverage, and strong, recurring client relationships. Executing an active growth strategy, the company is building the financial infrastructure required to scale. The Interim Controller will partner directly with ownership to bring discipline, structure, and reliable reporting to a finance function being built alongside the company's growth, offering a hands-on accounting leader the opportunity to deliver immediate, foundational impact. The platform operates across many states with a workforce of roughly 750 — a mix of W-2 field employees and a meaningful population of 1099 contractors — and finance complexity concentrated in a handful of high-activity states.
#LI-KS1
#LI-Remote