Controller

Overview

A woman-owned estate planning firm based in Maryland is expanding and seeking an experienced Controller to provide financial leadership and strategic insights during this growth phase. The role focuses on enhancing forecasting, improving margins, and supporting data-driven decision-making to strengthen financial discipline and operational capacity.

Location: Towson, Maryland (preferred in-office; remote considered)

Responsibilities

Cash Flow Management and Forecasting

• Develop and maintain a rolling 13-week cash forecast
• Provide leadership with reliable daily and weekly cash visibility through accounting team reports
• Analyze cash inflow and outflow patterns to inform working-capital strategy
• Align hiring and expansion decisions with cash availability and liquidity forecasts

Financial Reporting and Decision Support

• Review financial reports produced by the accounting managers and own the analytical narrative and variance commentary
• Translate financial results into clear insights and recommendations for leadership
• Proactively highlight risks, trends, and tradeoffs
• Lead scenario planning (best/base/worst case) and stress-test assumptions related to expansion, hiring, and investments
• Manage balance sheet structure, working-capital targets, operating-reserve policy, and owner-distribution planning

Margin and Performance Analysis

• Develop visibility into contribution margins by office, service line, and referral source
• Identify cost drivers, pricing opportunities, and efficiency improvements
• Architect the annual budget and rolling forecast model; partner with accounting managers on budget tracking and variance analysis
• Collaborate with accounts receivable leadership to analyze revenue-cycle trends and inform pricing, policy, and collections decisions

Multi-Location Financial Oversight

• Build scalable financial models and reporting for new and existing offices
• Develop standardized location-level profit and loss statements and ramp models
• Support expansion planning with data-backed projections

Systems, Controls, and Process Improvement

• Own financial systems and ensure data integrity
• Develop a systems roadmap to reduce reliance on spreadsheets and manual reconciliations
• Improve system integrations and automate reporting
• Establish and maintain internal controls and financial standards

Finance Team Leadership and Oversight

• Review month-end close outputs with accounting managers to validate accuracy and strategic relevance
• Escalate structural accounts payable and receivable trends to leadership for decision-making and policy updates
• Ensure trust accounting controls function properly through periodic reviews and compliance oversight
• Coach, prioritize, and develop finance team members
• Identify and eliminate inefficiencies in finance workflows

Leadership Partnership and External Coordination

• Serve as a financial thought partner to leadership
• Support strategic planning and compliance readiness
• Coordinate with banks, auditors, CPAs, and other external partners
• Oversee payroll and benefits audits and compliance (operations owned by accounting managers)
• Monitor tax liabilities and support tax planning

Strategic Finance and Cross-Functional Partnership

• Build financial business cases for new offices, major hires, marketing investments, pricing changes, and capital expenditures
• Partner with operations, marketing, and practice leaders to translate business strategy into financial targets, unit economics, and capacity models
• Develop and maintain a long-range (3–5 year) financial model aligned with growth ambitions
• Define and govern the KPI architecture across the firm, ensuring finance and operating metrics reconcile and provide coherent insights
• Serve as the finance point of contact for intercompany matters across affiliated entities

Requirements

• 8 to 15+ years of accounting and finance experience
• 3 to 7 years of experience leading and managing a finance team
• Strong ownership of month-end close, budgeting, forecasting, and cash management
• Experience in professional services and multi-location environments
• Experience with multi-entity and multi-state operations
• CPA strongly preferred
• Proven ability to build, improve, and scale finance processes

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary range: $140,000 - $170,000
• Competitive benefits package
• Performance-based incentives aligned with company success
• Health insurance with 50% company contribution
• Dental and vision insurance
• Company-paid short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Company-paid group-term life insurance
• 401(k) with a 4% employer match (3% plus 50% of the next 2%), immediate vesting
• Generous PTO starting at 20 days annually, increasing with tenure
• 7 paid holidays per year
• 3 weeks of paid parental leave

Career Path

This role offers meaningful growth potential and may evolve into a Head of Finance or CFO position as the organization continues to scale.

Application Process

• Application submission and screening
• Initial phone screening interview (15 minutes)
• Virtual interview (30 minutes)
• Candidate assessments (skills and cultural fit)
• In-person interview at Towson office (1 hour, including office tour)
• Job offer and reference/background checks
• Orientation and onboarding