Financial Controller (Fractional, CPA)

Overview

This fractional Financial Controller role will own finance end to end for a US-based remote team. The position is responsible for ensuring every booking is properly recorded across traveler and operator money flows, maintaining accurate books, cash planning, compliance, controls, and providing financial insights for major decisions.

Responsibilities

• Own the books: Close every month on schedule and deliver clear financials with a short narrative explaining what changed and why.
• Start hands-on, then build the process: Work directly in the ledger initially; document processes; lead and shape a bookkeeping team while handing off day-to-day transaction work.
• Plan the cash: Build budgets, rolling cash forecast, and runway view; provide confident answers to “can we afford this?”
• Build financial controls: Implement approval workflows, spend policies, and an audit trail that applies to everyone, including founders.
• Ensure correct marketplace accounting: Revenue recognition, customer credits and refunds, and operator payables.
• Maintain compliance: Own the tax and compliance calendar, including aviation excise taxes and multi-state obligations; manage an outside CPA firm.
• Support strategic decisions: Bring the numbers used to decide where to invest next and prepare for investor reporting as the business grows.

Requirements

• Active US CPA license (hard requirement).
• 5+ years in accounting, including owning the close at a startup or high-growth company.
• Experience building a finance function from scratch, not just maintaining one.
• Strong marketplace accounting knowledge (gross vs. net, funds held for others, refunds and payables).
• Deep QuickBooks Online experience.
• Hands-on US tax compliance experience, including sales and use tax, multi-state payroll tax, and pass-through entities.
• Comfort using AI in daily work.
• Ability to explain a variance to a non-accountant in a few sentences.
• Absolute discretion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Aviation, charter, or travel accounting experience.
• Federal excise tax experience.
• Fundraising and investor reporting experience.
• Experience leading a remote bookkeeping team.

Compensation & Benefits

• Fractional to start: More hours in the first two months while learning the business, then about 10 hours a week, growing with the company.
• Pay depends on experience.

Location

• Remote, US-based.
• Must have meaningful overlap with US Pacific hours.