Controller, Property Accounting

LBMC Staffing Solutions•Nashville, TN

11d

About The Position

The Controller, Property Accounting will be responsible for standardizing and optimizing accounting processes, investing in the growth and development of team members, and ensuring that all financial reporting, controls, and compliance obligations related to the property and development portfolios are met with accuracy and timeliness. The ideal candidate brings a strong public accounting foundation, deep real estate accounting experience, and a genuine commitment to mentoring people and building scalable, efficient operations.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting required
Active CPA license required
Minimum of 4–5 years of public accounting experience, preferably with a regional or national firm serving real estate clients.
Substantial real estate accounting experience, with direct exposure to property-level accounting, development accounting, or both.
Minimum of 10 years of total accounting experience, with at least 3–5 years in a leadership or management role.
Demonstrated success building and leading accounting teams in a growth-oriented environment.
Proficiency with real estate accounting platforms (e.g., Yardi, MRI, RealPage, AppFolio) and ERP systems.
Advanced Excel and financial modeling capabilities; experience with business intelligence and reporting tools preferred.
Exceptional people leadership skills with a genuine passion for developing and empowering accounting professionals.
Strong process orientation — able to assess, redesign, and implement scalable accounting workflows and controls.
Outstanding communication skills with the ability to present financial information clearly to executive and non-financial audiences.
High degree of integrity, professional judgment, and discretion in handling confidential financial information.
Collaborative, solutions-oriented mindset with the ability to lead through influence across a multi-disciplinary organization.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration a plus.

Responsibilities

Recruit, develop, and retain a skilled accounting team across property and development accounting disciplines.
Establish clear performance expectations, provide regular feedback, and create individualized development plans for direct reports.
Foster a collaborative, inclusive team culture grounded in accountability, professional growth, and continuous learning.
Serve as a key mentor and resource for accounting staff, building organizational depth and succession readiness.
Partner with the CFO and senior leadership to align the accounting team's structure and capabilities with the company's growth objectives.
Design, document, and continuously improve accounting policies, procedures, and workflows across property and development accounting.
Establish and maintain a strong internal control environment, ensuring appropriate segregation of duties and risk mitigation.
Drive process standardization and automation to increase efficiency, reduce error risk, and improve reporting cycle times.
Oversee the monthly close process across property and development accounting, ensuring consistency and timeliness.
Direct accounting for all active development projects, including job cost tracking, draw management, and capitalization of costs.
Maintain development loan compliance, including lender reporting, budget-to-actual reconciliations, and construction draw packages.
Coordinate with project managers and owners' representatives to ensure accurate cost forecasting and project-level financial integrity.
Oversee the transition from construction accounting to stabilized asset accounting upon project completion.
Supervise the property accounting team responsible for all operating assets within the portfolio.
Ensure accurate and timely monthly close processes, including rent roll reconciliation, CAM reconciliations, and accrual management.
Review and approve monthly property financial statements, ensuring consistency and adherence to accounting policies.
Oversee lease accounting in compliance with ASC 842 and applicable lease terms.
Lead the annual budgeting process across the property and development portfolios, coordinating with asset management, development, and operations teams.
Collaborate with property managers and development leads to develop revenue and expense assumptions for each asset and project.
Establish and maintain a formal budget calendar, ensuring timely submissions and leadership approvals.
Manage reforecast cycles throughout the year and produce meaningful variance analysis against approved budgets.
Produce and distribute comprehensive monthly financial reporting packages for the property and development portfolios.
Develop dashboards and KPI reporting that highlight portfolio performance, occupancy trends, and key operational metrics.
Analyze and communicate financial results to property managers, development leads, and senior leadership, identifying trends, risks, and opportunities.
Prepare and present quarterly financial reports on the property and development portfolios to executive leadership and the board of directors, as applicable.
Summarize portfolio-wide financial performance and development pipeline status in executive-ready format.
Provide meaningful commentary on asset-level results, variances to budget, and forward-looking projections.
Oversee the preparation of quarterly investor reports covering property and development portfolio performance in compliance with fund documents and investor expectations.
Manage and execute quarterly distribution calculations and payments in accordance with applicable partnership agreements and waterfall structures.
Coordinate with legal counsel and fund administration on K-1 preparation and investor tax reporting related to the property and development platforms.
Respond to investor inquiries related to financial reporting and capital account statements.
Lead the evaluation, selection, and implementation of accounting and financial systems to support the property and development accounting functions.
Serve as executive sponsor for technology initiatives impacting the property accounting team, including property management platforms and related reporting tools.
Champion process automation and workflow improvements to enhance team productivity and reporting quality.