Director of Accounting/ Controller

Ideal Living•Sherman Oaks, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Ideal Living is hiring a Director of Accounting / Controller to lead accounting operations for its wellness brands, AirDoctor and AquaTru. The Controller owns accounting standards, reviews the close and its deliverables, and provides final approval of consolidated and brand-level financial statements under US GAAP. The role leads and develops the Senior Accounting Manager and accounting team, drives an efficient close, and maintains strong balance-sheet integrity and financial controls. The position oversees vendor financial controls and compliance as well as analytical reviews of vendor performance, value, and ROI. It builds reporting and dashboards on margins, unit economics, cost of goods sold, and operating expenses, and translates accounting results into clear insights for business leaders. The Controller serves as the primary contact for external audits, coordinates with tax advisors, oversees tax and regulatory compliance, and maintains accounting policies and internal controls. The role partners with teams across the business and supports initiatives such as new entities, channels, product launches, and acquisitions. It is primarily office-based, with a hybrid schedule of three days in the office and two days remote. Additional hours may be needed during close, audit, and budget cycles.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
At least 3 years in a Director of Accounting or Controller role with full ownership of the close and financial statements.
At least 8 years of progressive accounting experience overall.
Strong command of US GAAP, including ASC 606 revenue recognition, ASC 842 leases, and inventory accounting.
Proven experience leading external audits and working with outside tax advisors.
Track record of building and enforcing internal controls and documented processes.
Hands-on experience with vendor audits, accounts payable controls, and vendor master governance, as well as analytical reviews of vendor performance against KPIs.
Advanced Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, and Power Query; comfort with ERP systems; extensive AI utilization; and a habit of automating manual work.
Experience managing and developing an accounting team.

Nice To Haves

CPA license (desired but not required).
Public accounting background.
Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Background in consumer products, e-commerce, or direct-to-consumer companies with multiple sales channels.
Experience with Shopify, Amazon Seller Central, payment processors, and third-party logistics data.
Multi-entity and international accounting experience, including foreign currency, intercompany, and Mexico or Latin America operations.
Experience with subscription, rental, or lease revenue models.
Familiarity with BI and planning tools such as Power BI or Vena, and with AP automation and expense platforms.
Experience in a high-growth or private equity-backed environment.

Responsibilities

Lead and develop the Senior Accounting Manager and close team; set the close calendar, deadlines, and quality standards.
Review and approve close deliverables, including journal entries, accruals, reserves, allocations, and flux analysis.
Provide final sign-off on consolidated and brand-level financial statements under US GAAP, and drive the close to 5–7 business days through process improvement and automation.
Own technical accounting judgments, including revenue recognition, leases, inventory reserves, intercompany accounting, consolidation, foreign entities, and currency translation.
Present monthly reporting packages and variance explanations to leadership.
Establish reconciliation standards and hold the team accountable for complete, timely reconciliations of balance-sheet accounts.
Set reconciliation policies for review cadence, materiality thresholds, documentation, and sign-off; personally review high-risk reconciliations.
Track aged reconciling items, escalate issues, drive root-cause fixes, and sponsor automation of high-volume reconciliations.
Lead periodic vendor audits covering invoice accuracy, contract and purchase-order compliance, pricing, rebates, duplicate payments, and overbilling.
Own the vendor master file, including onboarding, W-9 and banking verification, change controls, and periodic cleanup.
Oversee accounts payable controls, including three-way matching, approval workflows, and payment-run review.
Partner with Operations and Procurement on contract terms, payment terms, and cost-saving opportunities.
Work with payments and fraud teams to prevent vendor fraud, including bank-change verification and segregation of duties.
Manage 1099 reporting and vendor tax compliance.
Define vendor KPIs and service levels with budget owners and audit vendor deliverables against contracted scope, timing, and cost.
Build and maintain vendor scorecards and dashboards; quantify vendor ROI and flag spend without measurable outcomes.
Run quarterly vendor business reviews and recommend whether to renew, renegotiate, consolidate, or exit vendors.
Use vendor performance information in annual budgeting and contract renewal decisions; partner with internal teams to source performance data.
Build and maintain reporting and dashboards on margin, contribution, unit economics, cost of goods sold, and operating expenses by brand and channel.
Analyze landed cost, freight, duties, returns, and warranty costs to identify drivers of margin movement.
Support FP&A with actuals, budget-versus-actual analysis, and forecast inputs.
Provide leadership with ad hoc analysis on products, channels, pricing, retail expansion, and international growth; explain accounting results to non-finance leaders.
Serve as primary contact for the annual external audit or review, prepare schedules and the PBC list, and manage the timeline.
Coordinate with outside tax advisors on income tax provision, sales and use tax, property tax, and international tax filings.
Monitor multi-state sales tax nexus and marketplace facilitator rules and ensure accurate filing.
Support foreign-entity compliance, including statutory reporting, payroll tax, and transfer pricing with local advisors.
Stay current on accounting standards and assess their impact on the business.
Design, document, and maintain internal controls over financial reporting and accounting policies and procedures.
Oversee controls for corporate cards, expense reimbursement, approval limits, segregation of duties, and system access.
Lead, coach, and develop the accounting team; set goals, review work, and build bench strength.
Build a culture of accuracy, accountability, documentation, and continuous improvement.
Partner cross-functionally with Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing, E-commerce, Legal, and HR.
Support special projects, including new entities, new channels, new product launches, and acquisitions.