Director of Accounting/ Controller

Ideal Living•Los Angeles, CA

3d•$165,000 - $180,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Ideal Living is hiring a Director of Accounting / Controller to own accounting standards, financial reporting, controls and analysis for its growing wellness-products business. The Controller leads and develops the Senior Accounting Manager and accounting team, establishes close expectations, reviews the team’s work and provides final sign-off on consolidated and brand-level financial statements under US GAAP. The role is responsible for improving the close, maintaining balance-sheet integrity, making technical accounting judgments, and translating financial results into useful insights for company leadership. The position also oversees vendor financial controls and compliance, including vendor audits, vendor master governance, accounts payable controls and tax reporting. It assesses vendor performance and value through KPIs, scorecards, ROI analysis and quarterly business reviews. The Controller partners across Finance, Operations, Procurement, Marketing, Creative, Supply Chain and other functions to support reporting, planning, audits, tax compliance, internal controls and business initiatives. This is primarily an office-based position involving standard computer work and extended periods at a desk. Additional hours may be needed during close, audit and budget cycles. The role has a hybrid schedule of three days in the office and two days remote.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or a related field.
Eight or more years of progressive accounting experience overall.
Three or more years in a Director of Accounting or Controller role, with full ownership of the close and financial statements.
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 accounts payable 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; establish the close calendar, deadlines and quality standards.
Review and approve journal entries, accruals, reserves, allocations and flux analysis; provide final sign-off on consolidated and brand-level financial statements under US GAAP.
Improve processes and automation to drive the close to 5–7 business days.
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.
Set reconciliation standards and hold the team accountable for complete, timely balance-sheet reconciliations.
Establish reconciliation policies covering cadence, materiality, documentation and sign-off; personally review high-risk reconciliations.
Track aged reconciling items, escalate issues and drive root-cause fixes; sponsor automation of high-volume reconciliations.
Lead periodic vendor audits covering invoice accuracy, contracts, purchase orders, pricing, rebates, duplicate payments and overbilling.
Govern 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 reviews.
Partner with Operations and Procurement on contract and payment terms and cost-saving opportunities; work with payments and fraud teams to prevent vendor fraud.
Manage 1099 reporting and vendor tax compliance.
Define vendor KPIs and service levels with budget owners, audit vendor deliverables against contracted scope, and maintain vendor scorecards and dashboards.
Quantify vendor ROI, flag spend without measurable outcomes, and run quarterly vendor reviews with budget owners to recommend renewals, renegotiations, consolidation or exits.
Use vendor performance information in budgeting and contract-renewal decisions; partner with relevant teams to obtain performance data.
Build and maintain reporting and dashboards covering margin, contribution, unit economics, cost of goods sold and operating expenses by brand and channel.
Analyze landed cost, freight, duties, returns and warranty costs and identify drivers of margin changes.
Support FP&A with actuals, budget-versus-actual analysis and forecast inputs; provide ad hoc leadership analysis on products, channels, pricing, retail expansion and international growth.
Explain accounting results clearly 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 filings.
Support foreign-entity compliance, including statutory reporting, payroll tax and transfer pricing with local advisors.
Monitor accounting standards and assess their business impact.
Design, document and maintain internal controls over financial reporting and accounting policies and procedures.
Oversee controls for corporate cards, expense reimbursement and approval limits; ensure appropriate segregation of duties and system access controls.
Coach and develop the accounting team, set goals, review work and build bench strength; foster accuracy, accountability, documentation and continuous improvement.
Partner cross-functionally and support special projects, including new entities, channels, product launches and acquisitions.