Controller

Job Description

Job Description

The Kive Company is the category leader in helping families celebrate and preserve their most cherished memories. For more than a decade, we've earned the trust of hundreds of thousands of families, turning treasured items into beautifully crafted keepsakes and building lasting legacies for generations to come.

We operate a portfolio of complementary products serving families across every stage of memory preservation — from the artwork on the fridge, to the cards on the mantle, to the albums passed down through generations.

Artkive , our flagship, is the leading solution for parents looking to honor and immortalize their children's creativity. Solving the age-old dilemma of what to do with endless piles of kids' artwork, Artkive transforms these masterpieces into stunning hardcover books and keepsake mosaic framed prints. Families can ship artwork to us through the Artkive Box service for professional photography, or use the Artkive app — featured worldwide by Apple as an "App of the Day."

Cardkive turns cherished greeting cards into beautiful keepsake books, preserving the handwritten notes and well-wishes from weddings, birthdays, baby showers, holidays, and life's other meaningful moments, so the sentiments behind them aren't lost to a drawer or a shoebox.

Photokive rescues decades of family history from fading photo albums and natural disasters. We carefully digitize old prints without damaging the originals, then store every image securely in the cloud, making it effortless to preserve, revisit, and share generations of memories with loved ones.

Together, our products make Kive Co the definitive home for physical-memory preservation.

Position Overview

We're looking for a Controller to take full ownership of our accounting function and serve as a close financial partner to our Co-Founder & COO, to whom this role reports directly. This is a hands-on role that spans both traditional controllership and light FP&A work — you'll own the integrity of our financials and the accuracy of our payroll while also building the forecasts, models, and analyses that help leadership make good decisions.

The right candidate has a solid accounting foundation, is comfortable in the details, and can step back and communicate clearly about what the numbers mean. We're a growing DTC consumer brand with a real finance function to build, and this role will grow with it. If you've been looking for the opportunity to take genuine ownership of a finance function at a consumer brand, this is worth your attention.

This is primarily an in-office role based out of our Van Nuys offices, with hybrid flexibility.

Responsibilities

Accounting & Financial Controls

• Own the monthly and annual close process, including journal entries, account reconciliations, and preparation of accurate financial statements
• Maintain the general ledger and ensure all records are complete, accurate, and audit-ready
• Manage accounts payable and receivable, vendor payments, employee expense reporting, and cash flow monitoring
• Manage relationships with our external accounting and tax partners, including filings, compliance, and audit requirements
• Establish and maintain internal financial controls that scale with the business

Payroll Administration

• Process semi-monthly payroll through Paylocity with full accountability for accuracy and California wage and hour compliance
• Collaborate with HR on new hires, terminations, leaves of absence, and compensation adjustments

Financial Planning & Analysis

• Develop and maintain annual budgets, rolling forecasts, and multi-scenario operating models
• Produce monthly financial packages and variance analyses for the COO
• Analyze unit economics, cost structure, and gross margin to surface trends and inform business decisions
• Provide financial modeling and scenario analysis to support decisions around staffing, pricing, and capital allocation

Systems & Process Improvement

• Evaluate and improve existing financial systems, workflows, and reporting infrastructure
• Apply AI tools and automation where they improve accuracy, reduce manual effort, or increase reporting speed
• Ensure financial data is well-documented, consistently structured, and accessible to relevant stakeholders

Qualifications

Experience

• 5 to 7 years of progressive experience in accounting or finance, with demonstrated ownership of the close process
• Hands-on experience with QuickBooks Online is required
• California payroll experience, including familiarity with state-specific wage, tax, and compliance requirements
• Experience in DTC, e-commerce, consumer goods, or a product-based business is preferred but not required
• Prior experience in a smaller organization where you managed multiple functions simultaneously is a strong plus
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Skills & Competencies

• Strong technical accounting knowledge with working familiarity with GAAP
• High attention to detail with a track record of accurate, timely financial reporting
• Comfortable writing SQL queries to extract and analyze data from MySQL databases
• Proficiency in Excel and Google Sheets, including financial modeling and data analysis
• Experience with HRIS and payroll platforms; Paylocity experience is preferred
• Familiarity with AI tools and an eagerness to apply them to financial processes
• Ability to build strong working partnerships with operations, marketing, and product teams
• Able to communicate financial results and recommendations clearly to non-finance audiences
• CPA is a plus but not required for this role

Our Environment

We operate on QuickBooks Online for accounting, Paylocity for payroll and HRIS, and a mix of Google Workspace and modern SaaS tools for operations and reporting. We're actively investing in better financial infrastructure and are open to evaluating new systems as the business grows.

Who Does Well Here

• You're ready to own a function, not just support one, and you take that responsibility seriously
• You can move between detailed execution and higher-level analysis without losing accuracy on either end
• You want to work somewhere small enough that your contributions are visible and meaningful
• You enjoy partnering closely with department heads across the company

What We Offer

• Base salary of $140,000 to $165,000 DOE
• Performance-based bonus
• Health, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k)
• Stock options
• Paid vacation and sick time
• Bereavement leave