Controller

Controller - Opportunity Statement

Reports to - Assistant Head of School for Finance (CFO) · no direct reports at hire; supervision and expanded scope are realistic growth opportunities

Status - Full-time, 12-month, exempt ·hybrid — up to half of each week remote, on-site days coordinated with the HR Officer (shared office)

Salary - $90,000 - $95,000, commensurate with experience, plus benefits summary

Start - Ideally before November 1 to observe the fiscal year 2026 audit

The Role

The Fay School is an independent, non-profit day school in Houston serving 330 students with 77 faculty and staff and a $14 million operating budget, in the midst of a $15 million capital campaign for a building project breaking ground within the year. The project is expected to be funded from the school's own liquidity and campaign receipts rather than borrowing.

The Business Office is the CFO, a Human Resources Officer who administers payroll and benefits, and an Accounts Payable Officer who handles purchasing and payments. The school's monthly close, reconciliations, audit preparation, and Form 990 workpapers are currently performed by a contract CPA. That engagement ends June 30, 2027, and the Controller is hired to replace it, with a deliberately generous overlap: observe a full audit cycle, then prepare a year's work with the CPA reviewing, before carrying it alone.

The Controller owns the general ledger, the close, and financial reporting; carries campaign and construction accounting through the project; and prepares the audit for the school's external firm. The role also puts in-house review between the colleagues who execute payroll, disbursements, and receivables and the CFO who approves them. This is hands-on work in a small office — the Controller does it personally, and has the standing to improve how it is done.

Trajectory

The school intends this position to grow. For a Controller who performs, the scope can expand over time toward broader business office leadership, supervision of the accounting function, greater involvement in human resources, benefits, compliance, and risk management, and direct work with the Head of School, the Finance Committee, and the Board. The school makes no commitment to a particular future role, but a candidate who aspires beyond the controllership will find genuine room here, and the capital project offers experience that does not come along often.

What Success Looks Like

Stage 1 — Start through November 2026: observe a full audit cycle

• Work alongside the contract CPA through the fiscal year 2026 audit and Form 990 and 5500 workpapers, documenting every schedule and the judgments behind it. This is the only audit the Controller will see someone else prepare.
• Inventory every recurring reconciliation, bank and reserve accounts, credit cards, Clarity tuition and financial aid, pledges, payroll clearing, and identify what exists only in the CPA's working files.
• Complete two monthly closes under the CPA's process; meet with the HR and A/P Officers, Advancement, Admissions, and the audit firm to learn hand-offs.

Stage 2 — December 2026 through June 2027: prepare, with review available

• Close each month as preparer, delivering financial statements to the CFO within [10] business days with budget-to-actual commentary on material lines; hold all reconciliations current on a documented schedule.
• Produce monthly campaign and design-and-construction reports that tie to the general ledger, Advancement's pledge records, and contractor applications for payment, and reconcile pledges and gift income with Advancement monthly.
• Deliver a rolling cash-flow and liquidity forecast modeling construction draws against tuition receipts, pledge payments, and reserve balances, the school's principal control over a self-funded project.
• Complete the conversion to Blackbaud Payment Assistant and support Expense Management, retiring paper check runs and paper expense authorization.
• Take on routine tuition billing conversations with families and deliver a monthly receivables aging with collection status on every past-due account.
• Support a full budget cycle with departmental managers, and by June 30, 2027, close the fiscal year as preparer with a written record confirming every CPA responsibility has transferred.

Stage 3 — July through November 2027: carry it alone

• Prepare the entire fiscal year 2027 audit package internally by August 31 with no outside support, serve as primary contact for the audit firm, and complete the audit by November 30 with no material adjustments and no repeat management letter comments.
• Prepare Form 990 and 5500 workpapers on schedule; deliver quarterly proformas and operating benchmarks for the Finance Committee.
• Demonstrate that outsourced accounting support is no longer needed beginning in fiscal year 2028.

Ongoing Responsibilities

• General ledger and reporting. Own the GL, chart of accounts, and fund and net-asset structure; manage the monthly, quarterly, and annual close; prepare GAAP financial statements with variance analysis for the CFO, Head of School, and Board.
• Campaign and construction. Pledge receivable accounting, discounting and allowances, donor restriction tracking, contract billings, change orders and retainage, construction-in-progress and capitalization.
• Tuition and receivables. Maintain the A/R subledger and Clarity-to-GL reconciliation; account for financial aid, remission, deposits, and auxiliary revenue; manage collections and payment systems, including PCI compliance.
• Controls, audit, and compliance. Maintain accounting policies, authorization thresholds, and documentation standards; review payroll, disbursement, and receivable activity before CFO approval; own audit preparation and 990 and 5500 workpapers; safeguard confidential family, employee, donor, and vendor information.
• Coordination and systems. Reconcile payroll and benefit liabilities recorded by HR and review A/P batches and vendor setup, accounting accuracy without duplicating or supervising peers; make full use of Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT, Clarity, and ADP; train budget managers; recommend process improvements.

Qualifications

Required: Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or business administration. Five or more years of progressively responsible accounting experience with personal ownership of a general ledger and financial statement preparation. Non-profit fund accounting and GAAP knowledge including net-asset classification and donor restrictions. Experience preparing audit schedules and working directly with an external audit firm. Enterprise non-profit accounting system experience, Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT strongly preferred, or deep experience in a comparable system with a record of learning platforms quickly. Advanced Excel. Accurate, detailed work and orderly records delivered on deadline with little direction. Clear communication with colleagues and families who don't work in finance. Sound judgment, discretion, and absolute confidentiality. Ability to work productively in a partially remote arrangement, and to be on campus when close, audit, or school events require it. Successful background check [and fingerprinting].

Preferred: CPA designation or candidacy to let the school consider bringing 990 and 5500 preparation in-house, expanding this role. Independent school, higher education, or comparable non-profit experience. Capital campaign and construction accounting. Cash-flow and liquidity forecasting for a project funded from reserves and gifts rather than debt. Clarity, Raiser's Edge, and ADP familiarity. A record of transitioning outsourced accounting in-house. Interest in eventually supervising staff.

Who Succeeds Here

• Credible. Numbers presented are numbers that hold up. Problems surface early, not at year end.
• Hands-on. Comfortable doing the detailed work personally, there is no one to delegate to, while improving how it is done.
• Influential without authority. Earns cooperation from peers in HR, A/P, Advancement, and Admissions through credibility and service rather than reporting lines.
• Collegal. Treats other departments as clients of the Business Office, contributes to a healthy school community, and participates in the life of the school.

Compensation and Application

The anticipated starting salary is $90,000 - $9