Corporate Controller

Job Description

About Us

NewsLink is a growing company with approximately 500 employees and annual revenues in excess of $100 million, operating through more than five separate operating entities under different ownership groups, each accounted for separately and combined/consolidated periodically and at year-end. We are looking for a detail-oriented, hands-on Corporate Controller who is comfortable serving as the company’s senior-most finance leader and, when needed, personally performing any function within a lean accounting department to lead our accounting operations, strengthen internal controls, and support the company's financial integrity as we scale.

Position Summary

The Corporate Controller is responsible for overseeing all accounting and finance operations across the company’s multiple operating entities, including general ledger management, entity-level and consolidated financial reporting, internal controls, and compliance. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, this role serves as the company’s senior-most finance and accounting officer, manages the accounting team, and ensures the accuracy and timeliness of monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements for each entity and on a combined/consolidated basis. The Controller personally owns budgeting, forecasting, and management reporting. Given a lean accounting staff, the Controller must be willing and able to personally perform any function within the department — from routine transaction processing to financial statement preparation — when other staff are at capacity, out of the office, or otherwise unavailable. This is a hands-on leadership role suited to a candidate who is comfortable both setting strategy and rolling up their sleeves on the details.

Key Responsibilities

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• Direct and oversee all accounting operations across the company’s multiple operating entities, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, general ledger, fixed assets, and revenue recognition.
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• Serve as a hands-on, working member of the accounting department and be prepared to personally perform any accounting function — including transaction processing, reconciliations, and reporting — when other staff are at capacity, out of the office, or otherwise unavailable, given the department’s lean staffing.
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• Own the monthly, quarterly, and annual close process for each operating entity, ensuring accurate and timely stand-alone and combined/consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP, including intercompany eliminations.
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• Prepare, review, and present consolidated and combined financial statements and supporting schedules for ownership, executive leadership, and lenders.
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• Design, develop, and continuously refine management reporting packages, KPIs, and dashboards that are genuinely useful for leadership and each entity’s ownership group in managing the business — not simply compiling or reviewing existing reports, and recommend benchmarks to measure the company’s performance.
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• Design, implement, and maintain a strong system of internal controls to safeguard company assets and ensure the integrity of financial data.
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• Manage the annual audit and tax preparation processes for the company and each operating entity, serving as the primary point of contact for external auditors and tax advisors.
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• Own tax planning throughout the fiscal year; file (or oversee the preparation of) each entity’s annual tax return, and process required quarterly tax distributions to members/owners.
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• Lead cash flow management, treasury functions, and banking relationships across all operating entities and bank accounts.
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• Report sales activity to aviation/airport authorities as required and serve as the primary point of contact for related communications with airport authorities.
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• Oversee daily sales reporting and the accuracy of daily cash and bank deposits.
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• Own the company’s budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis process directly, partnering with department and entity leaders to build and maintain budgets and forecasts, and report significant budget variances to leadership.
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• Provide financial analysis and modeling to support capital investment decisions, pricing decisions, and contract negotiations.
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• Ensure compliance with local, state, and federal government reporting requirements and tax filings.
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• Review drafts of all material contracts before they are signed to confirm the company is able to comply with their terms and that entering into the contract is in the company’s best interest, flagging concerns to the CEO/ownership before execution.
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• Track and ensure ongoing compliance with the company’s contractual obligations to lenders, landlords, and other counterparties (e.g., preparing and submitting required covenant calculations, financial covenants, reporting deliverables, insurance requirements, notice periods), escalating any risk of non-compliance promptly.
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• Evaluate, implement, and continuously improve accounting systems, processes, and policies — maintaining a documented system of accounting policies and procedures — to support scalability and efficiency.
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• Administer all company leases (real estate and equipment), maintaining a master lease abstract/schedule of key terms, rent escalations, renewal and termination options, and critical dates, and ensuring lease accounting is properly reflected in the financial statements.
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• Manage construction project budgets and maintain real-time tracking and reporting of actual expenditures against budget, working with project managers, contractors, and ownership to flag variances early.
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• Recruit, hire, train, schedule, coach, mentor, and manage the performance of the accounting team — including performance reviews and, when necessary, termination decisions — fostering a culture of accuracy, accountability, and professional growth, and build cross-trained backup coverage across the department given its lean staffing.
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• Serve as a key advisor to the CEO and entity ownership groups on financial strategy, capital structure, and major business decisions.
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• Oversee the company’s insurance program (property, casualty, general liability, D&O, etc.) across all entities, including policy renewals and claims coordination.
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• Provide oversight and direction of the company’s employee benefits programs (health, dental, vision, life/disability insurance, and retirement/401(k) plans) across all operating entities, including plan design and selection, carrier/broker relationships, renewals, cost management, and open enrollment, in coordination with HR and payroll.
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• Support due diligence, technical accounting research, and special projects as needed (e.g., system implementations, M&A activity).
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• Perform other duties as assigned.
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Qualifications

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• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field required; CPA license or Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation strongly preferred.
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• 10+ years of progressive accounting experience, including at least 5 years in a controller or senior accounting leadership role, ideally at a company of comparable size and complexity.
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• Strong working knowledge of U.S. GAAP and internal control frameworks (e.g., SOX or similar).
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• Experience managing external audits, tax filings, and regulatory reporting.
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• Proficiency with ERP and accounting systems (e.g., NetSuite, QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics/Navision) and advanced Excel and Microsoft Office Suite skills.
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• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop a team, with strong organizational and project management skills, excellent attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
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• Excellent analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate financial data for non-financial stakeholders.
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• Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills.
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• Public accounting (audit) background a plus.
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• Experience with multi-entity accounting and combination/consolidation of financial statements across entities with different ownership structures strongly preferred.
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• Experience serving as the senior-most finance/accounting professional at a company (i.e., without a CFO in place) a plus.
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• Comfortable operating in a lean-staffed department, including the ability to work independently and willingness to personally perform hands-on transactional accounting work when needed.
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• Experience with lease administration/ASC 842 lease accounting and tracking construction or capital project budgets a plus.
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• Experience overseeing employee benefits administration (health insurance, retirement/401(k) plans, and related programs) a plus.
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• Experience reviewing commercial contracts and monitoring compliance with lender and landlord covenants a plus.
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Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. To perform this job successfully, the employee is frequently required to communicate with others; listen; remain in a stationary position, often sitting or standing for prolonged periods of time; walk; use hands to grasp, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. This position operates exclusively in an indoor environment with controlled temperatures.