Accounting & Controls Manager

Forum Ventures; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Outlast is seeking an Accounting & Controls Manager to own the books end-to-end and grow into Controller. You’ll run the monthly close, manage inventory accounting for physical metal, handle cash and lender reporting, and build a scalable control environment from day one.

This hands-on role demands a detail‑oriented, deadline‑driven professional who can partner with finance and strategy, implement policy, supervise AI-assisted workflows, and guide the company through its first audit.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of progressive accounting experience with full ownership of monthly close.
• Credentialed with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance; CPA preferred.
• GAAP knowledge, strong internal controls, and reconciling to audit-ready records.

Responsibilities

• Own the monthly close calendar, entries, reconciliations, and deliver reconciled statements.
• Keep books clean daily: AP/AR, bill processing, cash application, expense management.
• Own inventory accounting for physical metal and reconciliation between platform and ledger.
• Manage cash and lender reporting, including borrowing base certificates.
• Run payroll, benefits, and taxes; coordinate tax filings and payments.
• Build and enforce accounting policies and segregation of duties for a startup.
• Lead systems usage: QuickBooks Online, Ramp, bill-pay, and ERP evaluations.
• Oversee AI-assisted workflows, supervise outputs, and focus on judgement.

Skills

Close accounting ownership

Deadline-driven

Detail-oriented

Ambiguity tolerance

Systems proficiency

Education

Bachelor's in Accounting or Finance

CPA preferred

Tools

QuickBooks Online

Ramp

ERP systems

Bill-pay tools

Job description

ABOUT OUTLAST

Outlast is building the technology infrastructure for the recycled commodities supply chain. We’re creating a more efficient, transparent, and sustainable market for secondary raw materials.

We’re a small, fast-moving team that uses technology and AI to do things the industry hasn’t seen before. If you’re looking for a role at a large company with established playbooks, this isn’t it. If you want to build something from scratch and see your work directly impact the business, keep reading.

THE ROLE

We’re looking for an Accounting & Controls Manager to own Outlast’s books end-to-end — and grow into our Controller. You’ll run the monthly close, keep the day-to-day transactional engine clean, own inventory accounting for physical metal, manage cash and our credit-facility reporting, and build the control environment a scaling company needs before its first audit, not after. You’ll be the primary point of contact for our external auditors and banks.

This is a hands-on role by design. Some days you’re setting an accounting policy, preparing a borrowing base certificate, or scoping an ERP migration; other days you’re posting a journal entry, chasing a vendor bill, or reconciling a bank feed. No task is beneath the role — but the trajectory is up: as the company roughly doubles in size, this seat becomes the Controller seat, and we want to hire the person who can make that climb.

You’ll report to our VP of Finance & Business Operations and partner with a Finance & Strategy Manager who owns the forecast, you produce the reconciled actuals everything else is built on. Our stack is deeply integrated: QuickBooks Online, Ramp, and our own platform sync invoices and bills automatically, and AI agents handle a growing share of the transactional work. You’ll supervise and improve that machine, not fight it.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Own the monthly close. Run the close calendar end-to-end, journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, flux review, and deliver reconciled financial statements on a fixed timeline, every month. Investigate and explain key variances. The trial balance ties, or you know exactly why not.

• Keep the books clean every day. AP and AR workflows, bill processing, billing and cash application, expense management. Hands-on bookkeeping when it’s needed, you’d rather fix it than file a ticket.

• Own inventory accounting. We buy, process, and sell physical metal. Cost per pound, inventory GL integrity, and the reconciliation between our operating platform and the ledger are core to this seat, this is where scrap gets hard, and where you earn your keep.

• Manage cash and lender reporting. Reconcile bank accounts monthly, monitor daily cash activity, prepare the weekly borrowing base certificate for our credit facility, and facilitate banking transactions in coordination with the VP of Finance.

• Run payroll, benefits, and taxes. Own payroll accounting and related accruals in partnership with HR, keep payroll liability and benefits accounts reconciled, and coordinate tax filings, payments, and exemption compliance across federal, state, and local jurisdictions.

• Build the control environment. Develop, implement, and enforce accounting policies, approval thresholds, and segregation of duties sized for a startup, with workpapers clean enough to hand an auditor or a diligence team without a scramble. You’re the primary contact for external auditors and banks.

• Run the systems. QuickBooks Online, Ramp, bill-pay, and the integrations that tie them to our platform. You keep the sync honest today and lead the ERP evaluation and migration when we outgrow it.

• Use technology to work smarter. Our AI agent stack already automates a growing share of AP, AR, and close tasks. You’ll supervise its output, extend what it covers, and spend your time on judgment, not data entry.

WHAT YOU WON’T DO

• Build the forecast. Our Finance & Strategy Manager owns the model and forecast. You own the actuals they’re built on, and the line between those two jobs is a feature, not a gap.

• Review from a distance. This is not a reviewer-of-other-people’s-work seat. You’re in the ledger, in the systems, in the detail.

• Wait for perfect systems. The stack is being wired together in real time. You reconcile, flag what’s broken, and improve it as you go.

• Build a big team on day one. You start hands-on. The team comes as the volume does — and you’ll have AI agents doing work a first hire used to do.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

• You’ve owned a close. 5–10 years of progressive accounting experience, including full ownership of a monthly close — calendar, entries, reconciliations, and the deadline.

• You’re credentialed. Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance required; CPA strongly preferred.

• Your GAAP and controls are real. Accruals, cutoffs, revenue recognition, inventory/COGS accounting, and internal controls you can apply without looking them up, and explain to a non-accountant.

• You have range. Equally credible posting a journal entry and writing the policy that governs it. Controller-level judgment, bookkeeper-level willingness.

• You’re strong with systems. Deep QuickBooks Online (or equivalent ERP) skills, comfort with integrated fintech stacks like Ramp and bill-pay tools, and ideally a migration or implementation under your belt.

• You’re accurate under deadline. Detail-obsessed, tie-out disciplined, and calm when close week collides with an urgent ask.

• You’re comfortable with ambiguity. Processes are being built, not inherited. You’d rather write the SOP than ask for one.

NICE TO HAVES

• Inventory, manufacturing, commodities, or distribution accounting experience
• Asset-based lending or borrowing base reporting experience
• Public accounting foundation (audit) before moving into industry
• ERP evaluation, implementation, or migration experience
• Experience preparing for a first audit or investor diligence
• Hands-on use of AI tools in accounting workflows

WHY OUTLAST

• Ground-floor opportunity at a company building the future of a massive, fragmented industry
• A real title trajectory, this seat is designed to become the Controller seat as the company scales
• Build the accounting function from scratch, your close, your controls, your systems
• A team that uses AI and technology as a competitive advantage, not as a buzzword
• Equity in a high-growth company

Outlast is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate candidates based on merit, qualifications, and business needs regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.