Controller

Forge; Auburndale (MA); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and dental insurance

401(k) with company match

PTO and paid holidays

Hybrid work in Newton

Job summary

Forge, a growing heat-pump installer in Eastern Massachusetts, seeks a Controller to own accounting, payroll, and day-to-day people operations. You will close the books, handle payroll, and automate processes to accelerate speed and scale.

You’ll lead a small team and partner with the CAO, CEO, and CRO to drive finance and people operations as the company grows. This player-coach role requires strong experience in monthly close, cash management, revenue recognition, and system migrations.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive accounting with ownership of monthly close.
• Hands-on payroll experience.
• Led at least one system migration or implementation.
• Comfort with AI tools in daily work.
• Ability to explain numbers to diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own accounting, payroll, and people operations end to end.
• Close books monthly with GAAP, within five business days.
• Maintain daily cash visibility and weekly cash forecast.
• Oversee revenue recognition and job-level margin.
• Manage accounts payable, vendor bills, and Ramp workflows.
• Oversee payroll in Gusto via Connecteam timecards.
• Oversee onboarding/offboarding, benefits, and compliance.

Job description

Forge installs heat pumps for homeowners across Eastern Massachusetts. We're a 53-person company with about a dozen crews in the field and a lean back office that runs on QuickBooks Online, Gusto, Ramp, HubSpot, Connecteam, Google Workspace, and a fast-growing set of AI tools. We're looking for a Controller who wants to own accounting, payroll, and day-to-day people operations end to end, someone who would rather rebuild a process than defend one.

This is a player-coach role. You report to our Chief Administrative Officer and run the function with a small team: a staff accountant (AP and utility rebates) and an office/people-ops administrator. You will close the books, review payroll, answer benefits questions, and then make each of those faster and more automated the next time around.

What you'll own

• Systems and automation. You'll implement and re-implement tools, kill spreadsheets, wire integrations (Ramp, Gusto, HubSpot, QuickBooks), and use AI agents for reconciliations, variance analysis, and reporting. Where a step can be automated, we expect you to automate it.
• Month-end close. A clean, GAAP-basis close in QuickBooks Online that lands within five business days and keeps getting faster: reconciliations, accruals, deferred revenue, fixed assets, and a financial package leadership consumes.
• Cash. Daily cash visibility, the weekly cash forecast, bank reconciliations, and a tight partnership with project coordinators on invoicing and collections (target DSO under 19 days on homeowner invoices).
• Revenue and job economics. Revenue recognition on multi-visit installs, job-level margin, utility-rebate receivables (Mass Save and partner programs), and customer financing flows.
• Accounts payable and spend. Vendor bills, corporate cards, and approvals in Ramp, tied out to QuickBooks every month.
• Payroll. Salaried and hourly runs in Gusto, built from Connecteam timecards: overtime, PTO, commissions, bonuses, retro pay.
• Day-to-day people operations. Onboarding and offboarding across Gusto and Google Workspace, benefits enrollment and changes, headcount and comp changes, compliance recordkeeping (I-9s, workers' comp, state filings), and logistics for review and raise cycles.
• Year-end and outside parties. Tax package for our outside CPAs, 1099s, insurance audits, and lender or investor requests as they come.

You’ll thrive here if

• You have at least 5 years of progressive accounting experience, including real ownership of a monthly close at a company of roughly our size. CPA is a nice to have; not required.
• You have run payroll hands-on.
• You've led at least one system migration or implementation and would happily do another.
• Constant change energizes you. Our processes are drafts; the person who improves them wins.
• You already use AI tools in your daily work and want to push further.
• You can explain a number to a field supervisor, a salesperson, and a CEO, and hear what they need in return.
• Job costing, construction, field service, or climate-tech exposure is a plus. Curiosity about how heat pumps get sold, installed, and paid for is required.

What we offer

• Compensation: $110,000 to $150,000 base, depending on experience.
• Benefits: Health and dental insurance, 401(k) with company match, PTO and paid holidays.
• Hybrid work: At least three days a week in our Newton office; remote the rest.
• Real ownership: You will continue to build the finance and people-ops functions for a company determined to grow: the systems, the cadence, the playbook. We expect this seat to grow into broader finance leadership as we scale.
• Small, direct leadership team: You'll work with the CEO, CRO, and CAO every week. Decisions are made fast and explained.

How we hire

We move quickly: a 15-30-minute phone conversation with our Recruiting team, an interview with the CAO, a working session on a case study drawn from our business, and a final round with the CEO and CRO. You'll hear back on next steps along the way.

Must be authorized to work in the U.S. Offers are contingent on a background check.

Forge is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.