Financial Controller

North Loop, Minneapolis | Full-Time | In Person

Pay: Range depending on demonstrated experience and skills

About the Role

Owl Bookkeeping and CFO Services is seeking an experienced, hands-on Controller to manage recurring accounting, month-end close, and financial reporting across multiple business clients.

Our Controllers work directly in the books, lead accounting staff, and help business owners understand their financial results. You must be comfortable personally preparing reconciliations, investigating transactions, correcting accounting issues, and completing close work—not only reviewing work prepared by others.

We’re looking for someone who enjoys the details of accounting and can turn that expertise into reliable processes, accurate financial statements, and a stronger team.

What You’ll Do

• Own monthly accounting and close across multiple clients. Manage deadlines, resolve outstanding issues, and deliver accurate, timely financial statements.
• Prepare and review accounting work. Complete journal entries, accruals, balance sheet reconciliations, supporting schedules, and financial statement reviews.
• Investigate and resolve accounting problems. Trace transactions, reconcile clearing accounts, correct misapplied payments, resolve inaccurate balances, and clean up prior-period activity.
• Maintain clear, complete working papers. Ensure account balances are supported and another team member can understand how the work was completed.
• Oversee accounting operations. Address issues involving accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll entries, and other activity affecting the general ledger.
• Build sustainable processes. Develop close checklists, internal controls, workflows, and standard operating procedures.
• Lead and develop staff. Review work, explain corrections, provide training, and hold team members accountable for quality and follow-through.
• Communicate with clients. Explain financial results, request information, address accounting questions, and keep owners informed of progress and concerns.
• Partner with fractional CFOs. Support cash flow reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and financial decision-making.

The Experience You Need

• 8 years of progressive accounting experience, including Controller-level responsibility or comparable ownership of full-cycle accounting and financial reporting.
• Recent, hands-on responsibility for month-end close, reconciliations, adjusting entries, and financial statement preparation.
• Strong QuickBooks Online proficiency. You can independently investigate transactions, correct accounting issues, reconcile accounts, and navigate the general ledger.
• Strong Excel skills, including formulas, lookups, pivot tables, and preparing reconciliation schedules and working papers.
• Solid understanding of GAAP, accrual accounting, and how the balance sheet and income statement connect.
• Demonstrated experience resolving complex accounting issues and cleaning up incomplete or inaccurate books.
• Experience reviewing, supervising, mentoring, and developing accounting staff.
• Ability to manage multiple clients or entities and prioritize competing deadlines.
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or a related field required.
• Master's degree preferred.
• Availability to work in person with our Minneapolis team.

Outsourced accounting, client accounting services (CAS), fractional Controller, or hands-on small-business Controller experience is especially valuable. QuickBooks Desktop experience is a plus.

Candidates with tax, audit, or financial analysis backgrounds are welcome if they also have substantial, recent experience personally managing recurring accounting and monthly close. That operational accounting experience is essential for this position.

What Makes Someone Successful at Owl

You enjoy doing the accounting. Recurring reconciliations and close work are as much a part of your expertise as solving unusual or complex problems.

You take ownership. You follow issues through resolution, communicate when information is missing, and meet commitments.

You’re a practical problem solver. When the numbers don’t make sense, you investigate the underlying activity and determine what needs to change.

You strengthen the team. You teach others, explain your reasoning, and create processes that help the team produce consistent work.

You keep learning. You ask thoughtful questions, research unfamiliar accounting issues, and adapt to different clients, industries, and systems.

Working at Owl

Owl is a collaborative accounting and CFO services firm serving businesses across a variety of industries. You’ll work alongside bookkeepers, senior accountants, Controllers, and fractional CFOs to strengthen our clients’ financial operations.

This role offers varied accounting work, direct relationships with business owners, and the opportunity to improve both the books and the processes behind them. In-person collaboration is an important part of how we support our clients and develop our team.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Life and disability insurance
• 401(k) with employer matching
• Paid time off
• On-site gym

Work location: In person — North Loop, Minneapolis

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Disability insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance