What are the responsibilities and job description for the Controller position at W3Global?
Position Summary
Our Client is seeking an experienced Controller with a strong background in supermarket or grocery retail accounting to join our Finance team. This is a senior, hands-on role responsible for owning all accounting operations - from general ledger management and reconciliations to financial reporting and cash management - across our 6 Greater Boston locations and central warehouse.
The ideal candidate brings deep familiarity with the financial rhythms of supermarket operations: weekly P&L cycles, shrink, margin analysis, vendor reconciliations, and multi-location reporting. A key long-term objective of this role is to absorb and internalize the full-cycle accounting and reporting work currently handled by our third-party accounting provider. Candidates with hands-on experience at a supermarket company or a grocery-focused accounting firm are strongly preferred.
What Makes This Role Unique
This is not a standard corporate accounting seat. You will need to understand the business from the inside out:
We currently use an external accounting provider with deep supermarket expertise for reconciliation and reporting. A primary long-term goal of this role is to bring those functions fully in-house under this Controller. This is a real opportunity to build something - to take ownership of the financial infrastructure of a growing, community-driven brand and make it yours.
Experience with NetSuite is a plus but not required. What matters most is your knowledge of supermarket accounting and your ability to own the numbers end-to-end. System training will be provided.
Our Client is seeking an experienced Controller with a strong background in supermarket or grocery retail accounting to join our Finance team. This is a senior, hands-on role responsible for owning all accounting operations - from general ledger management and reconciliations to financial reporting and cash management - across our 6 Greater Boston locations and central warehouse.
The ideal candidate brings deep familiarity with the financial rhythms of supermarket operations: weekly P&L cycles, shrink, margin analysis, vendor reconciliations, and multi-location reporting. A key long-term objective of this role is to absorb and internalize the full-cycle accounting and reporting work currently handled by our third-party accounting provider. Candidates with hands-on experience at a supermarket company or a grocery-focused accounting firm are strongly preferred.
What Makes This Role Unique
This is not a standard corporate accounting seat. You will need to understand the business from the inside out:
- Supermarket P&L dynamics - gross margin by department, markdowns, shrink, seasonal fluctuations
- Multi-location reporting across 6 stores with store-level accountability
- Vendor and trade reconciliations specific to grocery retail
- High-volume, fast-cycle weekly reporting tied to store operations
- A mission-driven, community-rooted culture where the work has real meaning
- Full-Cycle Accounting & General Ledger
- Maintain and manage the general ledger across all store and warehouse entities
- Prepare and post journal entries including AR, retail adjustments, and accruals
- Perform monthly bank and credit card reconciliations
- Ensure accuracy and integrity of all accounting records
- Financial Reporting & Analysis
- Prepare weekly and monthly financial reports including P&L and balance sheets for all locations
- Analyze sales, payroll, markdowns, shrink, and gross margin (GM%) to identify discrepancies and opportunities
- Provide actionable insights to improve profitability by vendor and department
- Deliver timely, accurate reporting to ownership and management
- Cash Flow & Treasury Management
- Oversee weekly cash flow planning and reporting
- Manage wire transfers, ACH, and portal payments
- Administer Positive Pay for fraud prevention
- Coordinate weekly check runs in line with budget
- Ensure proper handling and deposit of incoming checks
- Payroll & Labor Oversight
- Review and submit weekly payroll
- Run post-payroll reports and distribute to relevant stakeholders
- Monitor payroll expenses and ensure alignment with store-level budgets
- Manage administrative expense reimbursements
- Accounts Payable & Fixed Expenses
- Manage recurring payments including rent, utilities, and vendor obligations
- Ensure timely and accurate processing of all AP transactions
- Budgeting & Forecasting
- Develop and update monthly and quarterly budgets
- Track actual performance against budget and explain variances
- Support ownership in financial planning and strategic decision-making
- Store & Operational Partnership
- Conduct financial reviews and regular meetings with each store location
- Partner with store managers to identify and address financial performance issues
- Monitor KPIs across all locations and escalate concerns proactively
- Compliance & Internal Controls
- Maintain adherence to internal controls and accounting policies
- Support audits and documentation requests
- Ensure compliance with applicable financial regulations
- Supermarket experience: 3 years of accounting experience in a supermarket, grocery chain, or grocery retail environment
- Full-cycle accounting: Hands-on experience performing full-cycle bookkeeping and reconciliations - not purely supervisory
- Industry fluency: Strong working knowledge of grocery retail financials: shrink, margin analysis, vendor reconciliations, weekly P&L
- Excel: Proficiency in Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, financial modeling)
- Education: Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- Experience with NetSuite or comparable ERP system
- Prior experience working with or at a supermarket-specialized accounting firm
- Familiarity with multi-location retail operations
- Experience with Positive Pay and bank portal systems
- CPA or CPA candidate
- Experience migrating accounting functions from outsourced to in-house
- Ownership mindset - you treat the books as your own responsibility
- Detail-oriented with high accuracy standards
- Strong communicator able to present financial data to non-finance stakeholders
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, operationally driven environment
- Proactive problem-solver who flags issues early and comes with solutions
We currently use an external accounting provider with deep supermarket expertise for reconciliation and reporting. A primary long-term goal of this role is to bring those functions fully in-house under this Controller. This is a real opportunity to build something - to take ownership of the financial infrastructure of a growing, community-driven brand and make it yours.
Experience with NetSuite is a plus but not required. What matters most is your knowledge of supermarket accounting and your ability to own the numbers end-to-end. System training will be provided.
Salary : $80,000 - $100,000