Finance Manager

About Our client

Our client is a climate technology company helping fleet operators plan, deliver and manage the transition to electric vehicles. Their software is used by transit authorities, bus operators and commercial fleets across Australia, the United Kingdom, North America and Canada. We combine a subscription software platform with implementation and advisory services, and we are backed by specialist climate investors.

The opportunity

This is the number two finance role in the business, working directly with the CFO. You will own the accounting engine of a four entity, four country group: the close, the reconciliations, the billing and collections cycle, and the controls and process that hold it all together.

It is a rare scope for a Finance Manager. You will not inherit a mature function and maintain it. You will build one, and you will see the results of that work quickly, in a company where finance genuinely affects whether the business can raise, invest and grow.

What you are walking into

We want to be straightforward about the environment, because the right person will find it energising and the wrong person will find it overwhelming.

•      Finance is a lean function: the CFO, an Accountant and this role, supported by external advisers in each jurisdiction. There is no team beneath this position.

•      You will be hands on. As well as owning the close and the controls, you will code transactions as needed, run the payment run, reconcile the banks and chase debtors. Nothing in finance is beneath this role.

•      Historical data is not clean. There is prior year remediation to work through at the same time as running the current month.

•      Most processes are undocumented. You will be writing them, not following them.

•      The group is genuinely complex for its size: four entities, four currencies, a mixed subscription and project revenue model, venture debt reporting obligations, active investor reporting, and a potential first external audit ahead of us.

In return: real ownership, direct exposure to the CFO, COO, CEO, the board and investors, no layers between you and the decisions, and a clear path to Financial Controller as the function grows.

Scope

Financial footprint

•      Four entities across Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada

•      Multi-currency operations, intercompany transactions and transfer pricing arrangements

•      Two revenue streams: recurring software subscriptions, and implementation and advisory projects billed against milestones and purchase orders

•      Venture debt facility with covenant and reporting obligations, and active investor reporting

Systems

•      Xero (four ledgers), Syft, ApprovalMax, Airwallex, Rippling, HubSpot, and a subscription billing platform to be implemented

Core responsibilities

Close and reporting

•      Own month-end close end to end across all four entities, to a defined timetable

•      Prepare journals including accruals, prepayments, amortisation and provisions

•      Maintain a fully reconciled balance sheet and resolve queries before sign-off

•      Prepare the monthly management pack including profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow and variance commentary

•      Support board, investor and lender reporting

Revenue, billing and collections

•      Own the billing cycle across both subscription and project revenue, including milestone and purchase order driven invoicing

•      Reconcile contracted revenue, invoiced revenue and reported recurring revenue, and investigate any variance

•      Apply revenue recognition policy under AASB 15 and ASC 606, including work in progress and deferred revenue

•      Own accounts receivable and drive collections, including escalation on aged debt

Accounts payable, payroll and treasury operations

•      Run a single consolidated weekly payment run through the approval workflow

•      Maintain vendor records, approval thresholds and payment controls

•      Support payroll processing and reconciliation across jurisdictions

•      Maintain daily cash visibility across all bank accounts and support the rolling cash flow forecast

•      Own banking administration, including access, authorisation and user maintenance

Compliance and external advisers

•      Coordinate external accountants, tax advisers and payroll providers in each jurisdiction, while retaining internal ownership and control

•      Support indirect tax lodgements including GST and BAS, VAT, HST and United States sales tax

•      Support income tax, statutory filings, research and development claims, and grant acquittals

•      Prepare for and support the group's first external audit

Process, controls and automation

•      Document finance processes and keep them current

•      Design and maintain internal controls, including segregation of duties and approval authorities

•      Simplify and eliminate manual steps, then automate them across the finance stack

•      Support the implementation of subscription billing and the quote to cash integration between the CRM, billing and accounting systems

What we are looking for

Ranked. The first two matter most, and we will assess them hard.

1. Reliability and follow through (critical)

This is the single most important quality in this role, because the CFO has no capacity to chase, and the numbers this role produces go to the board, their lender and their investors.

•      You do what you said you would, by when you said it, without being followed up

•      When something is going to slip, you flag it in advance, not afterwards

•      When you say something is done, it is complete, checked and finished, not nearly done

•      You are contactable and responsive through the working day, and you close loops

2. Hands on ownership in a small team (critical)

•      You have run a close yourself, personally, rather than reviewing someone else's

•      You are comfortable moving between technical judgment and transactional processing in the same day

•      You have worked without a team beneath you and are energised, not frustrated, by that

3. Multi-entity and multi-currency accounting (critical)

•      Experience across multiple entities, currencies and jurisdictions, including intercompany

•      Strong accrual accounting, reconciliation and controls discipline

•      CA or CPA qualified, or equivalent demonstrated experience

4. Mixed revenue model experience (high priority)

•      Recurring or subscription revenue, including billing, deferred revenue and recurring revenue reporting

•      Project or services revenue, including milestone billing, purchase order driven invoicing and work in progress

•      Practical application of AASB 15 or ASC 606

5. Process building and automation (high priority)

•      You have documented and improved finance processes where none existed

•      You look for the manual step and remove it, rather than working around it

•      Strong Xero and advanced Excel or Google Sheets capability

6. Clear communication (high priority)

•      You explain financial matters clearly to people who are not accountants

•      You raise issues early and directly, including when the news is unwelcome

•      You are comfortable dealing with executives, external advisers and customers

Also valuable

•      High growth technology or scaleup experience

•      Experience supporting a first external audit

•      Exposure to venture debt covenant reporting or investor reporting

•      Experience implementing billing or finance systems, for example subscription billing or a CRM to finance integration

•      Research and development incentive or government grant experience

What we are looking for

Ranked. The first two matter most, and we will assess them hard.

1. Reliability and follow through (critical)

This is the single most important quality in this role, because the CFO has no capacity to chase, and the numbers this role produces go to the board, their lender and their investors.

•      You do what you said you would, by when you said it, without being followed up

•      When something is going to slip, you flag it in advance, not afterwards

•      When you say something is done, it is complete, checked and finished, not nearly done

•      You are contactable and responsive through the working day, and you close loops

2. Hands on ownership in a small team (critical)

•      You have run a close yourself, personally, rather than reviewing someone else's

•      You are comfortable moving between technical judgment and transactional processing in the same day

•      You have worked without a team beneath you and are energised, not frustrated, by that

3. Multi-entity and multi-currency accounting (critical)

•      Experience across multiple entities, currencies and jurisdictions, including intercompany

•      Strong accrual accounting, reconciliation and controls discipline

•      CA or CPA qualified, or equivalent demonstrated experience

4. Mixed revenue model experience (high priority)

•      Recurring or subscription revenue, including billing, deferred revenue and recurring revenue reporting

•      Project or services revenue, including milestone billing, purchase order driven invoicing and work in progress

•      Practical application of AASB 15 or ASC 606

5. Process building and automation (high priority)

•      You have documented and improved finance processes where none existed

•      You look for the manual step and remove it, rather than working around it

•      Strong Xero and advanced Excel or Google Sheets capability

6. Clear communication (high priority)

•      You explain financial matters clearly to people who are not accountants

•      You raise issues early and directly, including when the news is unwelcome

•      You are comfortable dealing with executives, external advisers and customers

Also valuable

•      High growth technology or scaleup experience

•      Experience supporting a first external audit

•      Exposure to venture debt covenant reporting or investor reporting

•      Experience implementing billing or finance systems, for example subscription billing or a CRM to finance integration

•      Research and development incentive or government grant experience

How we work together

So that expectations are clear from the outset:

•      A short daily check-in with the CFO on priorities and blockers, reducing in frequency as rhythm and confidence build

•      A brief written update at the end of each day on what has moved, what has not, and what is at risk

•      Two days a week in the Sydney office, with notice given in advance if plans change

•      Calls with international colleagues are kept within agreed, reasonable out of hours limits

•      Meetings are booked in advance with an agenda and preparation circulated beforehand

Working at Our client

Ecoactive

•      Motivated by the transition to zero emission transport, and by working somewhere the mission is real

Clear and transparent

•      Communicates accurately and surfaces problems early

Transformative

•      Improves the way things are done rather than accepting them

Empathy for customers and each other

•      Collaborative, reliable and straightforward to work with

Career path

This role is positioned to grow into Financial Controller as the group scales, with increasing ownership of technical accounting, consolidation, audit and, in time, a team.