Finance Manager

Description

The Finance Manager is a strategic finance leader responsible for oversight and direction across all core accounting and financial functions, including general accounting, tax, payroll, fleet financial management, inventory procurement, and financial planning & analysis (FP&A). Reporting to the Director of Finance, this leader builds scalable financial infrastructure, strengthens internal controls, and develops talent within the department.

This role operates as a thought partner to the Director of Finance and senior leadership, translating financial data into forward-looking insights, enabling disciplined growth, and ensuring that processes and controls scale with the business.

About Plunkett’s:

Plunkett’s is a solid, family-owned business established in 1915 – celebrating over 100 years of continued growth! Our service area covers 24 states, with headquarters in Fridley, Minnesota. Our 800+ employees receive competitive wages and rewards, fantastic benefits, a company-sponsored retirement program, continuous training, and career development. If you are a high-performing, creative content-generating machine and love diving into the story that the data can tell us, this position could be for you! 

Our Core Four Values:

We live by our Core Four, and you will too:

1. Leave No Doubt You Care – Put people first and solve problems with empathy.
2. Own It – Be accountable, follow through, and take pride in your work.
3. Grow to Control Our Destiny – Seek opportunities to grow your route and re-sell our value every time.
4. Shape our Legacy – Improve what you touch and help carry forward our 100+ years of service excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Financial Leadership

• Partner with the Director of Finance to shape financial strategy aligned to growth and margin goals.
• Design and implement scalable processes, systems, and internal controls to support multi-state expansion and acquisitions.
• Provide forward-looking insights (scenario modeling, risk assessments, sensitivity analyses) to inform decisions.
• Drive continuous improvement across the accounting, payroll, inventory/procurement, and FP&A functions.

Team Leadership & Organizational Development

• Provide leadership, direction, and accountability to the AP, Fleet, Accounting and broader finance team.
• Set clear performance expectations, coach leaders, and build bench strength within the function.
• Foster a culture of ownership, accuracy, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Accounting Oversight & Governance

• Ensure the integrity, accuracy, and timeliness of financial statements and management reporting.
• Oversee monthly, quarterly, and annual close, account reconciliations, and GL governance.
• Maintain and enhance internal controls (GAAP compliance, segregation of duties, approval workflows, audit readiness).
• Oversee cash management activities and support working capital optimization (AR/AP cadence, DSO/DPO).

Tax & Compliance Oversight

• Provide strategic oversight of all local taxes including sales & use tax as well as other indirect tax compliance in a multi-state environment.
• Direct and review coordination with external income tax providers.
• Monitor regulatory developments and ensure financial processes reflect changing requirements.

Payroll & Workforce Cost Governance

• Oversee complex, commissioned based, multi-state payroll processes to ensure accuracy, compliance, and appropriate controls.
• Develop reporting that tracks key payroll variables (headcount, overtime, commissions, benefits, PTO, turnover) to explain drivers of workforce cost changes.

Fleet & Asset Financial Strategy

• Provide financial oversight of fleet asset management, including acquisition/disposition, lease vs. buy analysis, depreciation policy, utilization, and cost optimization.
• Build analytics for total cost of ownership and partner with Operations to reduce unit costs.

Inventory & Procurement Financial Leadership

• Build and lead the organization’s first data-driven inventory and procurement function, with a multi-year roadmap for systems, processes, and reporting.
• Implement and govern the inventory system to ensure accurate cost tracking, valuation (e.g., standard/weighted average), forecasting, and internal controls.
• Develop analytics and reporting to support demand planning, purchasing decisions, margin improvement, and cash flow optimization.
• Partner closely with the Warehouse & Commercial Sales Manager to align inventory levels, purchasing strategies, and supply planning with operational demand.
• Oversee vendor rebate programs, provide data-driven insights for negotiations, and maximize supplier value.
• Lead cost comparison and sourcing analyses; collaborate with the Director of Finance on modeling and supplier performance data to strengthen negotiation leverage and long-term vendor relationships.

Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)

• Lead the forecasting framework (annual budget, reforecasts, rolling outlooks) with the Director of Finance.
• Build dashboards and KPIs that elevate visibility into trends, margins, unit economics, and cost drivers at company, region, and branch levels.
• Provide executive-ready analyses that translate data into actionable recommendations.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.
• 8+ years of progressive accounting/finance experience in a mid-sized or growth-oriented organization ($100M+ preferred).
• Demonstrated success building scalable financial processes and strengthening internal controls.
• Experience overseeing multi-functional finance operations (accounting, payroll, tax coordination, FP&A, inventory/procurement).
• Strong understanding of GAAP and internal control frameworks.
• Executive presence with the ability to influence cross-functional leaders and communicate clearly to non-finance audiences.
• Advanced Excel/Sheets; proficiency with ERP/accounting systems and reporting/BI tools.

Preferred

• CPA; CMA or MBA a plus.
• Experience in a field services or multi-location environment (e.g., pest control, home services, logistics, distribution).
• People leadership experience (leading teams and/or leaders); experience leading managers preferred but not required.
• Exposure to fleet accounting, inventory valuation methods, and procurement analytics.
• Familiarity with ERP- Sage
• Multi-state payroll experience with Paylocity and sales/use tax environments.