Controller

ABOUT GUIDEBOOK:

Guidebook helps universities and colleges build genuine connection across the entire student journey - from prospective student, to enrolled, to alumni. Hundreds of higher education institutions use Guidebook to bring people together: open houses and campus visits, orientation and welcome week, student life and engagement, and the hundreds of moments in between.

We are a people business, not a technology business. Our product is the tool, but the mission is human: helping students feel they belong, and getting them out of the app and into the world - connected to their campus, their peers, and the experiences that shape them.

We are a small, driven, fully remote team that highly values autonomy, trust, and fun.

ABOUT THE JOB:

We are looking for a Controller to own Guidebook's accounting operations end to end.

This is the whole function in one seat. You will run the monthly close, own AR and AP, process payroll, manage cash, and produce the reporting that the leadership team and our board run the business on. You will be our NetSuite owner and the person who knows how every number got where it is.

You will report directly to the President, and have support from a fractional CFO/Principal where needed.

To be clear about scope: this role has no direct reports. You will manage the accounting function, and you will have real authority over how it runs. If you have been doing most of the close yourself inside a bigger team and want the whole thing to be yours, this is that job.

We are a 15-year-old company that has been through a lot of change, and some of our processes show it. You will find things that are manual, undocumented, or done that way because it’s been the case for a while. We would like you to fix them.

LOCATION:

• This person must be based on the East Coast of the USA and be looking to work remotely.

  • Your manager will be based in London, and your team mates from East to West Coast, Canada and everything in between.

  • There is no expectation of regular travel beyond our annual company retreat.

WHAT YOU'LL OWN:

Month-end close. Prepare and post journal entries, reconcile every balance sheet account, run bank reconciliations, and maintain prepaids, accruals and fixed assets. You own the close calendar and you own hitting it.

Accounts receivable. Invoice customers, chase payment, and keep our AR aging healthy. You will be the main point of contact for customers with billing questions, and you will work closely with our sales team on anything that touches order-to-cash.

Accounts payable and cash. Vendor setup, bill runs, payment discrepancies, and the weekly disbursement run. Maintain a rolling cash forecast and flag anything that looks wrong before it becomes a problem.

Payroll. Process payroll, prepare the related journal entries, and reconcile the payroll GL accounts.

Credit cards and expenses. Administer our corporate cards and expense platform, reconcile card activity, and hold people to the expense policy - including asking the awkward question when a charge does not make sense.

Reporting. Produce the monthly reporting pack, including P&L and balance sheet variance analysis against budget. Prepare the monthly package for our external CPA, and support the annual tax filings, audit requests, and any lender or investor diligence.

NetSuite. Be our system owner. Keep the chart of accounts clean, and look for the things we are doing by hand that the system could be doing for us.

Process. Document what exists, improve what does not work, and build the controls a company our size should have. This is a real part of the job, not a stretch goal.

Tax preparation liaison. Serve as the primary contact for the outside CPA firm. Gather, organize, and deliver all requested financial data, schedules, and receipts.

Budgeting and forecasting. Assist management in creating annual budgets and tracking financial performance variances.

Insurance and risk management. Manage the company’s core insurance portfolio. Review vendor and client contracts to ensure indemnity clauses are reasonable and verify that external contractors provide valid Certificates of Insurance (COIs) before starting work.

WHO YOU ARE:

• You have 7+ years of accounting experience and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting or a related field.

• You have owned a close, not a piece of one. You can talk through the reconciliations you build, what you check, and what you do when something does not tie.

• You know NetSuite fully. You have worked in it day to day.

• You work well without someone over your shoulder. Your manager is five hours ahead and your finance leadership is fractional. You set your own pace, you flag problems early, and you do not need chasing.

• You improve things. When you find something manual, undocumented or just wrong, you fix it and you write down what you did. You can point at processes that are better because you were there.

• You write clearly. A lot of this job is explaining a number to someone who does not work in finance, in writing, without a meeting.

• You are comfortable being the only one. This is a team of one inside a company of 35. That means autonomy, and it also means the buck stops with you.

WHO WE ARE:

These are the four things we hire for and live by. We want to work with people who embody them every day.

• Own it. You take responsibility for your territory, your pipeline and your number. No excuses, no waiting to be told.

• Find a way. Small team, big ambition. You are resourceful and you get to the outcome even when the path is not obvious.

• Have each other's backs. We win as a team. You share what is working, ask for help, and back up your colleagues.

• Always getting better. You treat coaching, feedback and your own ramp as a chance to improve every week.

WITHIN 1 MONTH, YOU’LL:

• Have full access to NetSuite and every system that feeds it, and understand how our revenue actually reaches the ledger.

• Have run a close alongside our fractional Principal, and know where the current process is fragile.

• Own AR and AP outright, including the weekly bill run.

• Have met the people across the company whose work generates the numbers you will be closing.

WITHIN 3 MONTHS, YOU’LL:

• Own the monthly close end to end, on a calendar we can plan around.

• Own payroll, corporate cards and expense administration.

• Have produced an updated documented close checklist that matches today’s reality.

• Have a clear view of AR aging, and a plan for anything sitting on it that should not be.

WITHIN 12 MONTHS, YOU’LL:

• Be closing the month predictably enough that the leadership team plans around your dates without asking.

• Have automated or eliminated a meaningful chunk of what was manual when you arrived.

• Own the monthly reporting pack, and be the person anyone goes to first when a number needs explaining.

• Have made the accounting function something we do not worry about.

PERKS:

• 100% paid benefits: medical, dental, and vision.

• Short term and long term disability.

• Unlimited vacation time.

• 401(k) program with matching benefit.

• Stock options.

• Awesome company culture and fun virtual hangouts.

• MacBook and accessories to make you comfortable working from home.

• Awesome annual company retreats.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:

At Guidebook, we're committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for everyone – and we know that's best achieved, in part, with a diverse workforce. We're working on increasing diversity across the company. If you're looking to join a team that is smart, highly motivated, and also values work/life balance, we can't wait to hear how you can add to our growing culture!

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class. If you want to help our team do amazing things, then we want to hear from you!

COMPENSATION

The salary range for this role is $100,000 - 110,000, depending on experience. You will also receive stock options.