Controller

KICK for the G O A L

OrthoArkansas' core values

• KINDNESS: People are happier after interactions with you because you are kind and pleasant.
• INTEGRITY: Always doing the right thing, especially when no one is looking.
• CONSCIENTIOUSNESS: Strive for excellence in all that you do, paying special attention to the details that make a difference in patient care and teamwork.
• KNOWLEDGE: Be a lifelong learner.

Position Overview

The Controller at OrthoArkansas is a hands-on accounting leader who owns the multi-entity ledger, the monthly close, physician financial mechanics, and the small team responsible for accounting, accounts payable, and cash. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, who leads the organization's financial strategy, the Controller ensures accurate, timely financial statements and a strong control environment across all entities. Over time, and with dedicated training and support from OrthoArkansas' in-house AI developers, the Controller will learn to build AI agents into every facet of the accounting function, then oversee them: reviewing what they produce, catching what they miss, and making them better. This role is built for a great accountant who is curious about AI and excited to become the person who does this for OrthoArkansas.

Key Responsibilities

Monthly Close & Financial Reporting

• Own the monthly close across all entities, including intercompany activity, balance sheet reconciliations, and entity financial statements.
• Prepare the monthly financial package for the CEO and boards.
• Remain hands-on with the ledger, preparing and booking entries in addition to reviewing the work of the team.

Accounting Automation & AI

• Learn to build with AI tools through structured, hands-on training and side-by-side work with OrthoArkansas' in-house AI developers, beginning in the first weeks.
• Build the automated close step by step: map each process, decide what an agent can do and what stays with a person, build and test the agents, run them in parallel with the manual close until they are proven, then cut over.
• Automate reconciliations, accruals, intercompany, journal entry preparation, and first-draft variance commentary, with people serving as reviewers and approvers.
• Oversee the automated close once live: review agent output every cycle, handle exceptions, tune instructions when results drift, and extend automation to the next process.
• Present what has been built to leadership and peers.

Physician Financial Mechanics

• Prepare monthly physician statements and calculate productivity bonuses.
• Administer physician distributions and bonus payouts in coordination with payroll.
• Support physician buy-in and buy-out transactions.
• Maintain the calendar behind all physician financial activity.

Cash & Disbursements

• Oversee the daily cash position and provide the payroll funding recommendation.
• Manage distribution runs and approve accounts payable within delegated limits.
• Resolve positive pay exceptions.

Year-End, Audit & Compliance

• Coordinate the outside CPA review, tax packages, and K-1 support.
• Prepare and file 1099s.
• Prepare the profit-sharing plan audit package.
• Complete lender certifications and borrowing base reporting.

Internal Controls

• Maintain strong governance without bureaucracy, including financial policies, procedures, and internal controls that safeguard organizational assets.
• Ensure every AI agent has an audit trail, a documented process, appropriate separation of duties, and a human approval point where one belongs.

Team Leadership & Partnership

• Supervise, train, and develop three direct reports: staff accountant, accounts payable, and cash and deposits.
• Help the CEO explain financial results to the physician-owners, including unwelcome news, plainly and early.
• Serve as a key contact for banking partners and the outside CPA firm.

Additional Responsibilities

• Perform other related duties as required or assigned.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or a related field required.
• Minimum of 7 years of progressive accounting experience, including time as a Controller, Assistant Controller, or the person who did everything at a small company.
• Multi-entity and intercompany accounting experience required.
• People management experience required, with a desire to keep leading a team.
• Healthcare experience is not required; we will teach you our industry.

Skills & Abilities

• Strong command of GAAP, the monthly close, reconciliations, and internal controls.
• Working understanding of S-corporation shareholder accounting.
• Still enjoys the ledger and is comfortable preparing and booking entries, not only reviewing them.
• Curious about AI and already using it in your own work by choice, with a desire to go much deeper and learn to build with it.
• Enjoys experimenting and tinkering, and would rather learn to build a solution than wait for one.
• Comfortable delivering unwelcome news to owners plainly and early.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate clearly to leadership and physicians.
• Sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to maintain confidentiality with sensitive financial and compensation information.

Software Skills

• Mastery: Spreadsheet, Accounting.
• Advanced: ERP systems (Acumatica preferred), bank platforms, Payroll Systems.
• Preferred: Hands-on use of AI tools in accounting or other work. Training on building with AI is provided.

Perks of This Position

• Leadership & Impact – Own the accounting function of a leading physician-owned orthopedic group and shape how it runs for years to come.
• Build Something New – Become one of the first controllers in healthcare to build and run an accounting function through AI agents.
• We Invest in You – Receive structured, hands-on AI training, a budget for tools and learning, and side-by-side support from our in-house AI developers.
• Attractive Compensation & Comprehensive Benefits – Receive a comprehensive benefits package including medical coverage, life insurance, 401(k) with employer profit-sharing contributions, paid time off, and paid holidays.
• Small Team, No Bureaucracy – Work on a small, focused team that plans to stay that way, partnering directly with the CEO.

Additional Details

Performance Expectations

An accurate, on-time close across all entities, a strong control environment, timely physician statements and distributions, clean year-end deliverables, and steady progress automating the close, with agents proven in parallel before cutover.

Professional Development

Structured AI development training alongside the leadership team, with the goal of presenting your work to peer groups within your first year.

What This Role Is Not

This is not a review-only seat, not a large department, and not a role where someone else does the AI work for you. You will learn it and build it, with help. Join OrthoArkansas as Controller and lead an accounting function run by someone who understands both the accounting and the systems doing it. This position offers a rare opportunity to combine great old-school accounting with building something new, while contributing to the continued growth of a highly respected orthopedic practice.