Controller

Controller

Short Term: The role’s focus will be to oversee the full cycle of accounting of the firm and its holding companies. The incumbent will spend their first 90 days getting familiar with the accounting system of our client's real estate operations (MRI Software) and their holding companies (QuickBooks Online). The incumbent will equally need to fully understand the businesses that the Family Office is involved in (Private credit fund structured as a limited partnership) and a real estate division structured as a corporation. Equally important is understanding the external parties involved in creating the financial information: there is an external property manager and accounting firm, as the external auditor.

Medium Term: Reporting to the Partner in charge of finance and investments, this is a growth role within the family office. The incumbent will be part of the transformation of the family office into an institutional style private credit fund. They are envisioning managing $250M of external AUM in addition to their own capital within two years. The successful candidate will be in charge of the full financial information management in their fund and real estate operations.

Qualifications and experience

• CPA (CA, CGA or CMA) with 5+ years of experience
• Fund experience is a plus, knowledge of limited partnership accounting and T5013 is a must
• Real Estate industry experience is a plus
• Expert knowledge of Excel
• Managerial experience with demonstrated mentorship of direct reports
• Familiarity with MRI Real Estate software a definite plus
• Familiarity with QuickBooks online is a must

Structure and Team:

• The incumbent will be supported by a consultant Director of Finance at the beginning of the position for 3 days per week and eventually decrease the dependence to 1 or 2 days a week.
• The incumbent will be supported 5 days a week by a Senior Accountant.
• The incumbent will be supported by 2 offshore accountants on a full time basis (based in India).

Accounting and Operations

• Oversee the work of two offshore accountants in India and provide guidance and review.
• Review the monthly trial balances prepared by the external property accountants.
• Prepare Journal Entries together with the current Director of Finance and Senior Accountant.
• Inquire about the correct booking of complicated JEs related to acquisitions, JVs, tax reorganizations.
• Wire transfers and daily cash management.
• Validate data integrity within the accounting system (JV entities and fully owned entities). Reconcile GL balances at month end close.
• Oversee bank reconciliations prepared by offshore accountants.
• Complete ownership of the full accounting cycle.
• Ensure quality control over financial transactions and financial reporting.
• Exchange information with external property managers and partners as necessary.
• Ensure all government reporting requirements and deadlines (corporate income taxes, GST/QST, etc.) are met.
• Prepare accounting package for external accountant for the Review Engagement.
• Review certain information in the Corporate Tax returns (T2) and provide data to the external preparers of the returns.

Management

• Manage the cash position and 90 day forward planning for the office.
• Maintain a quarterly reporting package to the managing partners.
• Maintain and up to date set of books.
• Manage the review engagement process with the external accounting firm.
• This is a value creation position, and as such creativity and drive are essential differentiators for a candidate.
• Develop and enforce internal controls to maximize protection of company assets that scale with a growing business.

About the Company:

Our client manages the affairs and investments of their principals. The principals have a vision to make their investment office larger than real estate and diversify into private debt and equity investments. We are currently in year 4 of a 5-year transformation plan which will result in our client becoming an institutional quality investment sponsor in areas of real estate and private debt and equity. They launched a fund with external AUM and are currently working on aggressively increasing the fund size.

What we offer

• Competitive salary.
• Excellent health benefits package.
• Very generous long term compensation package in the form of co-investment with a match from the family office (after 1 year on the job).
• Brand new and cool open concept offices in Westmount.
• Paid parking.
• Mentorship with the CFOs of top tier real estate and fund company.
• Decentralized decision making: All the key decision makers are in the office daily; transformational decisions take a few hours to make as opposed to days and months.
• High visibility projects with tremendous personal recognition: they work on acquisitions with the top brokers, bankers, family offices, lawyers, and accountants. Your name will get out there and you will develop a network of trusted advisors who are aware of your achievements.
• One on one interaction with one of the top fintech entrepreneurs in the country.
• Hands on contribution to multimillion dollar financings and transactions.