Controller (Non-profit Industry Expert)

Company Background

Vessel Advisors delivers financial clarity and operational certainty to growth-stage CEOs and their companies. We serve as an outsourced financial team with a focus on strategic finance, technology, and metrics. We provide a full accounting and finance team at a fraction of the cost, and we scale up or down with our clients as they do. We work primarily with dynamic, growth-stage business leaders who need to develop and implement strategic financial and operational plans.

We get to serve as trusted advisors to dynamic business leaders and equip them with the financial information they need when they need it.

Position Summary

The Controller position at Vessel Advisors reports directly to the VP of Operations and to client executive leadership on a fractional basis. This role is responsible for directing all accounting, financial reporting, cash management, budgeting, grant and contract compliance, tax coordination, and internal control functions across multi-entity nonprofit organizations, including direct-service providers, advocacy and education organizations, and their related affiliates and supporting entities.

We are hiring this role in anticipation of continued growth in our nonprofit client portfolio. The Controller serves as a hands-on technical lead, overseeing credit card and invoice approval workflows, accounting system reporting and optimization, rolling cash flow projections, and coordination with outside accounting and audit firms. The ideal candidate blends deep nonprofit accounting expertise with an AI-first mindset, orchestrating workflows through modern tools to scale client financial operations.

Requirements

What We're Looking For

• AI-First Mindset: Possess a deep, self-driven curiosity for AI, actively integrating tools into personal and professional workflows to eliminate 80–90% of manual effort—far beyond basic text drafting or email generation.
• Hands-on Platform Experience: Direct experience designing and deploying customized AI solutions, including Claude Artifacts, custom GPTs, tailored Projects, and specialized prompt skills.
• Agentic Management: Naturally approach work as an orchestrator, leveraging and managing multiple AI agents concurrently to execute complex financial and operational deliverables.
• Nonprofit expertise: Proven background as a Controller serving tax-exempt organizations, managing fund accounting across restricted and unrestricted net assets, federal and private grant portfolios, donor-designated funding, and multi-entity or affiliate structures. Breadth across adjacent service industries, such as professional services or marketing, is a plus.
• Operational leadership breadth: Comfortable extending past the accounting function into operations, including process design, vendor and systems management, payroll and HR coordination, and cross-functional leadership alongside executive directors, finance committees, and boards. Prior COO or Director of Operations exposure is a strong signal.
• Tech-savvy and systems expertise: Deep proficiency with Sage Intacct (including system setups, modifications, and customized reporting), Excel, and Google Workspace. Familiarity with QuickBooks Online, Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT, BILL, Ramp, Gusto or ADP payroll, Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, Raiser's Edge, Bloomerang, and Expensify is highly valued.
• Extreme ownership and proactive focus: Deeply organized, comfortable leading fractional engagements, managing tight deadlines, and operating with perfectionist standards across multi-entity consolidations and grant reporting calendars.
• Excellent virtual communicator: Superior written (Slack, email) and verbal skills for high-frequency remote client engagement, including comfort presenting to executive directors, finance committees, and boards.
• Day to Day Operations
• Transaction approvals: Execute daily and weekly review and approval of all client credit card transactions and vendor invoices to maintain operational momentum.
• Outside accounting and audit firm oversight: Review work papers, monthly close packages, and financial deliverables provided by outside accounting firms, and serve as the primary liaison for annual financial statement audits.
• Systems modification and reporting: Head up the active configuration, modification, and optimization of client accounting system setups; design and run custom financial, program, and grant reports.
• Nonprofit Accounting and Compliance
• Fund accounting and net assets: Maintain fund-level accounting across net assets with and without donor restrictions, track releases from restriction, and reconcile donor-restricted balances to the underlying gift and grant agreements.
• Revenue recognition: Apply ASU 2018-08 to distinguish contributions from exchange transactions and conditional from unconditional promises to give, recognize program service and fee-for-service revenue under ASC 606, and record contributed nonfinancial assets under ASU 2020-07.
• Grant and contract compliance: Administer federal, state, foundation, and corporate grant portfolios, including budget-to-actual reporting, drawdown and reimbursement requests, subrecipient monitoring, and compliance with Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200).
• Functional expense and cost allocation: Build and maintain cost allocation methodologies across program, management and general, and fundraising; prepare the statement of functional expenses and support negotiated indirect cost rate agreements.
• Audit and tax coordination: Prepare audit-ready schedules and the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards, coordinate single audits where applicable, and support Form 990 and Form 990-T preparation with external CPAs.
• Endowment and investment accounting: Track board-designated and donor-restricted endowments, spending policy calculations, and UPMIFA compliance.
• Fractional Leadership, Treasury, & Analysis
• Rolling cash flow and liquidity: Lead organization-wide cash flow projections, liquidity planning, operating reserve policy monitoring, debt covenant compliance, and line-of-credit management.
• Budgeting and financial modeling: Prepare annual organizational budgets, program- and grant-level budgets, long-range forecasts, and scenario models tied to funding cycles and renewal timelines.
• Consolidated and board reporting: Deliver accurate month-end consolidated reporting packages, finance and audit committee materials, and KPI dashboards; establish internal controls and coordinate annual audit and tax workflows with external CPAs.
• Team and AI orchestration: Supervise internal, client, and third-party staff while deploying multi-agent AI workflows to streamline accounting deliverables.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Experience: 8–10+ years of progressive accounting leadership (Controller, Director of Finance, Director of Accounting, COO, or CFO) with significant tenure serving nonprofit or tax-exempt organizations.
• Technical accounting: Mastery of GAAP for not-for-profit entities (ASC 958), fund accounting, multi-entity consolidations, federal award compliance, and functional expense allocation.
• Systems: Demonstrated expertise in Sage Intacct (setup and modification experience strongly preferred), coupled with hands-on skill in building custom GPTs, Claude Artifacts, and automated workflows.
• Education and credentials: Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance required. CPA, CNAP, or Master's degree strongly preferred.
• Physical Location & Details
• Type: Full-Time (40+ Hours per week)
• Location: USA only – Fully Remote Working Arrangement. Standard working hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in your local time zone; MST or PST preferred).
• Ability to Travel Preferred: Infrequent (1x per month or less) for initial client discovery assessments or strategic team meetings.
• Annual All-Team Retreat: late summer/early fall, required attendance.
• Compensation: Starting at $95,000+ per year (DOE).