Position Summary
The Corporate Controller owns BAL’s financial controls environment, audit governance, and lender/covenant reporting posture. This is a controls, compliance, and governance-ownership role — it carries the executive presence for Finance with auditors, lenders, and firm leadership.
Essential Duties And Responsibilities
- Own the design, execution, and maturity of the internal controls framework — risk assessment, control testing, and remediation. Candidates should have built or significantly matured a controls environment before, not only maintained one.
- Maintain continuous audit readiness as an operating posture, not an annual event. Own the audit relationship process directly.
- Prepare and manage lender/covenant reporting under a credit facility, revolver, or similar debt structure.
- Serve as the primary point of authority for auditors and lenders, and represent the firm’s control posture in executive-level financial reporting — this person carries weight in the room, not just prepares the materials.
- Partner with the Accounting teams on GAAP application and reporting integrity, without owning execution of close.
- Identify and flag control gaps or financial-integrity risk to the CFO and Finance leadership.
Technology & Change Leadership
- BAL is undergoing significant technological and organizational change. This role requires genuine learning agility and technical aptitude — not just tolerance for change.
- Serves as an influential voice in technology and process deployment decisions — a participant in shaping system changes, not just an end user.
- Evaluates, questions, and champions system/process changes through a controls and financial-integrity lens; asks the right questions whenever new technology touches financial data or workflows.
- Prior experience navigating systems transformation, ERP change, or major process redesign.
Working Style
- Hands-on: willing and able to dig into transaction-level detail when something doesn’t tie out, not manage exclusively from a dashboard.
- Comfortable being the “no” or “not yet” voice when controls or compliance require it. This is a governance role, not a cheerleading role.
- Curious and adaptable enough to stay credible as the firm’s technology and processes evolve.
- Operates through influence and control authority rather than line management.
Required Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities
- Track record owning internal controls design and execution — risk assessment, control testing, remediation. SOX exposure is a good indicator but not required.
- Experience in a high-transaction-volume environment (high invoice/payment throughput, complex AR/AP flows).
- Professional services industry background — law firm, consulting, or similar partner/client-billing model — with working understanding of WIP, billing cycles, and PS-specific revenue recognition.
- Has led or directly managed external audits and owned the process.
- Experience preparing or managing compliance reporting under a credit facility, revolver, or debt covenant structure.
- Strong GAAP technical knowledge with proven practical application.
- Direct, credible communicator who can explain financial risk and control gaps clearly to non-finance executives.
Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance required.
- CPA strongly preferred, not required.
- 10+ years of progressive controls/audit/compliance leadership experience required.