Finance Controller

About the Company: We are a Series B-funded rural commerce company building a scalable, technology-enabled platform serving customers, retailers, distributors, producers and other stakeholders across Indias rural and semi-urban markets. As the company scales its geographic footprint, transaction volumes, product portfolio and operating complexity, finance is evolving from a traditional accounting function into a strategic control tower for the business. We are looking for a seasoned Finance Controller who can build a world-class controllership function while operating effectively in a high-growth, entrepreneurial environment. The ideal candidate will bring 15+ years of finance and accounting experience, strong controllership fundamentals, excellent command over financial reporting and internal controls, and the ability to translate a complex, distributed operating model into disciplined financial processes. This role is particularly suited to someone who has worked in high-growth businesses, startups, consumer businesses, distribution, FMCG, retail, e-commerce, fintech, agritech, logistics or other transaction-intensive environments. Role Overview: The Finance Controller will own the organization's financial controllership, accounting, reporting, compliance, internal controls and finance operations. The individual will be responsible for ensuring that the company's books are accurate, timely and audit-ready, while establishing processes and controls that can support the company through its next phase of growth. The role will require a combination of: Strong technical accounting knowledge, Operational finance leadership, Financial discipline and control orientation, Process and systems thinking, Business partnering, Audit and investor readiness, Team leadership, Ability to operate in ambiguity, and Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. The successful candidate will be expected to build scalable finance infrastructure rather than simply manage existing accounting processes. Key Responsibilities: - Own the end-to-end controllership function and ensure the integrity and accuracy of the company's financial records. - Own the company's accounting and financial reporting framework. - Ensure accurate accounting across all business entities, locations and operating units. - Establish robust accounting policies, procedures and controls. - Ensure timely monthly, quarterly and annual financial closing. - Drive continuous improvement in the month-end closing cycle. - Own the chart of accounts and accounting architecture. - Review complex accounting transactions and determine appropriate accounting treatment. - Ensure appropriate revenue recognition, expense recognition, provisions, accruals and reconciliations. - Monitor balance sheet integrity and ensure timely resolution of open items. - Establish strong balance sheet review mechanisms. - Ensure proper accounting for fixed assets, leases, investments, loans, employee benefits and other relevant transactions. - Review inter-company transactions and balances. - Ensure appropriate accounting treatment for business arrangements, partnerships, commissions, incentives and commercial schemes. - Maintain high standards of accounting documentation and audit trails. Financial Reporting & MIS: - Prepare and review monthly financial statements. - Ensure timely preparation of P&L, balance sheet and cash-flow statements. - Develop comprehensive monthly MIS for management and the Board. - Build reporting packs covering: Revenue, Gross margin, Contribution margin, Operating expenses, EBITDA, Working capital, Cash flow, Receivables, Payables, Inventory, Capex, Business-unit profitability, Unit economics. - Establish meaningful financial KPIs for different business functions. - Ensure management reporting reconciles with statutory books. - Provide analysis of actuals versus budget, forecast and prior periods. - Identify material variances and work with business teams to explain and address them. - Improve the quality, timeliness and automation of management reporting. Month-End and Year-End Close: - Establish a clearly defined month-end close calendar. - Set closing responsibilities and deadlines across finance and business teams. - Review journal entries, accruals, provisions and adjustments. - Ensure all balance sheet accounts are reconciled. - Review revenue and cost cut-offs. - Identify unusual or non-recurring transactions. - Establish controls around manual journal entries. - Ensure timely closure of audit queries. - Reduce close timelines through process redesign and automation. - Build a culture of "right first time" accounting. Accounts Receivable & Collections: - Establish robust receivables accounting and reconciliation processes. - Monitor ageing of receivables. - Establish customer and channel credit-control policies. - Monitor credit exposure by customer, distributor, geography and business segment. - Develop processes for bad-debt assessment and provisioning. - Improve collection efficiency. - Establish controls around credit notes, returns, discounts and commercial adjustments. - Reconcile collections received through banks, digital payment platforms and other channels. - Work closely with sales and operations teams to resolve collection issues. - Develop dashboards for DSO, ageing, overdue exposure and collection performance. Accounts Payable & Vendor Finance: - Establish strong vendor onboarding and master-data controls. - Ensure three-way matching where applicable. - Ensure timely vendor reconciliation. - Monitor outstanding payables and ageing. - Establish payment approval matrices. - Ensure appropriate TDS, GST and other statutory deductions. - Control duplicate invoices and duplicate payments. - Improve invoice processing and payment workflows. - Work with procurement and operations to improve payment terms. - Monitor vendor advances and ageing. - Establish controls around employee reimbursements and expense claims. Working Capital Management: - Establish working-capital dashboards. - Identify working-capital leakage. - Track cash conversion cycle. - Improve receivables collection. - Optimize payment cycles. - Monitor inventory and slow-moving stock, where applicable. - Develop cash-flow forecasting processes. - Establish weekly cash visibility. - Identify opportunities to improve cash efficiency without compromising business growth. Cash Flow & Treasury: - Maintain daily/weekly cash visibility. - Develop rolling cash-flow forecasts. - Monitor bank balances and cash utilization. - Coordinate banking relationships. - Monitor debt and working-capital facilities. - Ensure compliance with financing covenants. - Monitor interest costs and banking charges. - Establish controls over bank accounts and payment authorization. - Improve cash-management processes across entities and locations. - Ensure appropriate segregation of duties around payments. Internal Controls & Risk Management: - Design and implement internal financial controls. - Develop approval matrices and delegation-of-authority frameworks. - Establish segregation of duties. - Identify financial and operational control risks. - Conduct periodic control reviews. - Develop SOPs for critical finance processes. - Identify opportunities for automation and preventive controls. - Establish controls around: Cash, Inventory, Revenue, Discounts, Credit notes, Vendor payments, Procurement, Payroll, Fixed assets, Customer refunds, Expenses, Employee advances, and Related-party transactions. - Coordinate internal audits and remediation. - Establish mechanisms to track and close audit observations. Statutory Compliance: - Maintain a compliance calendar. - Ensure timely filings and payments. - Review significant tax positions. - Coordinate tax assessments. - Work with external advisors. - Monitor regulatory changes. - Ensure docu