Controller

GC AI

$120K — $150K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Finance & Insurance
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of accounting experience with a focus on audit and IPO process
  • Active CPA with Big 4 or strong national firm background
  • Proven record of building and scaling accounting functions in high-growth environments
  • Familiarity with modern AI tools for financial processes
  • Strong technical accounting knowledge, particularly ASC 606 for SaaS and usage-based pricing
  • Experience managing teams and developing junior accountants

Responsibilities

  • Architect the accounting function from outsourced to in-house with an AI-driven approach.
  • Own ERP implementation, redesigning chart of accounts and validating data.
  • Design an AI-augmented close process for efficiency and accuracy.
  • Build a data architecture for unified access across Finance, Accounting, and RevOps.
  • Utilize AI tools to automate and enhance accounting workflows.
  • Establish governance and controls suitable for a company on an IPO path.
  • Manage the first-year financial statement audit and ensure readiness.

Benefits

  • Remote work flexibility with hybrid options for local candidates
  • Direct collaboration with executive leadership including the CEO
  • Ownership of key systems and headcount decisions in a growing company
  • Opportunity to shape and lead the accounting function in an innovative environment
  • Engagement in a pioneering shift within the legal technology sector
Full Job Description
About The Role

We are hiring our first Controller to build and scale the accounting function at GC AI, own the close and the audit, and architect the systems and controls that scale with the business. This is not a maintenance job. The person we hire will design how accounting works at a modern AI company - what is automated, what is reviewed, what is governed - and will build the team that runs it.

You will partner closely with the Senior Director of Finance, our fractional CFO, and the CEO. You will own the relationships with our independent auditors, our technical accounting advisors, and our outsourced bookkeeper through the in-house transition. You will inherit a complex first-year audit already in flight, an ERP selection and implementation, and a billing/rev rec transformation tied to usage-based pricing.

Most Controller roles ask you to keep the books and survive the audit. This one asks you to build the function, conduct a first-year audit, design systems that scale with the business, and do it as an AI-first operator-not someone who tolerates AI. You will have direct access to the CEO and the executive team, real ownership over systems and headcount decisions, and the chance to be the founding accounting leader at a company that is on a path to be one of the defining AI companies in legal.

What You'll Do
  • Architect the accounting org from the current outsourced model to a fully in-house, AI-leveraged team. Define the operating model, hiring plan (Senior Accountant, AR/AP, Staff Accountant), and role/responsibility split between Accounting and FP&A.
  • Own the implementation and ongoing administration of an ERP. Lead the cutover from our current bookkeeping stack, including the chart of accounts redesign, opening balances, integrations, and parallel-run validation.
  • Design the close to be AI-augmented end-to-end: reconciliations, flux analysis, accrual roll-forwards, journal entry preparation, and first-draft variance commentary generated by systems, with humans as reviewers and approvers.
  • Stand up the systems architecture and build the data layer that lets Finance, Accounting, and RevOps work from a single source of truth.
  • Use modern AI tooling (Claude, MCP connectors, agentic workflows) to compress the close cycle, automate prep work, and free the team for judgment and analysis. Set the bar for what "AI-first accounting" looks like in practice - and ship it.
  • Establish controls, segregation of duties, and audit trails appropriate for a company on an IPO path without slowing the business. We want strong governance, not bureaucracy.
  • Take full ownership of our first-year financial statement audit. Land it.
  • Own the technical accounting work; revenue recognition, ASC 606 memos, equity, stock comp, lease accounting, and any acquisition-related accounting.
  • Build the audit-ready close: monthly close on a predictable cadence, clean rollforwards, supportable accruals, documented controls, and a tight, organized PBC process for subsequent audits.
  • Own customer-facing financial diligence - auditor letters, going-concern letters, financial statement requests from enterprise customers - so the sales team can close deals without bottlenecks.
  • Stand up the discipline and documentation that makes year two and year three audits fast.

What We're Looking For:
  • Audit experience. Started your career in public accounting (Big 4 or strong national firm) with a meaningful run as an auditor. Active CPA.
  • IPO experience. You have been through an IPO from the issuer side - ideally as a Controller, Assistant Controller, or Senior Accounting Manager - and you know what the SEC, underwriters, and auditors expect. You have written or owned material sections of an S-1.
  • Built and scaled an accounting function. You have taken an accounting org from early/scrappy to repeatable and audit-ready at a high-growth company. You have hired, leveled, and managed accountants. You have replaced an ERP at least once.
  • AI-native operator. You actively use modern AI tooling in your own work. You can describe specific workflows you have automated or compressed using LLMs, MCP, or agentic tools. You believe systems should shape processes, not the other way around - and you can architect both.
  • Technical accounting depth. Strong ASC 606 chops, especially for SaaS and usage-based/consumption pricing. Comfortable owning the memo, not just reviewing it.
  • Operator mindset. You move with urgency, write clearly, are comfortable in the details and the strategy, and can hold a tight close while also rebuilding the systems underneath it.


Nice-to-Haves
  • Experience at a venture-backed SaaS company between Series B and IPO.
  • Direct experience with Rillet, Campfire, NetSuite, Metronome, Stripe, Ramp, and Justworks.
  • Familiarity with AI/ML cost accounting (inference costs, COGS classification, gross margin in AI businesses).
  • Experience supporting an M&A or acqui-hire transaction.


A Note On Pace

We're building something new in a once-in-a-generation shift in technology and the legal industry, so we move at a relentless pace. We expect urgency, ownership, and good judgment even when things aren't perfectly clear. If you need structure and consensus to do your best work, this isn't the right place for you. If you thrive in ambiguity and growth, work with intensity, and want real responsibility, keep reading. We're excited to meet you.

Location Policy

This is a remote role unless you fall within the following parameters. If you live within approximately 50 miles of our San Mateo, CA or Provo, UT office, the position follows a hybrid schedule with in-office days on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

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