Financial Controller

Scarlett Group is seeking a hands-on Financial Controller to lead and modernize the company's financial operations. This role owns accounting accuracy, financial reporting, forecasting, cash management, compliance, internal controls, and financial operating discipline. The Controller reports to the President/CEO and acts as Scarlett Group's primary finance partner with Lyra Technology Group. The person in this seat will build a scalable, self-sufficient finance function that consistently meets Lyra's reporting requirements, gives leaders timely and actionable insight, protects cash and margin, and supports profitable growth across Managed IT Services, Cybersecurity Services, Advanced Technology Solutions, Consulting, Auditing, and Artificial Intelligence Services. This is a lean finance function, so the role balances strategic leadership with hands-on execution. You will own... Financial Leadership & Performance Management • Own consolidated and service-line P&L reporting, including revenue, gross profit, operating expense, Adjusted EBITDA, and cash performance. • Partner with the President / CEO and practice leaders on pricing, margin improvement, service-line profitability, staffing decisions, and resource allocation. • Provide accurate monthly analysis of actual results versus budget and forecast, identifying what changed, why it changed, and what action is required. • Present financial performance, risks, opportunities, and recommended actions to executive leadership and, as requested, Lyra, the board, or ownership. • Establish financial accountability across leadership without shifting operational ownership away from the leaders responsible for execution. Lyra Financial Reporting & Partnership • Own the accurate and timely completion of all Lyra monthly reporting requirements, including financial statements and KPIs, the cash sweep form, MD&A, month-over-month P&L variance analysis, and the balance-sheet reconciliation package. • Achieve and maintain an accurate, GAAP-compliant month-end close within Lyra's required timetable, targeting completion within 5-6 business days. • Coordinate leadership input for the MD&A and ensure explanations are concise, fact-based, and tied to corrective actions or growth opportunities. • Serve as Scarlett Group's primary finance liaison with Lyra's Regional, Accounting, Finance, Tax, Audit, Business Central, and other support teams. • Respond promptly and accurately to Lyra information requests and escalate reporting, accounting, forecast, or control risks before they become surprises. • Maintain alignment with Lyra accounting policies, reporting templates, chart-of-accounts mapping, approved Adjusted EBITDA addbacks, and shared-cost allocations. Accounting Operations & Controls • Own full-cycle accounting, including the general ledger, payroll, AP, AR, client invoicing, revenue recognition, accruals, prepaids, fixed assets, intercompany activity, and month-end and year-end close. • Maintain complete, well-supported monthly balance-sheet reconciliations for cash, credit cards, intercompany, equity, deferred revenue, accruals, and all other material accounts. • Ensure recurring and project-based revenue is billed completely, accurately, and on time. • Implement vendor-to-client reconciliation controls to catch unbilled services, licensing, usage, pass-through costs, and other revenue leakage. • Maintain documented accounting policies, approval authorities, close checklists, review controls, and audit-ready support. • Coordinate external audits, tax preparation, insurance, banking, and risk-management relationships. Planning, Forecasting & Budgeting • Own the annual budget submission using Lyra's prescribed model and timetable. • Build and maintain a monthly rolling 12-month forecast and long-range financial model covering revenue, MRR, NRR, gross margin, staffing, operating expense, Adjusted EBITDA, and cash flow. • Incorporate pricing, productivity, volume, retention, expansion, churn, hiring, compensation, capital investment, addbacks, and shared-cost assumptions into budgets and forecasts. • Ensure compensation programs, incentive accruals, hiring plans, software commitments, capital investments, and other material obligations are accurately reflected. • Identify risks and opportunities early enough for leadership to act, and track whether corrective actions produce the expected financial result. Treasury, Cash Flow & Capital Discipline • Manage cash forecasting, banking relationships, treasury operations, and appropriate operating liquidity, anticipating payroll, taxes, vendor obligations, capital needs, and incentive accruals. • Calculate, validate, submit, and coordinate the monthly Lyra cash sweep in accordance with Lyra requirements. • Monitor free cash flow conversion and explain material differences between Adjusted EBITDA and cash generation. • Prepare ROI, payback, and sensitivity analysis for significant hires, software, automation, equipment, consultants, and other investments. • Establish financial review and approval processes for material spending, vendor contracts, compensation changes, and capital expenditures. Financial KPIs & Business Insight • Maintain a monthly executive scorecard covering Adjusted EBITDA dollars, growth, margin, and budget attainment; revenue and MRR growth; gross and net MRR retention; client retention; services and products gross margin; free cash flow conversion; and service-line profitability. • Provide account-level and service-line profitability reporting that lets leadership address underperforming contracts, margin leakage, unbilled services, excess costs, and pricing opportunities. • Partner with Operations to report utilization, labor leverage, staffing capacity, and revenue per employee using reliable PSA and financial-system data. • Ensure KPI definitions, source data, calculations, and reporting stay consistent and reconcilable to the general ledger. Systems, Automation & Data Integrity • Own financial process integrity across Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Autotask PSA, Power BI, payroll, banking, expense, and related systems. • Maintain Lyra-compliant chart-of-accounts mapping, departments, service-line dimensions, product groups, and reporting classifications. • Validate integrations between Autotask, Business Central, billing, payroll, banking, and reporting systems to reduce duplicate entry and prevent data errors. • Prioritize automation and AI initiatives that improve close speed, billing accuracy, reconciliation quality, forecasting, anomaly detection, and management reporting, with a documented business case, control review, security review, and measurable ROI for each material investment. • Ensure adopted tools meet the security, confidentiality, and compliance requirements of an MSP/MSSP. Compliance & Risk • Ensure compliance with GAAP, tax filings, annual audit requirements, and applicable federal, state, and local regulations. • Maintain internal controls appropriate to a technology services company handling confidential client, employee, and financial data. • Support financial and insurance requirements tied to client contracts, SOC 2, cyber insurance, and regulated clients. • Identify and escalate financial, accounting, tax, liquidity, billing, fraud, or control risks promptly. Team Leadership • Build, mentor, and develop a high-performing finance team as the company grows. • Create a culture of accuracy, accountability, urgency, collaboration, confidentiality, and continuous improvement. • Partner closely with Operations, Sales, Service Delivery, Advanced Services, Human Resources, and Lyra support teams. • Document core processes and cross-train responsibilities to reduce single-person dependency and strengthen business continuity. Our ideal Controller has the following qualifications: • 7+ years of progressive accounting or finance experience, including at least 3 years in a leadership role. • Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience with a demonstrated record of leading finance and accounting functions. A CPA, CMA, or MBA is a plus. • Experience owning full-cycle accounting, monthly close, balance-sheet reconciliations, AP, AR, payroll, billing, budgeting, forecasting, cash management, and audit support. • Demonstrated ability to produce timely GAAP-compliant financial statements and explain results to non-financial executives. • Experience building budgets, rolling forecasts, cash forecasts, financial models, KPI scorecards, and variance analysis. • Advanced Excel skills and experience with accounting or ERP, PSA, and business-intelligence platforms. Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Autotask PSA, and Power BI is a plus. • Experience in a technology services, MSP/MSSP, IT consulting, recurring-revenue, or professional-services environment is a plus, including MRR/ARR billing, project accounting, revenue recognition, service-line profitability, and vendor-to-client reconciliation. • Experience supporting a private-equity-backed, multi-company, or parent-company financial reporting structure is a plus. • Experience implementing finance automation, workflow, RPA, or AI-enabled tools within a controlled accounting environment is a plus. • Commercial judgment and a process-improvement and control mindset: you translate financial data into specific management action. • Strong written and verbal communication, sound judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to operate with appropriate confidentiality. • Comfort working hands-on while building scalable processes, with the ownership and urgency to communicate proactively. The target on-target earnings (OTE) for this role are $125,000-$135,000. The Controller reports to the President/CEO and works in a hybrid model based in Jacksonville, FL. If you are a finance leader who can produce accurate numbers, explain the story behind them, identify risk early, and hold leaders accountable through clear financial insight, and you see automation as a tool to strengthen accuracy, control, and scale rather than a substitute for sound accounting discipline, we would like to talk.