Inner Northern Suburbs | Full-time | Growing Privately Owned Business

This is not a Financial Controller role where everything is already built and you are simply being asked to maintain it. The business is established, successful and growing but its finance function now needs to evolve with it.

We are looking for someone who can take ownership of the numbers, strengthen the financial foundations and give the leadership team a clearer view of what is happening across the business. Someone who will ensure the reporting is accurate and the controls are robust, but who will also ask the more commercially valuable questions:

- Where are we making money?
- Where are margins being lost?
- How can we improve cash flow?
- What does the leadership team need to know before making its next decision?

If that sounds like the kind of Financial Controller role you enjoy, this opportunity is worth considering.

The Business

Our client is an established, privately owned business operating across the Build to Rent, accommodation and hospitality sectors. It has reached an important stage in its growth. The foundations are in place, the market opportunity is significant and there is a clear ambition to expand with consistency and commercial insight to support that next phase.

This is why the Financial Controller appointment matters.

You will lead a small finance team and take responsibility for the Australian finance function reporting to a overseas CFO. The role is broad, hands-on and influential. You will be expected to understand the detail without becoming trapped in it.

What will you actually be there to do?

First and foremost, you will make sure the business has complete confidence in its financial information.

That means taking ownership of:

- Monthly and annual financial reporting
- Month-end and year-end close
- Budgeting and forecasting




- Cash flow and working-capital management
- General-ledger integrity
- Statutory reporting and taxation obligations
- External audit coordination
- Internal controls and financial governance
- Multi-entity reporting
- The quality and development of the finance team

But producing the numbers is only part of the role.

You will work alongside operational and executive leaders to interpret what those numbers mean. You will analyse margins, pricing, costs and business performance and provide practical recommendations that support better decisions.

You will also identify where systems, processes and reporting can be improved—and then take responsibility for making those improvements happen.

Within your first year, we would expect:

- Monthly reporting to be accurate, timely and genuinely useful
- The leadership team to have greater visibility of performance, margins and cash flow
- Budgets and forecasts to provide a reliable basis for decision-making
- Financial controls and governance to be appropriate for a growing business
- Finance processes to become more consistent and efficient
- The finance team to have clear direction, accountability and supportThe CFO, CEO and operational leaders to see you as a trusted commercial partner

Who will suit this role?

Probably someone who is already operating as a Financial Controller, Finance Manager or senior finance professional within a privately owned or entrepreneurial business.





You will be technically strong, but you will not hide behind the technical side of accounting. You will be comfortable challenging assumptions, explaining financial information to non-finance colleagues and turning analysis into practical action.

You will enjoy working in a business where growth can create complexity and where not every process has already been perfected.

- CA or CPA qualification
- A degree in Accounting, Finance, Commerce or a related discipline
- Strong financial and management accounting experience
- Experience leading or supervising a small finance team
- Sound knowledge of Australian Accounting Standards and taxation requirements
- Experience preparing statutory financial statements and coordinating external audits
- Strong budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow and working-capital experience
- Advanced Excel capability
- Strong commercial judgement and analytical skills
- The confidence to work directly with senior executives and operational leaders
- High levels of integrity, accountability and attention to detail

Experience with Xero is important as is experience across multi-entity reporting, acquisitions, systems implementation or finance transformation would also be valuable.

Why make the move?

- Because this is a genuine opportunity to shape a finance function at an important point in the company’s development.
- You will have direct access to the people making the decisions, a seat at the senior management table and the opportunity to influence how the business grows.
- You will not be joining to inherit a rigid corporate structure. You will be joining to create greater clarity, discipline and commercial value within a successful business that is ready for its next stage.

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📌 Financial Controller (Melbourne)
🏢 Living Sectors Recruitment
📍 Melbourne