McSween Custom Fabricating
Company Overview
McSween Custom Fabricating is a dynamic, multi-discipline industrial fabrication and construction company based in. Since 1980, we have been dedicated to serving the industrial plant community through innovative engineering, custom design, project management, and comprehensive plant maintenance solutions.
Fort Saskatchewan / Sturgeon Industrial Park, Alberta
Position Summary
McSween Custom Fabricating is seeking an experienced, hands-on Controller / Finance Department Manager to lead the company's accounting and finance functions.
This is not solely a financial reporting position. The Controller will be responsible for the day-to-day performance of the finance department, financial reporting, cash-flow management, job costing, project financial controls, budgeting and forecasting, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll oversight, banking, government reporting, internal controls, staff development and continuous process improvement.
The successful candidate must be capable of understanding the details while also providing management with clear, timely financial information that supports operational and strategic decision-making.
The Controller will be expected to identify problems, recommend solutions and ensure agreed-upon actions are completed.
Key Responsibilities
Financial Reporting & Controls
- Manage and oversee the monthly financial close.
- Complete monthly financial reporting by the 15th of the following month or earlier.
- Ensure bank and balance-sheet accounts are fully reconciled.
- Ensure financial statements are complete, accurate and properly presented.
- Identify significant financial issues and communicate them promptly to senior management.
- Review monthly income statements, balance sheets and cash-flow results.
- Maintain appropriate accounting controls and procedures.
- Review month-end journal entries, accruals, prepaid expenses, depreciation, WIP and other adjustments.
- Coordinate year-end requirements with external accountants.
- Ensure GST, corporate tax instalments and other government reporting requirements are completed accurately and on time.
Cash-Flow Management
- Prepare and maintain a rolling cash-flow forecast.
- Provide management with visibility into expected cash requirements.
- Monitor bank balances, operating line utilization and upcoming commitments.
- Coordinate vendor-payment timing with available cash resources.
- Identify potential cash-flow shortages well in advance.
- Maintain regular communication with management regarding cash position and forecasts.
Accounts Receivable & Collections
- Review A/R regularly.
- Identify overdue and potentially problematic accounts.
- Establish action plans for overdue receivables.
- Work with operations and project management to resolve billing and collection issues.
- Monitor DSO and collection performance.
- Ensure completed work is invoiced promptly.
Job Costing & Project Financial Management
- Maintain accurate project/job costing.
- Review labour, material, subcontract and other project costs.
- Monitor WIP and unbilled revenue.
- Identify project margin deterioration or unusual cost variances.
- Work with operations to understand financial performance of projects.
- Review project financial information from initial entry through final billing.
- Identify missed billing opportunities, incorrect coding, labour-cost issues and other areas of margin leakage.
Billing
- Reduce the time between project/work completion and invoicing.
- Minimize billing errors, adjustments, credits and re-bills.
- Ensure billing procedures are being followed consistently.
- Establish controls to identify completed but unbilled work.
- Review billing performance and outstanding billing issues with staff.
Accounts Payable
- Oversee A/P processing and vendor payments.
- Ensure expenses are coded correctly.
- Review payment runs.
- Manage payment timing in conjunction with cash-flow requirements.
- Ensure vendor statements and discrepancies are properly reconciled.
Payroll
- Provide management oversight of payroll.
- Ensure payroll is accurate and completed on schedule.
- Review payroll processes, controls and reconciliations.
- Ensure labour hours and costs are properly allocated to projects and appropriate trade/cost codes.
- Review opportunities for payroll-process improvements and system integration.
Budgeting & Forecasting
- Lead the annual budgeting process.
- Prepare financial forecasts throughout the year.
- Compare actual results against budgets and forecasts.
- Explain material variances.
- Update forecasts when business conditions change.
- Assist senior management with scenario and financial planning.
Profitability & Cost Control
- Identify opportunities to improve gross margin and profitability.
- Analyze labour utilization, overtime and project margins.
- Identify unnecessary or controllable overhead expenses.
- Review operational and financial processes for inefficiencies.
- Provide meaningful financial analysis rather than simply reporting historical numbers.
Finance Department Leadership
The Controller will directly manage the finance and accounting team.
Responsibilities include:
- Clearly defining individual roles and responsibilities.
- Establishing measurable performance expectations.
- Holding finance-team meetings at least twice monthly.
- Completing employee performance reviews.
- Coaching and developing staff.
- Monitoring workloads and overtime.
- Ensuring deadlines are consistently achieved.
- Developing cross-training throughout the department.
- Ensuring adequate backup exists for all critical finance functions.
- Ensuring vacations or absences do not interrupt essential financial processes.
Systems & Continuous Improvement
- Maintain the integrity of the accounting and financial systems.
- Develop and document efficient finance procedures.
- Identify repetitive or inefficient manual processes.
- Improve utilization of existing accounting and operational software.
- Evaluate opportunities for automation and integration.
- Maintain appropriate finance procedure manuals.
- Ensure established processes are consistently followed.
Qualifications
Required
- CPA designation or equivalent professional accounting designation.
- Minimum 7 years of progressive accounting/finance experience.
- Minimum 5 years of supervisory or management experience.
- Strong full-cycle accounting knowledge.
- Demonstrated experience managing month-end reporting.
- Strong cash-flow forecasting experience.
- Strong budgeting and forecasting capability.
- Experience managing A/R, A/P and payroll functions.
- Excellent Excel and financial-analysis skills.
- Strong communication and organizational skills.
- Demonstrated ability to manage deadlines and staff accountability.
Strongly Preferred
Experience in one or more of the following:
- Industrial construction
- Steel fabrication
- Mechanical contracting
- Oil & gas services
- Field services
- Manufacturing
- Project-based businesses
Experience with:
- Job costing
- WIP accounting
- Labour-cost reporting
- Project-margin analysis
- Jonas or comparable construction/project accounting systems
Personal Characteristics
The successful Controller will be:
- Hands-on
- Organized
- Accountable
- Deadline driven
- Detail oriented
- Comfortable asking difficult questions
- Able to communicate effectively with both accounting and operations personnel
- Proactive rather than reactive
- Capable of identifying problems before they become significant
- Focused on continuous improvement
- Comfortable being held accountable for measurable results
Definition of Success
The Controller will be considered successful when:
Management receives accurate financial information on time.
Cash requirements are known in advance rather than becoming surprises.
A/R and billing issues are actively managed.
Project financial problems are identified early.
The finance department meets its deadlines without continual management follow-up.
Every critical finance function has trained backup coverage.
Processes continually become more efficient, accurate and reliable.
Join us to lead our finance department with enthusiasm and precision! This role offers an exciting opportunity to shape our company's financial future while working in a supportive environment committed to your professional growth.
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Dental care
- Extended health care
- On-site parking
- Paid time off
- RRSP match
- Vision care
Work Location: In person
