Director of Finance and Accounting

Job description

--- | | | | --- | --- | | Company: | In Common With + Quarters | | Reports to: | Co-Founder, Nick | | Location: | New York, New York | | Employment: | Full-Time | | Compensation: | $165,000 - $195,000 annually | | Direct Reports: | None (at start) | | Target Start Date: | Monday, April 5th 2027 | | Application Deadline: | Monday, November 30th, 2026 | --- **In Common With + Quarters** In Common With is a design studio defining a new vocabulary for interiors, in which old-world craft meets at-scale manufacturing. Founded in 2018, our practice brings endless curiosity, exceptional materials, and unparalleled adaptability to lighting and objects for all spaces—created with our team of expert craftspeople, artists, and engineers around the world. In 2024, we opened Quarters, a hybrid retail and hospitality destination in Tribeca. Through ongoing collaborations with our peers in the worlds of art and design, Quarters crafts a vision of home that’s unfolding and alive. Our obsessions with craft and collaboration originate from a boundless interest in people, objects, and an ongoing conversation between the two. Every product we make and every partnership we cultivate has that in common. --- **The Role** The Director of Finance and Accounting is the senior internal financial leader for In Common With and Quarters, accountable for financial strategy, accounting quality, and the information and controls that support sound business decisions. Reporting to Nick, Co-founder, this person helps shape financial goals, capital-allocation priorities, and the pace of growth while independently leading the planning, reporting, and accounting work needed to deliver them. This is a hands-on leadership role with no internal direct reports at the outset, and the opportunity to shape the finance function’s structure as the business grows. An existing bookkeeping service will initially continue to handle accounts payable and basic bookkeeping, and an external tax accountant will remain in place. The director will establish clear expectations, review the providers’ work, resolve issues, and personally perform financial analysis and accounting work outside the providers’ agreed scopes. The role requires someone who can move between detailed accounting and consequential business decisions: investigating an inventory discrepancy, improving a cash forecast, evaluating a new investment, and explaining the tradeoffs to the founders. Success means trusted numbers, early visibility into risks, clear business economics, and a financial function that is reliable without depending on informal processes or constant founder intervention. In the first year, priorities include a reliable monthly close, weekly cash visibility, accurate inventory and cost accounting, and an annual operating plan the founders can make decisions against. --- **Core Responsibilities** Financial Strategy, Planning, and Decision Support - Partner directly with the Co-founders to establish financial goals, evaluate investment priorities, and balance growth, profitability, liquidity, and risk. - Own annual budgeting and rolling forecasts across entities, linking revenue, operating costs, inventory commitments, capital expenditure, and cash requirements. - Model growth initiatives, including new categories, channels, locations, and business entities; make clear recommendations on assumptions, timing, returns, and downside exposure. - Deliver concise financial reporting to founders and budget owners, explaining performance against plan, material variances, emerging risks, and recommended actions. - Define financial measures and reporting standards with operating leaders. Partner on pricing, commission-plan economics, and cost improvement. Accounting, Close, and Multi-Entity Reporting - Own the monthly, quarterly, and annual close calendar, accounting policies, and timely preparation of accurate income statements, balance sheets, and cash-flow reporting. - Review outsourced bookkeeping and personally prepare or resolve reconciliations, accruals, adjustments, and other accounting work not covered by the provider’s agreed scope. - Maintain reliable accounting for prepaids, fixed assets and depreciation, customer deposits, deferred revenue, returns, and period-end cutoff. - Establish consistent entity-level and consolidated management reporting, including intercompany reconciliation, eliminations where applicable, and documented allocation of shared costs. - Coordinate business tax preparation and year-end requirements with the external accountant, providing complete records and resolving outstanding items. Maintain royalty reporting and support financial audits or reviews when required. Inventory, Cost Accounting, and Business Economics - Own accounting policies and reconciliations for raw materials, work in progress, and finished goods, connecting inventory records and manufacturing activity to the general ledger. - Establish consistent treatment of landed costs, freight, duties, production costs, and variances, with clear visibility into their effect on product economics. - Partner with Supply Chain, Product Operations, and Product Design on BOM accuracy, work-order costing, standard-versus-actual costs, and the financial implications of sourcing and production decisions. - Review inventory aging, reserves, write-offs, and count discrepancies with operating owners; ensure adjustments are supported and approved. - Develop product, channel, entity, and project profitability analysis. Distinguish gross margin from contribution margin using consistent definitions, and turn findings into recommendations with clear operating owners. Cash, Working Capital, and Financial Controls - Maintain weekly cash visibility by entity and a rolling short-term cash forecast linked to the longer-term financial plan; surface liquidity constraints early with practical options and recommendations. - Lead receivables oversight, billing discipline, and collection follow-through with customer-facing teams. Coordinate payment schedules against obligations and available cash. - Manage banking and financing relationships, monitor debt service and covenants, and evaluate funding needs and options with the Co-founders. - Establish controls for spending, vendor and bank-detail changes, payment preparation and approval, system access, and reconciliations. Use separation of duties or documented independent review appropriate to a lean organization. External Partners, Systems, and Compliance Coordination - Direct the work of retained bookkeeping and tax partners through documented scopes, deadlines, review standards, and issue resolution. Assess service quality, capacity, and value, and recommend changes when needed. - Improve financial workflows across QuickBooks Online, Ramp, and Odoo, including data quality, reconciliations, access controls, and reporting. Coordinate shared ERP changes with the relevant operating owners. - Oversee sales-tax processes using Avalara and appropriate specialist support, including review of data, registrations, filings, reconciliations, and notices within the agreed service scope. - Partner with People and Culture and Justworks on payroll controls, accounting, reconciliations, and compliance coordination, with clear responsibilities for employee inputs, review, and authorization. - Build practical documentation, automation, and backup arrangements for recurring financial processes. Recommend additional provider support, tools, or staffing based on demonstrated need. Contract, Insurance, and Financial Risk Coordination - Review the financial implications of material contracts and maintain visibility into payment terms, renewals, commitments, royalties, and other key obligations. - Coordinate with founders, business owners, and outside counsel on matters requiring specialist review. - Coordinate financial records and follow-up for the annual insurance audit; support coverage reviews, renewals, and claims with the designated internal owner and insurance advisors. - Maintain a calendar of material financial, tax, insurance, and contractual deadlines, escalating gaps and risks to the responsible decision-makers. --- **Leadership and Working Style** - Strategic partnership: Help shape company financial goals and investment choices, rather than simply reporting on decisions already made. - Independent execution: Set priorities, establish a reliable operating cadence, and resolve issues with limited day-to-day oversight. - Hands-on expertise: Investigate accounting and data problems directly, produce decision-ready analysis, and verify the quality of outsourced work. - Cross-functional accountability: Secure clear commitments from providers and operating partners without treating Finance as the owner of every department’s results. - Responsible judgment: Make decisions within agreed authority and escalate material risks or exceptions early, with options and a recommendation. --- **Requirements** - 10+ years of progressive finance and accounting experience, including a senior role (Controller, Head of Finance, or Director of Finance) with direct responsibility for both accounting quality and financial planning. - Strong technical accounting skills and the ability to personally lead close, reconciliations, accruals, controls, and financial-statement preparation in a multi-entity business. - Deep inventory and cost-accounting experience in a product-based or manufacturing business, including raw materials, work in progress, finished goods, and landed costs, with hands-on use of manufacturing or inventory ERP systems (BOMs, work orders, and standard-versus-actual costing). - Demonstrated ownership of budgeting, forecasting, cash planning, and investment analysis, with examples of influencing founder or executive decisions. - Experience overseeing outsourced accounting or specialist providers, with clear standards for accuracy, responsiveness, and accountability. - Strong spreadsheet and financial-modeling skills, comfort working across financial and operational systems, and the ability to explain complex findings clearly. - A practical, collaborative approach to improving processes in a lean organization, and discretion with sensitive financial and employee information. - Authorization to work in the United States without current or future employer sponsorship. --- **Desired Qualifications** - CPA strongly preferred; an MBA, public-accounting experience, or experience building a finance team is a plus. - Experience in a founder-led, design-driven, multi-channel, or project-based business. - Familiarity with QuickBooks Online, Ramp, Odoo, Avalara, Justworks, or comparable platforms. - Experience partnering with global Supply Chain and Operations teams and supporting retail, hospitality, or events alongside a product business. - A working style grounded in kindness, curiosity, clear communication, and accountability. --- **Studio + Compensation** - This is a full-time, hybrid position based in our Tribeca, New York studio three days per week. Studio hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. The target start date is April 5, 2027. - $165,000–$195,000 annually, commensurate with experience - Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance (with 100% monthly premium coverage options), PTO, a 401(k) with employer match, and profit sharing. --- **Your Application** Submit your résumé and a brief cover letter explaining your interest in In Common With and Quarters. Include an example of how your financial analysis or accounting leadership changed a meaningful business decision. Submissions without a cover letter or any other required materials will not be considered. All candidates must go through the same application process; we do not review or accept materials submitted by email for open roles. The deadline to apply is November 30, 2026. Due to the level of responses we receive, we will not follow up with all applicants directly, but if we feel you are a good fit, we will follow up with qualified candidates within one week of the application deadline. Thank you for your interest in joining our studio!