Controller

About Bask & Lather Co.

Bask & Lather Co. is a fast-growing, scalp-first textured haircare company serving customers across direct-to-consumer, Amazon, TikTok Shop, and major retail channels. We are a lean, entrepreneurial organization that moves quickly, operates with high ownership, and expects team members to turn priorities into action without unnecessary layers or bureaucracy.
Role Overview

The Controller will own the accounting function end-to-end and serve as the backbone of financial integrity, reporting, and operational discipline. This role will partner closely with the Head of Finance to build scalable processes and support retail expansion.

This is a hands-on leadership role requiring both execution and system-building.
Key Responsibilities
1. Financial Close and Reporting

- Own the monthly, quarterly, and annual close processes.

- Establish a path to preliminary financial reporting within five business days and a complete, supportable close within ten business days.

- Prepare accurate, timely, and GAAP-compliant financial statements.

- Own balance-sheet reconciliations, accruals, reserves, account substantiation, and financial-statement support.

- Maintain complete, organized, and audit-ready documentation.

- Develop and maintain the accounting calendar, close checklist, and departmental deadlines.

- Coordinate external audit and tax requirements.

- Identify accounting issues proactively and present clear recommendations to the Head of Finance.

2. Inventory, COGS, and Gross-Margin Integrity

- Own inventory accounting across manufacturers, 3PLs, marketplaces, retail channels, and DTC operations.

- Reconcile inventory monthly among the general ledger, NetSuite, 3PL records, retailer activity, and internal inventory schedules.

- Establish reliable standard costs, landed costs, manufacturing variances, and SKU-level COGS.

- Own accounting for inventory in transit, shrinkage, obsolescence, damaged inventory, reserves, and write-offs.

- Partner with Supply Chain on purchase-order receipts, freight accruals, vendor reconciliations, and cycle-count controls.

- Investigate and resolve inventory discrepancies promptly.

- Improve gross-margin visibility by SKU, product category, channel, and customer.

- Ensure inventory accounting policies and valuation methodologies are consistently documented and applied.

3. Revenue and Channel Accounting

- Own revenue accounting and settlement reconciliation across Shopify, TikTok Shop, Amazon, Walmart, wholesale, and other marketplace and retail channels.

- Ensure appropriate revenue recognition, cutoff, and channel-level reporting.

- Reconcile platform settlements, transaction fees, refunds, returns, reserves, receivables, and cash receipts.

- Own accounting for retailer deductions, chargebacks, promotions, markdowns, allowances, and trade spend.

- Ensure accurate gross-to-net and contra-revenue treatment.

- Build controls to identify missing payments, invalid deductions, unreimbursed claims, and settlement discrepancies.

- Partner with Commercialization, E-Commerce, Customer Experience, and Supply Chain to resolve channel and retailer discrepancies.

- Maintain reliable supporting schedules for retail receivables, marketplace settlements, returns, and deductions.

4. Cash, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Working Capital

- Oversee the accounts receivable and accounts payable functions, including management and development of the existing AP/AR Specialist.

- Maintain accurate daily and weekly cash reporting.

- Support short- and long-term cash-flow forecasting.

- Strengthen collections discipline and retailer receivables management.

- Improve vendor-payment controls, approval workflows, and payment timing.

- Partner with the Head of Finance and Supply Chain to improve the cash conversion cycle.

- Monitor aged receivables, vendor liabilities, accruals, and working-capital risks.

- Maintain appropriate segregation of duties and payment aut