Construction Controller

Description

About the job

Position Title: Controller

Location: Pottstown, PA – primarily office-based with periodic project site exposure

Position Type: Full-Time, Salary

Reports To: Chief Executive Officer

About the Company

M.J. Nester Specialty Contractors provides expert services in welding, millwrighting, rigging, pipefitting, plant relocation, and supplemental labor. Based in the greater Philadelphia area, we serve clients nationwide in commercial and industrial environments. Our slogan, “The NEW Industry Standard,” reflects our commitment to quality, safety and innovation.

Position Summary

The Controller is responsible for the accounting operations of M.J. Nester, including the general ledger, job cost accounting, work in progress reporting, accounts receivable and billing, accounts payable, payroll, cash reporting, financial statement preparation, and internal control.

This role produces the financial information on which company leadership makes decisions. That information must be accurate, timely, and honest, and it must arrive while it can still change an outcome.

Construction accounting is a specialized discipline. Percentage of completion, work in progress, over and under billing, retainage, committed cost, and change orders in various states of approval all behave differently from general commercial accounting. This position exists to give the company a reliable view of what it is earning while the work is still underway.

Key Responsibilities

Accounting Operations

•      Own the general ledger, chart of accounts, and accounting policies of the company.

•      Manage the monthly, quarterly, and annual close on a published schedule.

•      Perform and review account reconciliations, including bank, credit card, loan, and balance sheet accounts.

•      Maintain fixed asset accounting, including capitalization, depreciation, disposals, and reconciliation to fleet and equipment records.

•      Maintain accrual practices appropriate to a construction contractor, including accrued payroll, accrued costs, and unbilled revenue.

•      Maintain organized, retrievable supporting documentation for every material balance.

Job Cost & Work in Progress

•      Maintain the job cost system, including cost codes, budgets, committed costs, and actual costs by project and phase.

•      Ensure labor, burden, material, equipment, and subcontractor costs are coded accurately and posted promptly.

•      Produce work in progress reporting, including percentage of completion, earned revenue, over and under billing, and projected margin at completion.

•      Work with project managers to obtain and challenge cost-to-complete estimates rather than accepting them without review.

•      Track change orders through their lifecycle and ensure accounting treatment reflects their actual status.

•      Identify projects trending unfavorably against budget and raise them promptly.

•      Track retainage receivable and payable by project and support its timely release.

•      Analyze estimate-to-actual performance and provide results back to estimating and project management.

Receivables, Billing & Collections

•      Supervise accounts receivable and the timely, accurate issuance of customer invoices.

•      Ensure billings are prepared in the form each contract requires, including progress billings, schedule of values, and time and material billing.

•      Ensure billing occurs as soon as work is earned rather than at month end by default.

•      Maintain lien, notice, and preliminary notice deadlines and ensure required filings are made on time.

•      Obtain and track lien waivers, both issued and received.

•      Maintain receivables aging and lead the collections process on a defined escalation schedule.

•      Report days sales outstanding, aging, and collection risk on a regular cadence.

Payables & Payroll

•      Supervise accounts payable, including invoice receipt, routing, approval, coding, and posting.

•      Ensure invoices are matched to purchase orders, subcontracts, and receiving documentation before payment.

•      Prevent duplicate, unauthorized, and misdirected payment through defined controls.

•      Maintain vendor master data with change controls that guard against payment fraud.

•      Ensure payroll is processed accurately and on time, with hours coded to the correct job and cost code.

•      Administer certified payroll, prevailing wage, and multi-state payroll compliance where applicable.

•      Reconcile payroll to the general ledger and to job cost each period.

•      Prepare and file required information returns, including 1099 reporting.

Cash & Financial Reporting

•      Maintain daily and weekly cash position reporting and short-term cash forecasting.

•      Identify cash constraints far enough ahead that they can be managed rather than absorbed.

•      Prepare monthly financial statements, work in progress schedules, backlog reporting, and job margin reporting.

•      Prepare variance analysis against budget, forecast, and prior periods.

•      Prepare reporting packages required by lenders, sureties, and insurers on their required schedules.

•      Explain results in terms leadership can act on rather than presenting statements without interpretation.

•      Support the annual budgeting process with historical analysis, cost data, and modeling.

Internal Control & Compliance

•      Design, document, and monitor internal controls over cash, disbursements, payroll, billing, and financial reporting.

•      Maintain separation of duties where practicable, and compensating controls where it is not.

•      Monitor for indicators of fraud, including vendor fraud, payment redirection, and expense abuse.

•      Maintain compliance with sales, use, payroll, income, and business tax obligations in coordination with outside accountants.

•      Support the annual review or audit, including preparation of schedules and response to inquiries.

•      Report control weaknesses, suspected fraud, or material misstatement promptly and directly to company leadership.

•      Lead, develop, and evaluate the accounting team, including receivables and payables personnel.

Requirements

Qualifications

•      Progressive accounting experience including responsibility for the general ledger, close, and financial statement preparation.

•      Construction or project-based accounting experience, including job costing, work in progress, percentage of completion, retainage, and change order accounting.

•      Experience with progress billing, schedule of values, lien and notice requirements, and lien waiver administration.

•      Payroll experience including multi-state, certified payroll, and prevailing wage where applicable.

•      Experience designing and operating internal controls in a smaller organization where full separation of duties is not always available.

•      Experience supporting bank, surety, and insurance reporting requirements.

•      Experience supervising accounting staff.

•      Working capability in construction accounting and project management systems.

•      Ability to explain financial matters clearly to non-financial audiences, including field leadership.

•      Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance; CPA or CCIFP credential preferred.

•      Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams).

•      Valid Driver’s License.