Controller

Job Description

SuperSummary is transforming how millions of readers discover, understand, and connect with books. We’re building the world’s most comprehensive literature platform — combining nearly 10,000 expert-crafted Study Guides with interactive, innovative tools that make reading more engaging, rewarding, and fun. Beyond summaries, our paid subscription offers chapter-by-chapter analysis, character breakdowns, themes and symbols exploration, thought-provoking discussion questions, and interactive quizzes. Our growing suite of AI-powered features helps readers engage more deeply with texts, whether they’re students tackling assignments, teachers preparing lessons, book clubs seeking richer conversations, or lifelong learners exploring new genres.

Founded over a decade ago, SuperSummary’s website and mobile app has become a trusted, go-to resource for curious readers worldwide. We’re part of the Lift Ventures portfolio of EdTech brands (with over 250 million consumers reached to date) and are a fully remote, global team united by curiosity, creativity, and a shared love of learning.

About the Job

SuperSummary is looking for an experienced, hands-on Controller to become the financial backbone of our business. Reporting to the CEO and partnering with our VP of Operations, you will own the accounting function end-to-end — monthly close, revenue recognition, and subscription billing operations — while also driving the budgeting, forecasting, and analysis that shape how we invest, grow, and operate.

This role is accounting-first but full-spectrum. You’ll own monthly close and revenue recognition under ASC 606, become our in-house expert on how ChargeBee and Stripe subscription data flows into the general ledger, manage our bookkeeper, and keep us audit-ready — and you’ll also build the budgets, rolling forecasts, subscription KPI reporting (MRR, ARR, churn, LTV, CAC), and leadership reporting that turn clean books into good decisions. You’ll help evaluate, automate, and modernize our financial tools and workflows, including AI-assisted reconciliation and reporting.

The ideal candidate has built or run the accounting function at a SaaS or subscription business and is equally comfortable closing the books as they are building a rolling forecast or presenting variance analysis to the CEO. You understand the nuances of consumer subscription economics — revenue recognition, deferred revenue, chargebacks, and the metrics that matter. You’re looking for a seat at the table, not just a seat behind a spreadsheet.

What You’ll Do

Controllership & Accounting

• Own the monthly close process end-to-end, ensuring accurate and timely financial statements (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow)
• Manage revenue recognition under ASC 606 / IFRS 15, including deferred revenue, chargebacks, cancellations, and prior-period adjustments
• Oversee billing platform operations (ChargeBee and Stripe), becoming the in-house expert on how subscription data flows into the general ledger
• Manage our bookkeeper to ensure accurate day-to-day bookkeeping, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and general ledger activity
• Maintain audit-readiness and coordinate with external tax advisors on annual compliance
• Build and document internal controls appropriate for our size and stage

Financial Planning & Analysis

• Build and maintain the annual budget and rolling revenue forecasts, translating business strategy into financial models
• Conduct monthly and quarterly variance analysis (actual vs. budget) and surface insights that drive action
• Track and report on SaaS-specific metrics: MRR/ARR, churn, LTV, CAC, payback period, and net dollar retention
• Prepare leadership financial reporting and dashboards that tell a clear story
• Run scenario modeling as a monthly rhythm — including reverse-engineered analyses like “what would we have to believe to hit [a profit target]” — so leadership can make investment and cost decisions with the right context, not just when a big question comes up

Business Partnership

• Embed with the leadership team — attend weekly and monthly meetings, serve as the financial voice in operational decisions
• Partner closely with the VP of Operations on an ongoing basis — providing financial context that shapes operating decisions and translating operational reality back into forecasts, models, and resource plans
• Partner directly with department heads (content, product, marketing) on quarterly budget reviews, spend tracking, and resource allocation
• Provide ad-hoc financial analysis to support cross-functional decisions
• Coach non-finance stakeholders to understand and use financial data effectively
• Support strategic initiatives and long-range planning across the business

Process & Systems

• Evaluate and recommend improvements to financial tools and workflows (ERP, billing, reporting)
• Identify opportunities to automate manual processes, including AI-assisted reconciliation and reporting
• Create runbooks and documentation for repeatable finance processes to build institutional knowledge

Sample Projects

• ChargeBee Deep Dive: Become the in-house expert on our billing platform — audit the current integration with the GL, document how subscription events (new, renewal, cancellation, chargeback) flow through revenue recognition, and build a troubleshooting guide for edge cases like prior-period adjustments
• Revenue Recognition Automation: Evaluate and implement improvements to the rev rec process, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy through better ChargeBee-to-GL integration and automated reconciliation workflows
• Leadership Reporting & Budget Cadence: Redesign the monthly and quarterly financial reporting package and launch a quarterly budget review cadence with the executive team — combining financial statements, SaaS metrics, spend-vs-budget dashboards, standardized templates, and narrative commentary into a clear, leadership-ready story that drives resource reallocation decisions
• Content Investment Analysis: Build a financial framework for evaluating content spend ROI — linking content production costs to subscriber acquisition, engagement, and retention to help the content team prioritize where to invest
• Product Squad Cost-to-Value Model: Work with the Head of Product to create a repeatable model that maps product squad expenses to business outcomes, enabling data-driven decisions about team structure and resource allocation
• Forecasting Rebuild: Stand up a monthly scenario-modeling cadence — including “what would we have to believe to hit $X profit” style reverse-engineering — so investment and cost-cutting decisions get made with the right context

Requirements

• 8+ years of progressive accounting and finance experience, with meaningful time at a SaaS or subscription-based business
• Controller-level depth in accounting: you’ve owned monthly close, revenue recognition (ASC 606 or IFRS 15), and financial statement preparation end-to-end
• Deep command of revenue recognition, deferred revenue, and subscription billing operations — you understand exactly how billing data flows into the GL
• Proficiency with subscription billing platforms (ChargeBee, Stripe, Recurly, or similar) and accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite)
• Solid FP&A skills: budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis are part of your toolkit, and you’re comfortable building models from scratch, not just tweaking templates
• Experience with consumer or self-serve subscription models (high-volume, low-ACV)
• Experience working at a startup or high-growth company under $25M in revenue, where you wore multiple hats and operated as a generalist
• Strong English communication skills — you can present financial insights clearly to non-finance stakeholders and hold your own in leadership meetings
• A collaborative, confident communicator who thrives in a fully remote environment
• CPA, CMA, or equivalent professional certification, direct experience with ChargeBee, and comfort leveraging AI tools for financial analysis are all strong pluses

Benefits

• Work with a distributed, global team in Latin America, Europe, and the US that has been remote-first since 2018

• Competitive salary, benefits, and vacation policy
• Workspace improvement stipend
• Professional development and learning stipend

Location

Remote — Americas time zones (Latin America, US, or Canada).

EEOC Statement

SuperSummary supports workplace diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, national origin, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, or any other protected class.

We welcome diverse perspectives and are dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace where everyone can grow and thrive. We understand that candidates may not meet every requirement in the job description, but we strongly encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply. If you’re passionate about this role and our mission, even if your experience doesn’t perfectly match, we’d love to hear from you.