About Lake
Lake.com is the category-defining marketplace for lakeside travel. With more than 40,000 vacation rentals and 10,000+ more in the pipeline, we’re building the world’s first platform purpose-built for families who want authentic lakeside getaways.
Your Role as CFO
As CFO, you are the CEO’s strategic partner and enterprise co-pilot. You’ll architect our financial model and capital strategy, turn property and booking data into decisions, and build the finance engine that scales revenue, safeguards compliance, and extends runway. You’ll own FP&A, accounting, tax, treasury, compliance (including AML/KYC programs), capital markets, support board communications, and cross-functional operating cadence—while collaborating tightly with Product, Growth, and DevOps to optimize conversion and improve unit economics.
Objectives of the CFO
- Deliver GAAP-compliant monthly close and management package by Day 10 each month.
- Maintain ≥12 months of runway and ≥80% forecast accuracy (revenue & expense).
- Improve booking conversion +10% YoY via ROI-driven investments and CRO partnership.
- Reduce AWS/cloud spend 15–25% without reliability regressions; implement cost per booking benchmarks.
- Ensure 100% on-time host payouts and clean audit readiness (no material weaknesses).
- Achieve compliant capital raise execution and best-in-class board reporting cadence.
Responsibilities
Leadership & Strategy
- Serve as the CEO’s principal thought partner; translate strategy into financial roadmaps, OKRs, and resourcing plans.
- Build, maintain, and continuously refine the company-wide financial model (full P&L, cash flow, balance sheet, functional budgets) with driver trees for Gross Bookings, Take Rate (10%), conversion, CAC/LTV, cost per booking, and contribution margin per booking.
- Lead scenario planning & sensitivity analysis (base/downside/upsides); define trigger-based actions.
Planning & Analytics (FP&A)
- Own FP&A for strategic decisions; build cash-flow and headcount models; prioritize site buildouts, procurement, and server allocation using scenario/TCO analyses.
- Partner with Product/Growth on funnel analytics, pricing/take-rate experiments, and payback thresholds (≤6–12 months where feasible).
- Publish monthly CFO dashboard: Gross Bookings, Nights Booked, ADR, Net Revenue, Take Rate, Conversion, CAC/LTV, Contribution Margin/Booking, AWS Spend, Marketing ROAS, Burn & Runway, and forecast vs. actuals.
Finance & Compliance
- Own monthly bookkeeping, monthly close, and delivery of monthly management report cadence; maintain GAAP audit-ready books; manage on-time federal/state filings.
- Enable multi-currency credit card processing and output payments to hosts for completed stays with Stripe’s cross-border capabilities. Leverage FX markets to engage in hedging to minimize foreign exchange risks.
- Optimize Mature AML/KYC programs appropriate to marketplace payments; ensure controls over customer/host verification, fraud monitoring, and trust accounting.
- Oversee tax, treasury, AR/AP, vendor payables, and 100% on-time host payouts.
Capital & Board
- Prepare investor materials (operating model, KPI bridge, cohort/unit economics); build investor-grade OpEx/CapEx models and board decks.
- Partner with bankers, outside counsel, and auditors to execute compliant raises (equity/debt) and manage board/shareholder communications.
- Own cap table hygiene and option budgeting; steward valuation narrative tied to AI products and marketplace network effects.
Procurement & Contracts
- Lead procurement strategy across infrastructure, data, and services; run should-cost/TCO analyses.
- Negotiate MSAs/SLAs to lock pricing, response times, security posture, and uptime remedies; institute vendor scorecards and renewal playbooks.
Legal Support
- Provide expert witness testimony as needed; produce court-ready financial models and exhibits in collaboration with outside counsel.
Operations & People
- Orchestrate remote workforce asset allocations; ensure uninterrupted payroll/benefits.
- Standardize onboarding/offboarding and day-to-day compliance workflows (SSO/IAM, expense policy, approvals, budget controls).
- Implement internal controls, segregation of duties, and enterprise risk management aligned to the growth stage.
Reporting and Analytics
- Build and maintain dashboards in Looker/Sheets; institute a Day 3 flash, Day 10 close, and Month+1 board pack.
- Establish rolling 13-week cash forecast and 12–24 month operating plan; track forecast accuracy and variance root causes.
Tech Stack
- Finance/ERP: QuickBooks Online, Dext, Uncat
- Payments & KYC: Stripe, Stripe Connect, Stripe Identity (KYC), unit economics via internal data
- Data & Analytics: Salesforce, BigQuery, Looker Studio, GA4, Google Sheets
- Equity & Board: Carta, Google Slides
- Cloud Cost: AWS Cost Explorer/CloudHealth/FinOps tooling
- Productivity & Security: Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive), Notion, Slack, ChatGPT Business with Custom GPT (CEO, CFO, CTO, CMO) SSO/IAM and Enterprise password management with 1Password
Qualifications
Requirements
- 10–15+ years in Finance with progressive leadership (CFO, VP Finance, Head of FP&A) in marketplace/OTA, travel, or high-scale consumer platforms.
- Mastery of FP&A modeling, cohort/unit economics, CAC/LTV, payback, and marketplace take-rate dynamics.
- GAAP, audit readiness, and monthly close ownership experience; strong systems orientation.
- Demonstrated capital raising (equity/debt) and board communication excellence.
- Proven procurement/contract negotiation with cloud & data vendors (MSA/SLA/MLA).
- Hands-on with QuickBooks/ERP, Stripe, Looker/Sheets, Salesforce Reports/Dashboards; comfort with SQL/BI a plus.
- Experience implementing AML/KYC programs and financial controls for payment marketplaces.
Preferred
- MBA and/or CPA/CA.
- Prior experience at KPMG, Deloitte, EY, or PwC (assurance or advisory).
What Success Looks Like
(12 Months)
- Close on Day 10; no audit adjustments; clean management letter
- Runway ≥18 months post-raise; burn within 5% of plan; AWS cost/booking down 20%.
- Conversion +10%, contribution margin/booking +300–500 bps through pricing, mix, and infra optimization.
- Board/North-Star KPI pack adopted company-wide; forecast accuracy ≥80% on revenue and ≥90% on OpEx.
- AML/KYC program operating with documented controls, SLAs, and independent testing.
Why Join Lake.com
- Be the strategic co-pilot to the Founder/CEO at a category-defining OTA.
- Architect the financial and operating system that scales lakeside travel globally.
- Own high-leverage decisions across capital, pricing, infra, and product investment with clear KPIs and autonomy.
- Work with a mission-driven team that is bringing families together to experience God’s creation.
Come build the next-generation platform for outdoor travel.
