A Wiss distribution client located in the Tampa, Florida area is seeking a Chief Financial Officer to join its leadership team. The CFO will serve as a strategic partner to the Owner, overseeing all financial operations, accounting, treasury, credit management, and relationships with external advisors and institutions.
The ideal candidate will combine strong technical accounting and financial acumen with the ability to roll up their sleeves and engage operationally with the team during the transition period from the prior CFO. Over time, the CFO will be expected to drive modernization and process improvement across the organization, including implementing more formalized budgeting, forecasting, KPI reporting, and leveraging technology to reduce manual processes. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future financial infrastructure of a growing, well-established distribution company with a strong market position.
Please note this is an ONSITE position. Relocation would be a consideration for a well-qualified candidate. Compensation is outlined below.
Core Responsibilities:
Financial Leadership & Strategy
- Serve as the principal financial advisor to the Owner/President, providing strategic financial guidance and analysis to support business decisions and growth objectives.
- Develop and implement comprehensive budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning processes, including multi-year projections, which do not currently exist in a formalized capacity.
- Prepare monthly executive financial narrative and metrics for ownership, including analysis of sales performance, inventory movement, open orders, and key financial indicators.
- Lead the financial close process (monthly, quarterly, annual) and review consolidated financial statements across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada operations.
- Oversee intercompany eliminations and consolidation of international subsidiaries, including review of intercompany profit calculations and inventory adjustments.
- Manage the annual financial audit process (coordinating with the external auditor), profit-sharing plan audit, insurance audits, and other regulatory examinations.
- Review and sign off on inventory valuation, slow-moving/obsolete inventory analysis, and cost adjustments in coordination with the Director of Materials.
Treasury, Banking & Cash Management
- Manage all banking relationships as an authorized signer on all accounts; oversee daily cash positioning and liquidity management.
- Authorize and execute ACH payments, wire transfers (domestic and international), and oversee the check disbursement process across all entities.
- Prepare and submit the monthly borrowing base certificate to the lending institution, including adjustments for receivables aging, negative balances, rebate accruals, third-party inventory, and slow-moving/obsolete inventory.
- Manage quarterly financial reporting to the bank, including covenant compliance, and annual covenant sign-off.
- Oversee line of credit utilization, borrowing, and repayment decisions; manage relationships with bank officers for credit facility renewals and amendments.
- Manage cash flow monitoring and optimization; develop improved cash forecasting capabilities to better anticipate and manage working capital needs.
Accounting Operations & Controls
- Oversee the Controller, Assistant Controller, and the full accounting team, including accounts payable (purchasing and corporate), accounts receivable, general accounting, and payroll functions.
- Maintain approval authority for transactions above established thresholds (e.g., credits/debits over $25,000, payment authorizations, ACH approvals).
- Review and approve bi-weekly payroll, commission calculations, and sales rebate schedules; ensure accuracy of commission agreements and deductions (including over-90-day receivable adjustments).
- Serve as the primary administrator for ADP (payroll system), corporate credit card programs, Amazon business account, EZ-Pass, UPS/FedEx accounts, and SAM.gov registrations.
- Oversee lot cost corrections, unit-of-measure adjustments, and secondary process cost entries in the ERP system (Epicor P21) in coordination with branch warehouse supervisors and IT.
International Operations:
- Oversee all financial and accounting activities for Mexico, including review of payroll (prepared by Mexico accounting firm), authorization of payments (freight, importation, plating, rework, state taxes), and review of monthly financial reports.
- Manage the relationship with the Mexican accounting firm on tax filings, year-end returns, transfer pricing studies, and regulatory compliance.
- Manage intercompany transactions, transfer pricing documentation, and ensure compliance with cross-border tax and regulatory requirements.
External Relationships:
- Serve as the primary point of contact for all external professional relationships, including auditors, tax advisors, banking officers, insurance brokers, benefits providers, legal counsel (corporate and real estate attorneys), and international accounting firms (Mexico and Canada).
- Manage relationships with holding company entities including distributions, rent sign-offs, and coordination of entity dissolutions as needed.
Technology & Process Modernization:
- Champion modernization of financial processes including reduction of manual Excel-based reporting, streamlining of the chart of accounts, and evaluation of ERP (Epicor P21) capabilities versus current workarounds.
- Drive standardization of commission structures, financial reporting packages, and accounting procedures.
- Identify and implement improvements to cash application processes, AP automation, and integration between ADP payroll and the ERP system.
- Evaluate and recommend enhancements to internal controls, segregation of duties, and process documentation to support the company’s growth trajectory.
- Identify and evaluate artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to enhance accounting and financial systems, including opportunities to automate routine processes, improve data accuracy, and support more informed decision-making.
- Assess staffing needs within the corporate accounting, AP, and AR departments as the company scales.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
- CPA designation strongly preferred.
- Minimum of 15 years of progressive accounting and finance experience, with at least 5 years in a senior financial leadership role (CFO, VP of Finance, or equivalent).
- Demonstrated experience in a distribution, manufacturing, or industrial products environment strongly preferred; familiarity with inventory-heavy businesses with $30M+ in inventory.
- Hands-on leadership style with the ability and willingness to engage at the operational and transactional level, particularly during a transitional period.
- Strong understanding of GAAP, financial consolidation, intercompany accounting, and multi-entity/multi-currency operations.
- Experience managing banking relationships, revolving credit facilities, borrowing base reporting, and covenant compliance.
- Proficiency with ERP systems (Epicor P21 experience a plus), ADP payroll, and advanced Microsoft Office skills including Excel, Power BI and Co-Pilot.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to build trust across all levels of the organization, from warehouse staff to ownership.
Target Compensation (commensurate with experience): Salary $260-$275k + discretionary bonus and comprehensive benefits.
To all staffing agencies: Wiss houses its own client recruiting practice and therefore does not utilize 3rd party firms for any internal or client positions. Please be advised, Wiss is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes. All unsolicited resumes will become the property of Wiss.
