Ikigai Cases is hiring a Controller

Location: Remote / Work From Home

Reports to: CEO

About the Company

Ikigai Cases (www.ikigaicases.com) is a fast-growing ecommerce brand manufacturing aerospace-grade aluminum pill cases. Founded in December 2021 by two brothers after their father’s neurological diagnosis led them to discovering the issues with plastic pill organizers, we’ve built a multi-million dollar business in just over four years with a team of 25 across the globe. 

Our mission is simple: make exceptional pill cases and provide exceptional customer service. We deliver on this by managing in-house fulfillment at our Washington, DC facility (including custom engraving) and maintaining obsessive attention to detail.

About the Role

We are hiring a Controller to take complete ownership of our financial operations — accounting, reporting, payroll, budgeting, cash flow, tax coordination, and financial systems. This is a critical senior role, and we’re looking for someone whose professional identity is built around three things: the integrity of the numbers, running the finance function end-to-end, and providing strategic financial insight to the CEO.

The ideal candidate has served as a Controller (or equivalent) for an e-commerce or DTC brand in the $10–30M revenue range. You understand the financial rhythms of e-commerce: Shopify revenue recognition, inventory accounting, seasonal cash flow swings, sales tax across multiple states, and the speed at which decisions need to be made. If you’ve done this before at a similar-sized company, you already know what we need.

At $11.5M in revenue and targeting $30M by 2028, our financial complexity is outpacing our financial infrastructure. We need someone who builds systems, not just operates inside them. You’ll report directly to the CEO and work hand-in-hand with our external financial advisor. No layers of management between you and the decisions your work supports.

Core Responsibilities

1. Monthly Close & Financial Reporting: Close books by the 10th of every month. Produce reviewed P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statements in Finaloop. Resolve misclassifications proactively. Maintain a clean chart of accounts. No CEO intervention required.
2. Budgeting & Financial Planning: Prepare and maintain monthly, quarterly, and annual budgets. Own budget vs. actuals: produce variance reports monthly alongside the P&L close with plain-language explanations. Update balance sheet items and expenses weekly inside the company’s financial models.
3. Cash Flow Management & Forecasting: Maintain the 13-week cash flow forecast weekly and proactively. Flag upcoming cash movements, exposure, and risks before they become surprises. This is one of the most critical tools the CEO uses for capital allocation.
4. Payroll Operations (Zero-Error Standard): Own bi-weekly payroll across ADP (US) and Deel (Philippines). Submit morning of payroll day, every cycle. PTO, overtime, and deductions captured before submission. You catch discrepancies before they reach the CEO.
5. Tax Coordination & Compliance: Own the relationship with Numeral on multi-state sales tax filings. Maintain the estimated tax payment tracker. Coordinate with our external CPA on annual filings. Flag tax exposure and timing proactively.
6. Vendor Payments, Disbursements & Financial Systems: Execute and double-check all vendor payments (Venmo, PayPal, wire). Track owner distributions and related-party transactions. Manage Finaloop, Shopify revenue reconciliation, and Google Sheets financial modeling. Manage financial admin including insurance, vendor accounts, and benefits.
7. CEO Reporting & Ad Hoc Analysis: Weekly: 13WCF update, flagged variances, upcoming cash movements. Monthly: clean financial statements with brief narrative. As needed: ad hoc financial analysis without requiring a detailed spec.

Why You Should Take This Role

• You’ll work at a brand obsessed with its customers, with a loyal following. Read the reviews: https://ikigaicases.com/pages/reviews
• A company that’s scaled rapidly in 4 years and is aggressively investing in growth.
• You’ll work hand-in-hand with the founder, not through layers of management, with full autonomy to own your domain.
• The company was founded to solve a personal problem — Tavish’s father battled a neurological condition for a decade and the family discovered the issues with plastic pill organizers.
• You’ll own the entire financial function for a company on a trajectory from $11.5M to $30M — a career-defining role for the right person.

Required Experience & Skills

• 5+ years in accounting, bookkeeping, or finance operations
• Prior Controller or senior finance role at a company doing $10M+ in annual revenue — you’ve owned the full financial function, not just pieces of it
• E-commerce or DTC company experience strongly preferred — Shopify revenue recognition, inventory accounting, seasonal cash flow, multi-state sales tax
• Experience closing books independently, on a monthly cadence, without supervision
• Demonstrated accuracy record — you should be able to speak to this specifically
• US GAAP familiarity (CPA not required, but you must understand the principles)
• Experience preparing monthly, quarterly, and annual budgets
• Payroll experience across multiple platforms
• Advanced Google Sheets / Excel (SUMIFS, financial modeling, pivot tables)
• Strong proficiency with Finaloop, QuickBooks Online, or equivalent cloud accounting platform
• Strong written and verbal English; ability to explain financial insights to non-financial stakeholders

Nice-to-Have Experience

• Experience working remotely for a US-based company from the Philippines
• Exposure to sales tax compliance across multiple US states
• Experience using Notion (or similar task management software)
• EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) familiarity
• Prior experience coordinating with external CPAs and tax advisors

What We’re Really Looking For

Technical skills get you in the door. These traits determine whether you succeed:

• Detail orientation as professional pride — you catch your own errors before they go out, and you change your process so they don’t recur.
• Proactive disclosure — you surface problems before being asked, even when it’s uncomfortable.
• Ownership without supervision — if it’s due, it’s done. No prompting required.
• Direct communication — you push back when something doesn’t look right.
• Reliability — when you say you’ll be available, you’re available. When you can’t be, you say so immediately.

Compensation Details & Schedule

• Compensation: TBD based on candidate experience. Target compensation will be requested during screening.
• Work Hours: 50 hours/week, Monday–Friday. Core overlap with US Eastern hours (9AM–5PM EST).
• Paid Holidays: 10 paid holidays per year
• PTO: 1 week earned for every 6 months worked at the company
• Location: Remote / Work From Home