Controller

About Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP

For over a century, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP (Davis Graham) has ranked among the region's most prominent law firms, consistently offering quality legal services to emerging and established businesses of the Rocky Mountain West. While the firm's Denver location and intermediate size allow a close personal relationship with local and regional clients, our technology and broad experience allow us to partner effectively with businesses and their investors throughout the world. Davis Graham serves clients nationally and internationally, with a strong focus on corporate finance and governance, mergers and acquisitions, natural resources, environmental law, real estate, intellectual property, and complex litigation. Our lawyers have experience working with companies in the energy, mining, technology, hospitality, private equity, manufacturing, asset management, and aviation industries.

Summary

The Controller is responsible for supervising an accounting staff and overseeing all general accounting activities, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, treasury, and federal, state, and local tax functions.  The Controller is responsible for maintaining accurate financial records through meticulous journal entries and implementation of financial policies, procedures, and controls to maintain financial integrity. The Controller manages and reconciles operating, trust, payroll, draw-down, and credit card accounts and monitors cash flow to ensure adequate funding for operations while optimizing investment income. The Controller will support various administrative managers by creating annual expense budgets and providing periodic budget reports and variance analysis.

Essential Functions

• Manage all day-to-day accounting activities, including daily treasury operations, positive pay transactions, accounts payable processing, accounts receivable postings, trust account management and general ledger entries.
• Ensure timely and accurate month-end and year-end closing processes, including reconciliation and preparation of journal entries for month-end, depreciation, payroll, employee benefits, charitable contributions, and appropriate reclassifications, investigating discrepancies and communicating issues with the Director of Finance in a timely manner.
• Manage and reconcile all operating, trust, payroll, draw-down, and credit card accounts on a monthly basis.
• Monitor and manage cash flow to ensure adequate funding for operations while optimizing investment income.
• Maintain and improve internal controls for accounting operations, ensuring compliance with applicable laws, regulations, trust accounting requirements and firm guidelines.
• Prepare annual expense budgets in consultation with administrative managers and perform and disseminate monthly analyses of expense budget variances.
• Oversee the accounts payable function to ensure timely and accurate processing and payment of invoices and employee expense reimbursements, coordinating weekly payment runs with the Accounts Payable Specialist.
• Oversee the process for payment of foreign vendor invoices using the cross-border payment  platform, coordinating procedures with the Accounts Payable Specialist and approving payments as appropriate.
• Oversee the accounts receivable function to ensure the accurate and timely posting of payments received by Accounts Receivable Specialist, the reconciliation of unallocated payments, and the timely escheat of unclaimed funds.
• Process accounts receivable writeoffs after confirming appropriate writeoff approvals.
• Prepare monthly reconciliation of amounts due to/from the firm’s independent contractor counsel and quarterly compensation calculations for the firm’s Senior of Counsel attorneys based on their agreement and productivity.  Initiate monthly and quarterly payments to independent contractor counsel and Senior of Counsel attorneys.
• Prepare quarterly bank covenant calculations to support compliance certification.
• Prepare and file periodic state and local tax returns with appropriate authorities, including use, property, excise, and sales taxes. Oversee periodic audits and inquiries by state and local tax authorities.
• Prepare initial income tax workpapers for use by external tax consultants, coordinating and liaising with external tax consultants and regulatory authorities as needed.  Initiate estimated tax payments as directed. 
• Prepare and file for annual certification of U.S. Tax Residency (IRS Form 6616) as well as workpapers for voluntary compliance program (VCP) filings for state income tax as requested by CFO or Director of Finance.
• Maintain and update partner capital records, calculate interest payable on partner capital accounts, and scheduling partner capital distributions for departed partners or others as instructed.
• Maintain accurate records of fixed assets and depreciation schedules. 
• Manage vendor relationships, including notification of the firm’s payment, privacy, artificial intelligence, and other requirements.
• Respond to US Census and other surveys as requested.
• Prepare detailed documentation of accounting procedures relevant to areas of responsibility.
• Maintain focus on continuous improvement through researching and sourcing innovative, efficient, cost-effective business solutions by looking beyond the status quo.
• Stay updated with industry trends, accounting standard and regulatory changes to ensure compliance and best practices.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated experience with core accounting processes, including financial systems, accounts payable, accounts receivable, trust accounting, and billing.
• Analytic ability to apply knowledge to practical applications and to foresee possible problems and effect solutions.
• Excellent management and supervisory skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Proficient in or ability to learn firm’s accounting and billing software.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office suite or similar software.
• High level of ethical and professional responsibility and superior judgment in handling confidential information.

Supervisory Role

This position manages all employees of the accounting department and is responsible for the performance management and hiring of the employees within that department.

Work Environment

This position requires the employee to work in a professional office environment with some ability to work from home.  Because the employee will handle sensitive firm and client information, the employee must work from a home office and not a public location during any remote periods. The employee will routinely use standard office equipment.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position, and typical work hours are Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Some flexibility in hours is allowed, but the employee must be available during the “core” work hours of 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and must work 28 hours each week to maintain full-time status.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field; CPA or equivalent certification preferred.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in financial management, preferably within a law firm or professional services environment.
• Strong knowledge of accounting principles, financial reporting, and budgeting.
• Proficiency in accounting software and Microsoft Excel.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with a keen attention to detail.
• Strong leadership and communication skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across departments.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.  Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Application Deadline

This position is expected to stay open until November 29, 2024. Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than November 29, 2024, at midnight to ensure consideration.

Salary range is based on or commensurate with experience.

Davis Graham offers competitive benefits. For a full list of benefits provided, please select this link: Benefits.

Davis Graham provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, genetic information, military status or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

Davis Graham participates in the E-Verify program to confirm authorization to work in the United States.