Financial Controller

About the role

The Finance Controller will be the most senior finance professional within Poetry by Love and Cheesecake, overseeing financial governance for a fast‑scaling multi‑outlet café chain. This strategic role focuses on ensuring financial integrity, audit readiness, and the migration to Zoho Books while fostering a robust maker‑checker culture.

Key responsibilities

• Final review and sign‑off of monthly financial statements.
• Design and migrate the Chart of Accounts to Zoho Books and oversee POSIST‑Zoho Books integration.
• Develop and enforce a Delegation of Authority matrix across all outlets.
• Supervise bank, inventory, AR and AP reconciliations and approve material journal entries, provisions and write‑offs.
• Lead GST and income‑tax structuring, manage ongoing GST and income‑tax audits.
• Prepare board‑level reports, cash‑flow analysis and outlet‑wise profitability for the MD and leadership team.
• Hire, onboard and mentor the Finance Manager and accounting operations team.
• Define SOPs for Procure‑to‑Pay, Order‑to‑Cash, Record‑to‑Report and overall financial reporting protocols.

Required profile

• B.Com with CA Intermediate; CA Final or MBA Finance preferred.
• 12–15 years of experience in SME accounting, preferably in F&B, retail or multi‑unit operations.
• Proven track record handling Tally finalisation and statutory audits independently.
• Experience designing Delegation of Authority frameworks and presenting to boards or investors.

Required skills

• Deep knowledge of GST, TDS and MCA compliances.
• Proficiency with Tally (any version) and strong familiarity with Zoho Books.
• Experience with POSIST or similar F&B POS/inventory systems.
• Expertise in financial statement preparation, chart of accounts design, and bank/inventory reconciliations.
• Ability to manage GST and income‑tax audits and to structure tax provisions.
• Strong command of board‑level reporting and investor presentation preparation.
• Capability to develop SOPs for P2P, O2C, R2R processes.