Interim Controller

Confidential Controller-Level Consulting Engagement Multi-Location Retail / Grocery Organization | Southern California

We are partnering with a highly successful, established multi-location grocery and retail organization with a significant operating footprint and a well-recognized presence in its markets. The company has grown substantially and is entering a period of increased financial and operational discipline. Executive leadership is looking for an experienced, hands‑on financial consultant who enjoys getting beneath the numbers, identifying opportunities for improvement, and bringing greater visibility, consistency, and control to a complex organization.

This is not a traditional “sit behind the desk and review the financials” Controller assignment. We are seeking a Controller-level consultant who is highly analytical, exceptionally detail-oriented, and willing to roll up their sleeves and dig into the transactions. Working closely with the CEO and senior leadership, this individual will examine financial activity, purchasing, expenses, inventory, vendor relationships, contracts, and internal controls to understand where money is being spent, where assets and products are going, and where processes may be breaking down.

There is also an important forensic accounting / investigative component to the engagement. Leadership has identified discrepancies, unexplained spending, inconsistencies across locations, and transactions that require deeper investigation. The consultant will be expected to follow the details, reconcile activity back to supporting documentation, identify root causes, and provide leadership with fact‑based findings and recommendations. The ideal person is naturally curious and persistent—the type of financial professional who sees something that doesn't make sense and keeps digging until they understand why.

• Perform a detailed review of financial activity across a complex, multi-location retail organization.
• Analyze expenses, purchasing activity, vendor payments, inventory transactions, and balance sheet accounts to identify discrepancies, unusual activity, leakage, and opportunities for savings.
• Investigate instances of purchased inventory, products, equipment, or other assets that cannot readily be accounted for, tracing transactions from purchase through receipt, deployment, transfer, or disposition.
• Review supporting documentation and transaction-level detail to determine the root causes of financial discrepancies.
• Conduct targeted forensic-style financial analysis where transactions, spending patterns, or account activity warrant additional investigation.
• Evaluate purchasing and accounts payable processes, including authorization levels, supporting documentation, vendor setup, payment controls, and segregation of duties.
• Review vendor relationships and contracts across individual locations and identify opportunities to consolidate, renegotiate, or standardize agreements.
• Identify situations where stores or departments are independently contracting for services—such as copiers, equipment, maintenance, telecommunications, or other recurring expenses—that could be more effectively managed through centralized procurement.
• Analyze recurring expenditures and contracts to uncover unnecessary, duplicative, or excessive spending.
• Assess inventory controls, including purchasing, receiving, transfers, adjustments, write-offs, shrink, and reconciliation between operational and financial records.
• Perform detailed balance sheet reconciliations and investigate aged, unusual, unsupported, or unexplained balances.
• Evaluate existing accounting procedures and internal controls and identify control gaps or processes that create unnecessary financial risk.
• Develop practical recommendations to improve financial controls, accountability, purchasing discipline, reporting, and visibility.
• Help establish standardized policies and procedures that can be consistently implemented across multiple locations.
• Quantify identified savings opportunities and financial exposure where possible.
• Clearly communicate findings to the CEO and senior leadership, distinguishing confirmed…