Construction Controller

Description

Position Title: Controller

Location: Pottstown, PA – primarily office-based with periodic project site exposure

Position Type: Full-Time, Salary

Reports To: Chief Executive Officer

M.J. Nester Specialty Contractors provides expert services in welding, millwrighting, rigging, pipe fitting, plant relocation, and supplemental labor. Based in the greater Philadelphia area, we serve clients nationwide in commercial and industrial environments. Our slogan, “The NEW Industry Standard,” reflects our commitment to quality, safety and innovation.

The Controller is responsible for the accounting operations of M.J. Nester, including the general ledger, job cost accounting, work in progress reporting, accounts receivable and billing, accounts payable, payroll, cash reporting, financial statement preparation, and internal control.

This role produces the financial information on which company leadership makes decisions. That information must be accurate, timely, and honest, and it must arrive while it can still change an outcome.

Construction accounting is a specialized discipline. Percentage of completion, work in progress, over and under billing, retainage, committed cost, and change orders in various states of approval all behave differently from general commercial accounting. This position exists to give the company a reliable view of what it is earning while the work is still underway.

• Own the general ledger, chart of accounts, and accounting policies of the company.
• Manage the monthly, quarterly, and annual close on a published schedule.
• Perform and review account reconciliations, including bank, credit card, loan, and balance sheet accounts.
• Maintain fixed asset accounting, including capitalization, depreciation, disposals, and reconciliation to fleet and equipment records.
• Maintain accrual practices appropriate to a construction contractor, including accrued payroll, accrued costs, and unbilled revenue.
• Maintain organized, retrievable supporting documentation for every material balance.

• Maintain the job cost system, including cost codes, budgets, committed costs, and actual costs by project and phase.
• Ensure labor, burden, material, equipment, and subcontractor costs are coded accurately and posted promptly.
• Produce work in progress reporting, including percentage of completion, earned revenue, over and under billing, and projected margin at completion.
• Work with project managers to obtain and challenge cost-to-complete estimates rather than accepting them without review.
• Track change orders through their lifecycle and ensure accounting treatment reflects their actual status.
• Identify projects trending unfavorably against budget and raise them promptly.
• Track retainage receivable and payable by project and support its timely release.
• Analyze estimate-to-actual performance and provide results back to estimating and project management.

• Supervise accounts receivable and the timely, accurate issuance of customer invoices.
• Ensure billings are prepared in the form each contract requires, including progress billings, schedule of values, and time and material billing.
• Ensure billing occurs as soon as work is earned rather than at month end by default.
• Maintain lien, notice, and preliminary notice deadlines and ensure required filings are made on time.
• Obtain and track lien waivers, both issued and received.
• Maintain receivables aging and lead the collections process on a defined escalation schedule.
• Report days sales outstanding, aging, and collection risk on a regular cadence.

• Supervise accounts payable, including invoice receipt, routing, approval, coding, and posting.
• Ensure invoices are matched to purchase orders, subcontracts, and receiving documentation before payment.
• Prevent duplicate, unauthorized, and misdirected payment through defined controls.
• Maintain vendor master data with change controls that guard against payment fraud.
• Ensure payroll is processed accurately and on time, with hours coded to the correct job and cost code.
• Administer certified…