Most finance teams don't fail because of one bad hire — they fail because the structure around good people never got built. Here's how to think about the structure itself.
Start with the Right Org Structure
A common pattern that works well as a company grows: staff accountants handle transactional work, an Accounting Manager owns the team and the close process day to day, and a Controller owns the function overall — reporting, compliance, banking relationships, and strategic input. Skipping the Accounting Manager layer too long is one of the most common reasons Controllers burn out or the close slips.
Hire for Trajectory, Not Just Today's Job
A staff accountant who can grow into a senior accountant, and a senior accountant with real Accounting Manager potential, is worth more than someone who's perfectly matched to today's job description but has no room to grow into tomorrow's. Given how tight the accounting talent market has become, promoting from within is often faster and more reliable than a new external search.
Invest in Systems, Not Just People
A strong Controller with a broken or outdated ERP will still struggle to close on time. Before adding headcount to fix a slow close, it's worth asking whether the bottleneck is people or process — often it's both, but the systems side gets less attention because it's less visible than an open req.
Building the team is only half the work — keeping it is the other half, which is worth its own conversation.
Ready to fill a Controller, Tax Manager, or Accounting Manager role?
Tell us what you need and we'll follow up within one business day.