Carbon Real Estate Investments Role: Controller (Multifamily Real Estate)
Type: Full-Time | Hybrid (Minimum 3 days/week in Coconut Grove, Miami, FL)
Base Salary: $100,000 + Performance Bonus
About Carbon Real Estate Investments
Carbon Real Estate Investments is a vertically integrated multifamily private equity firm with ~$200M in assets under management (AUM). We own and operate Class B workforce housing across Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Unlike most sponsors at our scale, we run our own property management. Our goal is to house 10,000 families in Carbon communities over the next ten years, and we’re building the infrastructure—accounting included—to get there.
Today, our accounting is handled by an outsourced firm.
We are bringing it in-house.
This role leads that transition and builds the department that runs after it.
Our Core Values
- Growth Mindset: Practice Kaizen. Never settle, figure it out. Get 1% better every day.
- High Integrity: Do what you say. Own your wins and losses.
- Discipline: Be purposeful, thoughtful, and diligent in everything you take on.
- Build to Last: Take the long view. Every decision optimizes for 10–15 year outcomes.
- Connection: Build genuine relationships that earn trust and respect—with residents, investors, vendors, and each other.
- All In, All Out: Work hard, play hard. Bring full energy and commitment, and enjoy the ride.
The Opportunity
We are building our accounting function from the ground up and need a Controller to own it. Title history doesn’t decide the hire—fit, hunger, and follow-through do. Whether you are currently a Controller or a Senior Accountant/Accounting Manager ready for the step up, what matters is your ability to align with our values, execute the transition off our outsourced firm, design scalable SOPs, and build a small, high-performing team.
In Year 1, you will be deep inside our accounting stack—auditing our chart of accounts, tightening month-end close, building variance review processes, and establishing controls as we scale toward $500M AUM and beyond.
Primary Relationships
- Reports to: Integrator (COO equivalent under EOS), with a dotted line to the CEO and CIO/Capital Markets on financial reporting.
- Direct Collaboration: Partners with our internal Staff Accountant (AP & bill-backs), Asset Management (budgets, capex tracking, loan compliance), and on-site property managers.
- Leadership: Manages the outsourced firm exit and builds a small team (1–3 people within 12–18 months).
Key Responsibilities
Financial Integrity & Review
- Review monthly property financial statements, balance sheets, and trial balances for accuracy and anomalies before release.
- Own intercompany reconciliations across our entity structure, including bill-backs, payroll allocations, and shared corporate costs.
- Lead month-end close coordination to ensure predictable, drift-free execution on the same close day every month.
- Maintain GAAP compliance across all entities and prepare schedules supporting external audits, lender reviews, and tax returns.
Process Design, SOPs & Controls
- Build, document, and enforce accounting SOPs (month-end close calendar, AP coding, journal entry approvals, account reconciliations).
- Create a standardized variance review template catching material P&L and balance sheet anomalies early.
- Stand up new acquisitions on Yardi Voyager with consistent chart of accounts, sub-account structures, and reporting templates from day one.
- Continuously optimize processes to reduce manual touches and improve time-to-close.
Team Leadership & Development
- Hire, manage, and mentor a small accounting team (1–3 direct reports in 12–18 months) using clear roles, weekly cadences, and quarterly scorecards.
- Establish a culture of radical ownership where team members catch and resolve issues proactively.
- Address underperformance directly and promptly.
Systems, Technology & AI
- Master and administer our property accounting platform (Yardi Voyager today).
- Identify automation opportunities (bank feeds, recurring entries, AP coding) to eliminate manual labor.
- Evaluate secondary tools (QuickBooks Online for non-property entities, fund accounting platforms) strictly on operational merit.
- Champion AI-driven workflows (Claude/Gemini) to enhance team accuracy and execution speed.
Cross-Functional Alignment
- Translate complex financial data into plain language for non-accounting executives and operational teams.
- Support property managers with clear answers, clean reports, and responsive guidance.
What Success Looks Like
First 90 Days:
- Complete audit and cleanup of the chart of accounts across all property entities.
- Map end-to-end month-end close with a written calendar and roll out initial SOPs (close, journal entries, intercompany/bill-backs).
- Deploy a standardized variance review template across all active properties.
Year One:
- Month-end close lands reliably on the exact same day every month across all properties.
- Automation handles routine bank feeds, allocations, and recurring entries.
- New acquisitions onboard seamlessly with zero post-close cleanup required.
- A team of 1–3 accounting professionals is trained, accountable, and executing efficiently.
Candidate Profile: What You Bring
Required:
- Active CPA license (or actively sitting for the exam with completion expected within 12 months) and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.
- 3+ years of progressive accounting experience with meaningful exposure to real estate accounting (multifamily, commercial, or fund-level).
- Hands-on experience administering an accounting or ERP platform (COA setup, recurring entries, custom reporting, module management).
- Solid understanding of US GAAP for real estate ownership, partnerships, and multi-entity structures.
- Proven track record of designing or improving accounting processes—you build systems rather than just follow checklists.
- Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, INDEX/MATCH, XLOOKUP, basic financial modeling).
- Willingness to work out of our Coconut Grove (Miami) office at least 3 days per week.
Preferred:
- Experience with real estate platforms (Yardi Voyager preferred; MRI, RealPage, or AppFolio).
- Public accounting background (Big 4 or regional firm) auditing real estate clients.
- Direct experience bringing outsourced accounting functions in-house or building accounting teams from scratch.
- Experience with QuickBooks Online, AP automation tools (AvidXchange), and accounting for capital events (acquisitions, refis, dispositions, promotes).
- Background working within a vertically integrated owner-operator.
How We Work
- Execution First: We optimize for finished outcomes, not activity. Always present problems alongside pre-vetted options and recommendations.
- High Trust & Accountability: Trust is earned by hitting deadlines and eliminating surprises.
- No "It Can't Be Done": Frame limitations in terms of ROI or trade-offs, never absolute impossibility.
- EOS & Structure: We run on EOS (Strety) and rely on process discipline to scale.
- AI-Enabled: We intentionally leverage tools like Claude and Gemini to move faster and work smarter.
Compensation & Benefits
- Base Salary: $100,000 commensurate with experience.
- Bonus: Annual performance bonus tied to a quarterly scorecard (close discipline, audit results, process rollout milestones).
- Benefits: Full medical, vision, and dental; company-paid life insurance; 401(k) with match; generous PTO & standard holidays.
- Location: Coconut Grove, Miami, FL (walkable to dining, Brickell, and the waterfront).