Controller
Multifamily Real Estate
Full-Time | Hybrid | Coconut Grove, Miami, FL
Company
Carbon Real Estate Investments is a vertically integrated multifamily private equity firm with approximately $200M in assets under management. We own and operate Class B workforce housing across Florida, Georgia, and Alabama — and 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
We hire, develop, and promote based on these six values. If they resonate with you, you’ll thrive here.
- 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’re building the accounting function from the ground up — and we need a Controller who can own it. That means leading the transition off our outsourced firm, designing the systems and SOPs that keep the books clean as we scale, and building a small accounting team that executes those systems consistently every month, every property, every entity.
What we care about more than anything is finding the right person. You might already be a Controller. You might be a Senior Accountant or Accounting Manager ready for the seat. What matters is that you align with our core values, you have the chops to get the job done, and you want to grow with us as Carbon scales toward $500M AUM and beyond. Title history doesn’t decide the hire — fit, hunger, and follow-through do.
This is a leadership role. Today we have property-level staff entering daily transactions in our property accounting platform (Yardi Voyager), an internal staff accountant handling AP and bill-backs, and an outsourced firm running the rest. You replace the outsourced firm and build what comes next. In year one, you’ll be deep inside our accounting stack — auditing the chart of accounts, tightening month-end close, building variance review, and standing up controls that scale with our acquisition pipeline. As we grow into additional tools (QuickBooks Online for non-property entities, fund accounting platforms), you’ll own the evaluation and rollout — but only when the case is real. Cleaner process inside the system we already have is often the better answer.
Primary Relationships
- Reports to the Integrator (COO equivalent under EOS), with a dotted line to the CEO and CIO/Capital Markets on financial reporting
- Partners closely with our staff accountant (AP & bill-backs) on intercompany reconciliations, AP oversight, and shared corporate cost allocations
- Works with Asset Management on budget vs. actual analysis, capex tracking, and loan compliance
- Manages the working relationship with our outsourced accounting firm during the in-house transition
- Builds and leads a small accounting team underneath you (1–3 people within 12–18 months) and supports property managers with coding questions and clean reporting
The Role
You’ll own the accounting function across the portfolio. That breaks down into several key areas:
Financial Integrity & Review
- Review monthly property financial statements, balance sheets, and trial balances for accuracy, consistency, and anomalies. Catch issues before they leave the door (High Integrity)
- Own intercompany reconciliations across our entity structure — including bill-backs, payroll allocations, and shared corporate costs
- Lead month-end close coordination across Carbon, the staff accountant, and on-site property teams. Hit the same close day every month — no drift
- Maintain GAAP-compliant accounting practices across all entities and prepare schedules supporting external audits, lender reviews, and tax returns
- Manage the transition from our current outsourced accounting firm to the in-house function
Process Design, SOPs & Controls
- Build, document, and enforce accounting SOPs — month-end close (with a written close calendar), AP coding, journal entry approval, account reconciliations, capital event accounting (Discipline)
- Build a standardized variance review template that catches material P&L and balance sheet anomalies before financials are released
- Stand up new acquisitions on Yardi with consistent COA, sub-account structure, and reporting templates from day one (Build to Last)
- Continuously improve process — reduce time-to-close, reduce manual touches, raise accuracy. Get 1% better every month (Growth Mindset)
Team Leadership & Development
- Hire, manage, and develop a small accounting team (1–3 people within 12–18 months) with clear roles, weekly cadence, and quarterly performance scorecards
- Hold the team accountable to deadlines, accuracy, and process compliance — not us
- Train your team on SOPs and conduct ongoing performance evaluations. Address underperformance directly and promptly (High Integrity)
- Build a culture of ownership underneath you — your team should feel empowered to catch and resolve issues, not wait for them to be flagged
Systems, Technology & AI
- Master our property accounting platform (Yardi Voyager today) — chart of accounts, sub-accounts, recurring entries, banking modules, financial report customization, integrations. You don’t need to walk in knowing Yardi specifically, but you do need to know how to administer a system like it
- Identify and implement automation opportunities that reduce manual work and improve accuracy — bank feeds, allocations, AP coding, recurring entries
- Evaluate additional tools (QuickBooks Online, fund accounting platforms, AP automation upgrades) on merit. Recommend changes only when the case is real
- Champion AI-driven workflows where they serve accuracy and speed — not for novelty. We use Claude for central operations and Gemini for property staff. Curiosity about new tools is non-negotiable
Cross-Functional Translation
- Translate financial data into plain language for the Integrator, CEO, asset managers, and other non-accounting leaders. Translate operational reality back into the right accounting treatment
- Partner with asset management on budget vs. actual analysis, capex tracking, and loan compliance reporting
- Support property teams. They are not accountants. They need clear answers, clean reports, and someone responsive when they have a question (Connection)
What Success Looks LikeFirst 90 Days
- Full audit of the chart of accounts across all property entities, with cleanup items identified and prioritized
- Month-end close mapped end-to-end with a written close calendar; first three SOPs (close, journal entry approval, intercompany / bill-back reconciliation) written and rolled out
- Standardized variance review template built and in use — anomalies flagged with context before financials are released
Year One
- Month-end close lands on the same day every month, every property — no drift
- Reporting is tighter, faster, more useful. The CEO never has to think about whether the financials are right; they read them and trust them
- Automation has replaced manual work wherever it was eating time — bank feeds, recurring entries, intercompany allocations, AP coding
- New acquisitions are stood up on our property management platform cleanly from day one — no one-off cleanup projects
- A small accounting team (1–3 people) is in place with clear roles, weekly cadence, and quarterly scorecards. You hold them accountable. We do not
Location & Schedule
Full-time, hybrid at our Coconut Grove (Miami) office. Minimum 3 days per week in office — the role specifically benefits from sitting next to other Carbon Leaders. Limited travel — occasional visits to portfolio properties or to support audits as needed.
Who You Are
You don’t wait for someone to flag a problem. You catch it first. You diagnose it. You bring the solution — not the open question — and you execute it. You’re proactive, not reactive. When something’s off in the books, in the process, or in the team, you address it. Today, not next month.
You take ownership and you execute. Of your work, your team’s work, and the deliverables the rest of the org is depending on you for. You measure yourself by what got finished, not what got started. You don’t hand problems back up the chain unless they truly belong there, and when you do, you bring options and a recommendation — not a help ticket.
You hold the line. On cadence, on accuracy, on process discipline. You’re willing to confront, directly and professionally, when the work isn’t meeting the standard — whether that’s your team, a property manager, or a vendor. You’d rather have the hard conversation today than carry the problem into next quarter.
You’re detail-oriented to the point that errors don’t make it past you. You build systems that work when you’re not in the room — and you verify they’re being followed when you are. You’re organized, your records are clean, and you take pride in running a tight operation. You’re curious about new tools — especially AI — and you reach for them when they serve accuracy and speed. And you’re hungry. You know you’re ready for a seat bigger than the one you’re in today — and you’re looking for the chance to prove it.
What separates a great Controller from an average one
The best Controllers we’ve seen don’t wait for someone to flag the problem. They’ve already caught it, diagnosed it, and they’re executing the fix, with documentation. They take true ownership of the books, the team, and the process. No surprises. If you need someone to hand you a checklist, this isn’t the role. If you’re the one who builds the checklist and holds everyone to it, we want to talk to you.
What You BringRequired
- 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 time spent in real estate accounting (multifamily, commercial, or fund-level)
- Hands-on experience administering an accounting or ERP platform — chart of accounts setup, recurring entries, financial report customization, and the accounting modules. The platform doesn’t matter as long as you understand the functions cold
- Strong working knowledge of US GAAP as it applies to real estate ownership, partnerships, and entity structures
- Track record of designing or improving accounting processes in a previous role — you’ve built something, not just executed someone else’s checklist
- Advanced Excel (pivots, INDEX/MATCH, XLOOKUP, basic modeling)
- Willingness to work in our Coconut Grove (Miami) office a minimum of 3 days per week
Preferred
- Experience on a property management or real estate accounting platform (Yardi, MRI, RealPage, AppFolio, or similar) — Yardi specifically is a bonus since we run on Yardi today
- Experience reviewing the work of more junior staff and holding them accountable to standards and deadlines
- Public accounting background (Big 4 or strong regional firm) earlier in career, especially with real estate audit clients
- Direct experience bringing an outsourced accounting function in-house, or building an in-house accounting team from scratch
- QuickBooks Online experience for non-property entities, and exposure to AP automation tools (AvidXchange or similar)
- Experience accounting for capital events — acquisitions, refinances, dispositions, preferred equity, promote structures
- Vertically integrated owner-operator experience (versus pure third-party fee management)
How We Work
This is the most important section. Read it twice.
- We are results and execution focused. We optimize for outcomes, not activity — what got finished, not what got discussed. Bring problems with options pre-vetted and a recommendation. Bringing a problem with no analysis attached means a lot of questions back at you.
- Trust starts at 50/50 and is earned by finishing things. Missed deadlines, dropped follow-ups, and surprises kill it fast. Once trust is low, we have to get involved — which is not where either of us wants to be.
- “It can’t be done” is not in our vocabulary. Almost anything can be done. The honest version is: “the time to do it isn’t worth the payoff,” or “here are the trade-offs.” That framing we welcome.
- Speed matters. We are a small team running a $200M portfolio. We do not have the luxury of slow decision-making, and our standards do not bend because something is hard.
- Process discipline is the differentiator. We run on EOS (tracked in Strety). Our accounting platform is the source of truth. We measure things. If you cannot operate inside structure, this is not the right seat.
- We use AI. Claude for central operations, Gemini for property staff. We expect the accounting team to use these tools to move faster, not slower. Curiosity about new tools is non-negotiable.
Compensation & BenefitsBase Salary
$95,000 – $115,000 base, commensurate with experience. The high end of the band is reserved for candidates clearly stretching into the seat with directly relevant build or process-design experience.
Bonus
Annual performance bonus tied to a quarterly scorecard (close-day discipline, audit findings, process rollout milestones, team metrics). Discussed at offer.
Benefits
- Full medical, vision, and dental; company-paid life insurance
- 401(k) with company matching
- Paid time off and standard US holidays
- Coconut Grove office — walkable to lunch, near Brickell and the water
How to Apply
Send a resume and a short note answering one question:
“Walk us through a process you built from scratch in a previous role — what was broken, what you designed, how you got people to actually use it, and what changed as a result.”
We read every one. Generic cover letters are not helpful. Specific stories are.
EEO Statement
We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, sex, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $105,000.00 - $125,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Nashville, TN 37204
