Controller

About Portless

Portless helps fast-growing direct-to-consumer brands ship orders from our fulfillment centers in China straight to their customers in North America, the UK and beyond. Brands no longer have to import and warehouse inventory in every market, which frees up cash and cuts costs. We run the whole chain: fulfillment, freight, customs clearance and last-mile delivery, tied together by our own software and AI. Our merchants are mid-market brands in apparel, beauty, electronics and home goods. We are venture-backed and on track to double revenue in 2026. Our team works across North America, China and beyond.

You will own Portless's books end to end: the monthly close across our entities in North America and Asia, merchant billing and collections, cash, and our first external audit. You will lead our accounting team, most of whom are based in China, and build the processes and controls that let us keep growing fast. This is a hands-on role. You will be in the reconciliations yourself before you hand them off, and you will have real ownership from day one.

What you'll own

• Month-end close. Own the close calendar across all entities, including consolidation, intercompany and FX, and get it done faster each month.
• Billing and order-to-cash. Make sure every merchant is billed correctly and on time. That includes rate-card changes, credit notes and waivers with clear approvals, duties, VAT and tariffs billed back accurately, and cash applied across Stripe and our other payment channels.
• AR and collections. Keep AR reconciled to the bank and payment processors, set our bad-debt reserve policy, and run collections with our billing team.
• Cash. Own the daily cash position and a 13-week forecast tied to the bank, plus payment runs and approvals.
• Audit and diligence. Select and lead our first external audit, prepare the books for investor and lender diligence, and own monthly lender reporting.
• Tax and compliance. Coordinate outside advisors on Canadian, US and Chinese filings, sales tax and VAT, and transfer pricing.
• Systems and controls. Tighten our stack (QuickBooks Online, Stripe, Bill.com, Ramp), document how things get done, and decide when we need an ERP.
• Team. Lead and develop the accounting team, give every process a clear owner, and work closely with our data and engineering teams on billing data.

What success looks like in your first year

Outcome By 90 days You own the daily cash position and monthly lender reporting, and the whole team works from one close calendar.

6 months Every entity closes by business day 10, and every rate-card change, credit note and waiver has an approval trail.

12 months Our first external audit is complete. AR ties to the bank and payment processors every month, and duties and VAT billed match what we paid. The team runs on documented processes.

What you bring

• CPA, CA or an equivalent designation.
• 8+ years in accounting, including at least 3 as a controller or assistant controller who owned the close.
• A start in audit at a Big 4 or mid-tier public accounting firm.
• You have owned a multi-entity, multi-currency close, including consolidation and intercompany.
• You have run billing and collections at a high-volume business that bills per order, per transaction or on usage.
• You have taken a company through a first audit or an audit-readiness cleanup, working directly with the auditors.
• You have led a team, including people in another country.
• You are comfortable with a lean stack and AI tools, and you keep your work auditable.
• Clear, direct written English.

Nice to have

• Mandarin. Most of our accounting team is in China, so this is a big plus.
• Experience in logistics, 3PL, freight forwarding, customs brokerage or cross-border e-commerce.
• Accounting for duties, VAT and tariffs paid on behalf of customers, and for transfer pricing.
• Financial due diligence or transaction services experience.
• An ERP implementation or migration, such as NetSuite.

How you work

• You can't let a number go until it ties.
• You stay calm and factual when things move fast.
• You hold the line on controls, even when someone senior is asking for an exception.
• You fix the biggest problems first instead of redesigning everything at once.
• You are hands-on and low ego, and you'll do the reconciliations yourself until the team can.
• You raise bad news early and say "I don't know" when you don't.
• You manage across time zones and cultures with patience and clear writing.

Location and hours

This role is global and remote. What matters is overlap, not where you live: part of your working day must overlap with Eastern Time, where our merchants, auditors and lenders are, and part with China time, where most of the accounting team works. For example, someone in Europe or the Middle East covers both in a normal day. Someone in Toronto or New York would add a short evening call with the China team, and someone in Asia an evening call with North America. Expect occasional travel to meet the team in person.

What we offer

• A senior role with real ownership, reporting directly to a co-founder.
• The chance to build the finance function of a company that is doubling revenue.
• Competitive base salary, performance bonus and equity.
• Remote work on a global team, with flexible hours around the overlap windows.

Portless is an equal opportunity employer.