Controller salary

$90k-$115k

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You can pay less but this is a situation where you will get what you pay for.

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One shitty Controller hire and you will always be willing to pay for a good one

I typically estimate $120 plus benefits.

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They’ll be responsible for all accounting, AR, AP, banking, budgeting, etc.

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It sounds like you want the Controller to also be the staff accountant, the AP specialist, and the billing/AR team. Is that right? Generally, Controllers oversee those departments but aren't the ones actually completing all of those transactions. So while you may call this person a "controller" it sounds more like a senior accounting or possibly accounting manager role.

What qualifications are your looking for in terms of certifications and years of experience, etc?

We only have 2 people in office besides controller. The others enter all info into Quickbooks, but controller is responsible for actually paying the bills and final invoicing. In addition to all banking, bookkeeping, payroll (we use a payroll company), reports, etc. this is a small business, so no accounting dept, etc.

We are looking for someone new to come in and help get our books, job costs, etc more accurate. We were hoping to be well under $100k, but we won't know until we do interviews. Which is why I was asking for input. I want someone sharp that can wear multiple hats if needed. We also want someone here in the office, not remote.

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We need someone that has handled the books for a business off our size in the past and is comfortable with wearing multiple hats as needed.

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We were hoping to be well under $100k,

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Want in one hand and shite in the other and see which one fills up faster

To me it sounds more like a senior accounting or accounting manager role as I mentioned before - probably someone non credentialed if you are expecting experience along with a salary "well below 100k". you're probably looking at an older senior accounting lifer or possibly an up and comer if you're willing to look past years of experience. Nothing wrong with these types of folks, just don't necessarily expect ex B4 with a CPA.

One thing I've noticed in my years of accounting/finance experience is that small businesses tend to have crazy high expectations but want to pay very little in return...even more so than with larger companies.

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We are looking for someone new to come in and help get our books, job costs, etc more accurate. We were hoping to be well under $100k, but we won't know until we do interviews. Which is why I was asking for input. I want someone sharp that can wear multiple hats if needed. We also want someone here in the office, not remote.

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You want someone to handle all of the account payable, accounts receivable, cash reconciliations, ensuring payroll is accurate, and any other accounting type items that come up (tax filings, property tax review, ect.)

You also want this person to improve you records and also improve your processes.

I'm a CPA and unfortunately you aren't going to find someone to do all of that for less than $100K. And if you do, they're either going to find something else once they realize what they are in for, or you're going to get someone that isn't qualified to do all of this.

We have two full-time ladies that handle AP/AR. Payroll is by an outside company. Taxes are handled by an outside company. We have a part-time CFO that comes in two days a week and does the more complex financial tasks and planning. He's great. We don't need any more of his time, and it keeps our costs down. He is about 2-3 years away from retirement, at which point we'll be big enough to need a full-time CFO.