Financial Controller

Company Description

Poetry by Love and Cheesecake is an all-day café experience born from the legacy of Mumbai's renowned dessert brand, Love and Cheesecake. With locations in Mumbai and Pune, Poetry brings a focus on premium ingredients, creative expression, and an obsession with craft and flavor. Offering a full dining experience, every dish is designed to evoke emotions, from morning coffee to late-night indulgences. The café is dedicated to crafting memorable experiences where every bite tells a story through a carefully curated menu.

Role Summary

The Finance Controller is the most senior finance hire at Brewworks and the cornerstone of our financial governance reform. This is a strategic oversight role - not a transactional one. The FC will own financial integrity, audit-readiness, and the transition to Zoho Books, while building the maker-checker culture across a fast-scaling multi-outlet F&B chain.

Qualifications

Education: B.Com + CA (Inter) mandatory. CA Final or MBA Finance preferred.

Experience: 12–15 years in SME accounting environments. Prior experience leading finance in F&B, retail, or multi-unit operations strongly preferred. Must have handled Tally finalization and statutory audits independently.

Key Skills Required:

• Deep working knowledge of GST, TDS, MCA compliances
• Prior exposure to Tally (any version); Zoho Books familiarity a strong plus
• Experience designing Delegation of Authority (DOA) frameworks
• Comfortable with Board-level reporting and investor presentations
• Working knowledge of POSIST or similar F&B POS/inventory systems preferred

Key Responsibilities

• Final review and sign-off on monthly financial statements
• Own the Chart of Accounts design and migration to Zoho Books
• Oversee POSIST–Zoho Books integration architecture
• Design and enforce the Delegation of Authority (DOA) matrix
• Review bank reconciliation, inventory reconciliation, AR/AP ageing summaries
• Approve provisioning, write-offs, and all material journal entries
• Finalize GST and income tax structures; liaise with statutory auditors
• Lead GST audit (3 years) and Income Tax audit (3 years) currently in progress
• Conduct monthly Business Review Meetings with MD and leadership
• Board reporting: P&L, cash flow, outlet-wise profitability
• Hire, onboard, and mentor the Finance Manager and Accounting Ops team
• Define SOPs for P2P, O2C, R2R, and Financial Reporting protocols

Control Safeguards

• No day-to-day transaction booking
• No vendor/customer master creation
• No sole custody of banking access
• All approvals documented per DOA