Financial Controller - Christchurch CBD

Financial Controller | Christchurch CBD Our mission at Workride is simple: get every single Kiwi on a bike. We help almost 2,000 New Zealand employers, reaching over 150,000 employees, offering bikes and e‑bikes as a free, streamlined employee benefit, making the daily commute healthier, more affordable, and more sustainable. Employees from participating employers save between 32% and 63% on their dream ride through our free pre‑tax benefit programme. We’re growing fast, and behind that growth sits a genuine finance operation: installment based benefits, banking and insurance partnerships, and a growing book of live agreements. We’re looking for a hands‑on Financial Controller to join our Christchurch team and build the finance engine that keeps the Workride rocketship fuelled. The Role You’ll own Workride’s finance function end to end. That means running the close, the controls, and our management reporting, managing treasury and float, and operating the finance side of our banking and insurance partnerships: covenant reporting under our lending agreement, insurer reporting, claims settlement, and eligibility checking. Transaction processing stays with our outsourced finance ops provider day to day; you own everything above it. Fair warning, in the best way: this is a hands‑on role and plenty of the work starts manual. Reporting packs, reconciliations, claims, matching: you’ll get stuck in and do the work first, as we build the systems, data flows, and rulebooks that automate it alongside our engineering team. You’ll report directly to one of our Co‑founders and work closely with the whole team. This is a role that grows into Head of Finance as Workride scales. What You’ll Be Doing Control & Reporting Own the Close: Run month‑end to a fixed calendar with reviewed reconciliations, balance sheet integrity, and proper payment authorisation and segregation of duties. Management Reporting: Produce monthly management accounts, variance commentary, and the underlying data our founders and shareholders rely on. Annual Accounts & Audit Readiness: Work with our external accountants on the annual accounts, and get the business ready for NZ‑GAAP reporting and audit as we grow. Keep the Model Current: Work with the founders’ financial model, keeping it accurate and current on a quarterly cycle. Tax Compliance: PAYE, GST, income tax, and short‑form rulings, coordinated with our external tax advisors and accountants. Funding, Insurance & Treasury Covenant Reporting: Deliver the reporting required under our lending agreement, cleanly and on time, every cycle. Insurance Reporting & Claims: Run the reporting required under our insurance agreement, settle claims made, and own the eligibility checking process that sits underneath the cover. Treasury & Float: Manage cash and float day to day, allocate treasury as the programme scales, and hold the line on our minimum cash policy. Fleet, Receivables & Process Building Edge Cases, End to End: Respond to the financial requirements of the edge cases that come with delivering Workride: early terminations, equipment sell‑down and loss recognition, the asset fleet register, and amortisation schedules for operational versus tax values for end‑of‑year reporting. Receivables Performance: Arrears, dunning, terminations, and write‑offs, executed to standard rules with clear escalation thresholds. Define the Technical Accounting: Inform how the technical accounting is implemented in our platform: how data flows between the platform and the ledger, what the rulebooks say, and what finance needs from each new product as it launches. Oversee the Outsourced Layer: Own the runbook and relationship with our finance ops provider, strengthen review controls, and drive the automation where volume justifies it. What You Bring to the Team The Essentials Fully qualified CA (CAANZ) or equivalent (CPA, ACCA, ICAEW). 5+ years post‑qualification experience, including financial control or senior accounting work in lending, asset finance, leasing, or wider financial services. Exposure to funder or lender reporting (facilities, covenants, portfolio data), or the audit of them. Fixed asset accounting fundamentals: registers, depreciation and amortisation, disposals, and the difference between book and tax values. A builder’s record: you have created controls, close disciplines, or reporting frameworks where none existed, not just operated inherited ones. Systems strength: fluent in Xero, excellent in Excel and financial modelling, and comfortable working inside operational platforms and alongside engineers. A startup mindset: high autonomy, hands dirty, and calm when the programmes you run are still being designed around you. Discretion: you will handle funder, insurer, and shareholder information every week. Location: based in Christchurch with full right to work in NZ. (Our office is in the CBD.) Bonus Points for Consumer credit (CCCFA) exposure, or securitisation and warehouse facility experience. A Big 4 or second tier audit background. Time as the sole finance person in an SME or startup. Comfort using AI tools (like Claude) to raise the quality and speed of your work. A genuine interest in cycling, sustainability, health, or workplace wellness! What Success Looks Like in Your First 12 Months The internal finance processes are built out and aligned with the products being launched. You hold full accountability for the function and feel comfortable flying solo. Month‑end closes to a fixed calendar with documented review controls. Bank and insurer reporting ships on schedule, every cycle, without founder involvement. Payment controls are formalised to a standard that satisfies an auditor or a funder. Finance's automation needs are clearly specified and championed into the product roadmap, with the first implementations underway. You’re a key stakeholder here; our product manager owns the roadmap and its priorities. Why You’ll Love It Here Real Ownership: Full ownership of the finance function, with funding, insurance, and treasury exposure that controllers rarely get. Massive Growth Scope: A defined pathway into Head of Finance as Workride scales. Modern Tool Stack: Xero, HubSpot, our own platform, and AI tools including Claude. Awesome Culture: A supportive, high‑performing team culture with great work‑life balance. Full access to Workride’s employee bike benefit scheme so you can get your dream bike or e‑bike! Recruitment Process Our process is simple and transparent: An initial casual chat with one of our founders, just to get the vibe. A short, practical assignment to show us how you think with both founders so we can see how your way of thinking / approach works. Offer of role or feedback provided directly with one of the Co‑founders. #J-18808-Ljbffr