Financial Controller (Inventory-Based Business)
ERG Media · Milan
ERG Media is a luxury publishing house and creative agency operating at the intersection of automotive culture, design, and global brand storytelling. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Milan, we produce collectible coffee-table books, creative campaigns, and merchandise for clients including Porsche, Acqua di Parma, General Motors, Pirelli, and Bentley. Our retail platform, Type 7, extends this ethos into physical products and prints.
We are a multi-entity group with companies in Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and the US. We sell physical products as well as running creative client projects, and we need a qualified, hands-on financial controller to get our internal accounts and financial management in a really good place. Tax filings and statutory compliance stay with local advisors in each region. You will own everything underneath.
This is not a junior bookkeeping position. We need someone who can run a multi-entity, multi-currency, inventory-based business with minimal supervision and give our COO and founder reliable numbers to steer the business.
What you will do
- Own the monthly close across the group, with clear cut-offs and intercompany balances reconciled first.
- Run bank, card, Shopify and Stripe payout reconciliations, AP/AR and expense controls across entities and currencies (EUR, USD, JPY, GBP).
- Own inventory valuation, landed costs and cost of goods sold for book print runs and retail stock, including reconciliation of third-party warehouse and wholesale costs.
- Build project and client profitability reporting for our creative engagements (production, travel, freelance fees).
- Deliver a clear monthly management pack, with cash and liquidity forecasting, to the COO and founder.
- Maintain the group chart of accounts and cost-centre logic, and help us choose the right reporting and consolidation tools.
- Be the first point of contact for our external accountants and tax advisors in each region, and keep their scope lean and well defined.
- Flag anomalies, margin drift, or cash-conversion issues before they become problems.
How to apply
Send your CV and a brief note answering:
- Describe your most recent role as controller or finance manager: the business, the number of entities and currencies, and what you owned.
- How have you valued inventory and recognised COGS for a print run or product batch that is in production over several months?
- How would you run a month-end close and reconcile Shopify payouts, and how would you split work between yourself and external tax advisors?
Applications without a cover note will not be reviewed.
Requirements
- Formal accountancy training (for example dottore commercialista, ACCA, CPA, ACA or equivalent).
- Proven experience as a financial controller or finance manager.
- Hands-on experience in an inventory-based business (physical products, COGS, third-party logistics).
- Multi-entity and multi-currency experience, including intercompany reconciliations.
- Fluency with modern cloud accounting tools (Xero or QuickBooks Online) and strong Excel / Google Sheets skills.
- Fluent English; Italian is a strong plus.
- Discretion and judgment: you will handle sensitive financial data, and you are comfortable giving founders a clear one-page answer.
Nice to have
- Experience in a professional services or creative agency business.
- Experience with Shopify and payment processors (Stripe, PayPal, Wise).
- Familiarity with Dutch or Italian GAAP and with US LLC or Japanese GK reporting through advisors.
- Partita IVA / independent consultant structure.
Benefits
- Fractional / freelance, 2-3 days per week or full-time for the right candidate. Open to retainer or hourly models.
- Remote-friendly within EU time zones, with occasional days at our Milan office (Via Bernardino Luini 12, 20123 Milano).
- Start date October / November 2026, flexible for the right candidate.
- Compensation: to be discussed, scaled to experience and scope.
- Direct access to leadership and real ownership of the finance function of a growing creative group.