Director of Finance
Vanlife Customs
Arvada, CO
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JOB DETAILS
JOB TYPE
Full-time
SKILLS
Accounting, Accounting Close, Accounting Consolidation, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Acquisition Strategy, Administrative Skills, Alliance/Partner Management, Alliance/Partner Marketing, Analysis Skills, Automotive Industry, Automotive Repair and Maintenance, Billing, Bookkeeping, Budgeting, Business Model, Capital Equipment, Cash Flow, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Commission Calculation, Compensation and Benefits, Construction, Economics, Finance, Financial Control, Financial Management, Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), Financial Risk, Financial Strategy, Financial Systems, Forecasting, General Ledger Accounting, Gross Margin, Head of Finance, Loans, Local Tax, Manufacturing, Manufacturing Cost, Mergers and Acquisitions, Operating Systems, Payroll Tax, Performance Metrics, Pricing, Process Development, Product Pricing, Production Volume, Profit & Loss, Real Estate, Return on Investment (ROI), Revenue Management, Revenue Recognition, Sales Management, Sales Tax, Small Business, State Tax, Tax Accounting, Tax Returns, Team Lead/Manager, Theater, Use Tax, Vehicle Fleets
LOCATION
Arvada, CO
POSTED
6 days ago
Group owner of Vanlife Customs
Location: Denver area (Arvada, CO) - In-person
Reports to: CEO
Type: Full-time
About the Company
Waypoint Ventures is a Denver-based operator of van conversion and overland automotive service brands, including VanLife Customs - Premium custom van conversions, bespoke builds for discerning clients. Based in Arvada, CO.
Together, our brands serve the full spectrum of the van conversion market - from entry-level adventure rigs to multi-six-figure expedition builds - backed by technical expertise that builds durable vehicles and keeps fleets running in the field. The group is growing through acquisition and organic expansion and is at an inflection point: the financial management infrastructure needs to match the growth rate.
This is not a corporate role. It's a building role. The person who takes it will create the financial operating system for a multi-brand group, from the ground up, alongside a hands-on CEO.
The Role
The Director of Finance is the financial backbone of our group. You will own everything that touches money: the books, the tax returns, the job costing, the cash forecast, the lender relationships, and the monthly reporting package. You will also be a genuine thinking partner - the person who sits across the table and challenges assumptions, models scenarios, and tells the truth about the numbers.
You will manage third-party relationships (accounting firm, tax preparer, payroll processor) rather than doing everything in-house, but you are ultimately accountable for what they produce.
Our group currently partners with a fractional CFO on strategic financial matters and investment planning, and with brand leads on operational financial performance. Depending on your expertise, you may replace this fractional service.
You will be the person who knows, at any given moment, exactly how much cash the group has, where it's going, and build strategies on how we will drive growth in a sustainable manner.
Core Responsibilities
Accounting & Financial Control
- Own the general ledger for all entities – Our group LLC, our operating companies, and our real-estate holdco
- Ensure monthly close is completed within 10 business days of month end
- Manage intercompany billing and eliminations across the group - clean consolidated financials are a non-negotiable
- Own accounts payable and accounts receivable
- Manage the bookkeeper and/or third-party accounting partner
- Maintain a real-time cash position; flag shortfalls no less than 30 days in advance
- Implement and maintain job-level cost tracking for every build and service job across both production locations
- Track customer deposits as deferred revenue - ring-fence and reconcile every dollar against work performed
- Ensure revenue is recognized correctly (percentage of completion for multi-month builds; point of service for repair work)
- Report gross margin by job type, brand, and location monthly
- Partner on M&A activity
- Prepare monthly financial package for the CEO: P&L by entity, cash flow, KPIs, variance commentary
- Build and maintain a rolling 13-week cash forecast - updated weekly
- Model business decisions: new hire ROI, production volume scenarios, pricing analysis, lease vs. buy, new location economics
- Support bank reporting, lender covenants, and any future investments
- Prepare annual budgets and quarterly reforecasts by brand
- Manage all federal, state, and local tax filings - coordinate with the tax preparer and own the calendar
- Ensure quarterly payroll tax returns are filed correctly across all entities
- Manage Colorado sales and use tax – state and local
- Company secretary duties – LLC structure management, keep all entity registrations current: Colorado Secretary of State annual reports, registered agent, trade name registrations
- Own the relationship with the group's primary bank(s) - know the bankers by name
- Manage equipment financing relationships
- Coordinate any future working capital facilities or equipment lines
- Own payroll accuracy
- Maintain correct employee/contractor classifications across the group
- Manage PTO tracking, commission calculations, and any performance bonus payouts
- Coordinate benefits administration with the third-party provider
At 30 days: You have a complete picture of the current financial position of each entity. You've identified the top three structural/accounting/financial risks and have a plan to address them. The books are closed for the prior month. You’re already partnering on financial decisions.
At 90 days: Monthly close is running on time. A job costing system is live and producing margin data by build. The cash forecast is updated weekly and accurate. You've met every external accountant, tax preparer, and lender the group works with.
At 12 months: The CEO has not been surprised by a financial issue that you saw coming first. Gross margin by brand is a known, trusted number. Tax returns were filed on time. We are planning our next phase of growth as a team. The group's financial infrastructure is a competitive asset.
The Ideal Background
Required:
- 5–10 years of progressive finance and accounting experience, including meaningful time in an operational role
- Demonstrated experience with job costing - manufacturing, construction, custom fabrication, or trades background is relevant
- Experience managing multiple entities
- Hands-on with QBO - able to navigate the platform, not just review reports from it
- Strong working knowledge of Colorado tax requirements (sales tax, FAMLI, CDLE, withholding)
- Comfortable being the only finance professional in the room - you will build, not inherit
- CPA - the discipline matters more than the current status
- Experience with customer deposit / deferred revenue management in a service or custom manufacturing context
- Background in automotive, powersports, marine, or specialty vehicle industries - you don't need to know what a Diff lock is, but you need to understand the economics of a shop floor
- Big company experience - this is a founder-led group and the pace, ambiguity, and autonomy will either excite you or exhaust you
- A team to manage - you will manage external partners and relationships, not a finance department
You are a builder. You are equally comfortable setting up a chart of accounts and sitting in a pricing strategy meeting. You read a P&L the way other people read a newspaper - quickly, and with an instinct for what's wrong. You have strong opinions and share them. You understand that in a small business, accounting is not a back-office function - it's the early warning system.
You take accountability seriously. You don't pass the file to someone else.
You are curious about the business, not just the numbers. You will spend time on the shop floor understanding how a build job works, because you cannot cost something you don't understand.
Compensation & Benefits
- Base salary: $88,000 – $108,000 commensurate with experience, plus quarterly bonus structure
- Performance bonus: Bonus tied to group financial health and performance
- Benefits: Medical, dental, vision through our ICHRA scheme
- PTO: Unlimited PTO scheme
- Location: Arvada, CO
- Direct access: You will have regular one-on-one time with the CEO, who is very practically involved.
Our group is in a multi-year project of brand acquisition and growth strategy. We are well capitalized. The financial infrastructure is functional but not yet well systematized. The right person for this role sees that as an opportunity, not a warning sign. You will have an outsized impact quickly, and you will be a meaningful part of the team that builds something worth building.
If you want a mature company with established processes and a finance team to manage, this is not the right role. If you want to build those processes yourself, alongside a founder who takes financial transparency seriously and gives you a real seat at the table, get in touch via
jobs@vanlifecustoms.com
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