Vice President, Delivery
Howard Financial is a full-service back-office firm for growth companies and established operators. Our bookkeepers, accountants, controllers and analysts run our clients’ finance function (accounting operations, close and reporting, payroll, tax, FP&A and investor materials) with the quality of an in-house team, without the overhead. Founded in 2023, Howard has grown to 100+ professionals serving US clients across hospitality (hotels and vacation rentals), real estate and consumer, organized into industry verticals supported by shared services teams.
The Role
We are hiring a VP of Delivery to own the consistency and quality of Howard’s day-to-day client execution. Working with our vertical leaders and shared services teams, you will define and install a Howard standard for each industry: close process, ownership, review, client presentation, timelines, tools and time management.
This is an operating role, not a strategy role. Success is measured in fewer missed deadlines, fewer review errors, more predictable capacity and high client satisfaction.
Key Responsibilities
- Delivery standards: Partner with each vertical lead (Hotels, Vacation Rentals, Real Estate, Consumer) to define standard charts of accounts, close checklists, calendars and service tiers, including industry specifics such as trust accounting, USALI reporting, entity-level real estate reporting and inventory/COGS. Maintain a single, version-controlled library of SOPs and templates.
- Ownership and accountability: Establish clear RACIs for every engagement, coverage and handoff standards, and an explicit interface between vertical teams and shared services (AP, payroll, billing, tax).
- Review and QA: Design a tiered review process with defined checklists, run a monthly QA program across verticals, and track error rates and rework to fix root causes.
- Client deliverables: Standardize reporting packages and commentary, publish close timelines by industry, and build an early-warning process for at-risk clients.
- Tools and capacity: Own how practice-management and close tools are used firm-wide, build capacity planning tied to budgets and staffing, and identify opportunities for automation and AI-assisted workflows.
- Leadership: Lead through influence alongside vertical VPs and Directors, report delivery health monthly to the Co-Founders, and coach controllers and managers.
What Success Looks Like
- 90 days: Current-state assessment across all verticals, client health view in place, and a documented standard for the first industry.
- 6 months: Standards adopted firm-wide, QA program running monthly, and delivery metrics reported across the firm.
- 12 months: Measurable improvement in on-time delivery and error rates, capacity planning tied to staffing and pricing, and reduced delivery-related churn.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance
- 10+ years of progressive accounting experience, including 5+ years at an outsourced accounting, CAS or fractional CFO firm (ideally $20M–$100M+ in revenue)
- Proven experience standardizing close, review and QA across many client teams at scale
- Strong command of month-end close, reconciliations, GAAP and financial reporting
- Track record of driving process and tool adoption across teams you did not directly manage
Preferred
- CPA designation
- Experience with hospitality, vacation rental, real estate or consumer clients
- Hands-on experience with practice-management platforms (Karbon, Financial Cents, Canopy) and QBO, NetSuite or Sage Intacct
- Experience leading distributed, multi-country teams and building delivery metrics and capacity models
Why Howard
- A senior leadership seat with direct impact on client retention and growth
- Work alongside experienced leaders in hospitality, real estate and consumer
- Competitive compensation with performance-based bonus
- Remote-first culture with a high standard for quality and ownership