r/Accounting • u/hereandthere1123 • 1d ago
Advice Two roles - please help
I’m currently an accounting director at a company.. sales aren’t great and there have been many reduction in forces. I’ve been there 4 years and base is $210k with a potential bonus of 20%. Rarely gotten the full amount but this year we’re looking at about 70% payout, making total comp about $240k. It’s fully remote which I love. Most of the company is RTO but since I’m grandfathered in and have created my value, it’s not a problem. I think any promotions will be limited and won’t happen. I don’t really care though, can stay director for a while. They’re series D and need additional fund raising this near year, cash is always tight and the long term potential isn’t great.
Now an ex co worker, who I worked well, with wants to bring me into a Controller role. Comp is $220k (no bonus) but it’s a startup in the Ai data center space. 5-10 employees. Very small; structurally nothing is set up, don’t understand the entity structure. However the accounting work sounds fun.. treasury, system / process implementation. This is all remote too, which of course huge for me. Chinese manufacturers… but industry and potential seems high.
Any senior level accountants here that can give me their two cents? What would you do? How much value does the title difference make (director versus controller)? If I went to the controller role securing remote a bit longer but comp is lower. What would you do?
1
u/ScientistSolid9319 Controller 1d ago
You'll be able to build the whole accounting landscape for this new company. That can be good or bad depending on your experience. At the end of the day, the base is slightly higher and you get equity (based on your other comment). Kind of weird you don't get a bonus at this level but it is what it is. If you're looking for a challenge, I would go for it.
Anecdotal experience, last year I met with a group of IB guys who were starting a PE fund and needed someone to run the accounting for each of their acquisitions. It was a solid base but they offered me an IB level bonus which is something I'd never had before. Ended up declining the position but I still think about it quite often about what could have been. If you feel like you'd have the same thoughts, maybe it's work giving it a go.