Financial & Inventory Controller

An established distribution company is looking for an experienced Financial Controller to join their team. Taking ownership of the financial integrity of inventory and stock-related processes, this position drives inventory accuracy and operational control. Working directly across warehouse, procurement, operations, and finance functions, the role ensures physical inventory aligns precisely with system records, resolving variances down to transaction and SKU level. Based in Cape Town, this in-office role offers flexibility on daily working times alongside a 1-day hybrid working option. Moving between financial systems, ERP data, and physical warehouse operations, the position is central to establishing robust stock controls, maintaining correct inventory valuations, and delivering accurate cost-of-sales and gross-margin reporting. Key Responsibilities Reconcile physical inventory to system records on an ongoing basis, investigating variances down to SKU and transaction level to implement root-cause corrective actions. Develop, manage, and oversee a structured cycle-counting programme, random stock counts, and periodic full warehouse stocktakes. Review stock movements across supplier receipts, customer dispatches, third-party fulfilment transfers, warehouse transfers, customer/supplier returns, damaged stock, samples, and write-offs. Reconcile goods-received processes, matching supplier deliveries against purchase orders and verifying landed cost allocations, import-related costs, and weighted average costs. Manage inventory valuation and cost-of-sales reconciliations, investigating abnormal gross margins by SKU, customer, channel, or product category. Reconcile e-commerce, marketplace, third-party fulfilment, and stock-in-transit records against internal inventory data. Maintain financial controls for returned, damaged, defective, obsolete, and quarantined stock, ensuring appropriate authorization for write-offs. Support broader finance functions including month-end reporting, balance-sheet reconciliations, inventory control accounts, accruals, provisions, and annual audit support. Spend time within physical warehouse operations to observe receiving, picking, dispatch, and returns processes to identify and resolve process weaknesses. Create standard operating procedures (SOPs), establish variance thresholds, and produce regular management reports on inventory accuracy, valuation, ageing, and stock write-offs. Requirements BCom degree/Bcom Honours 4 to 7 years of relevant finance or inventory-control experience. Demonstrable experience investigating inventory discrepancies within a business carrying significant physical inventory. Strong understanding of inventory accounting, cost-of-sales, and reconciling inventory sub-ledgers to the general ledger. Advanced Microsoft Excel skills. Strong ERP and accounting system experience. Experience in retail, FMCG, e-commerce, wholesale, distribution, importing, or manufacturing. Experience with imports and landed-cost calculations. Experience working directly with warehouse teams. Experience with ERP, inventory, and accounting platforms such as SAP, NetSuite, Sage, Microsoft Dynamics, or Cin7. Benefits Growing company Flexibility on start times, one day hybrid option after first 6 months.