Separation Balance-Sheet Control Leader

The mandate

The first mock close for a signed divestment left material differences in inventory ownership, intercompany settlement, customer rebates, environmental provisions and shared-service accruals. Corporate ledgers were designed for management reporting rather than a stand-alone entity, and buyer finance rejected the proposed opening balance-sheet logic. The separation controller resigned seven weeks before the next readiness gate.

The interim must take control in London within ten days and lead for thirteen months through completion and the first four stand-alone closes. Recruitment for a permanent divisional controller begins after the second clean mock close, targeted for month six. The successor will own the fourth stand-alone close, one purchase-price adjustment cycle and a transition-service exit review during a six-week overlap.

Handover requires every balance-sheet account to have legal-entity ownership, supporting evidence, cut-over treatment, transition-service dependency and named controller; opening positions must reconcile to agreed transaction mechanics; four post-completion closes must meet timetable and materiality; and buyer-raised issues must have documented disposition. The successor inherits provision, intercompany, stranded-cost and systems-risk registers.

The interim may reject an unsupported opening entry, freeze separation journals, direct account remediation, reprioritise finance resources and commit up to GBP 18 million within the approved separation budget. Transaction terms, tax elections, legal-entity perimeter, purchase-price agreement and settlements above delegated limits remain with the steering committee. Accounting judgments requiring group policy approval follow existing governance.

Commercial integration, factory operations, enterprise ERP replacement, workforce consultation and transaction negotiation outside finance readiness are expressly out of scope. The seat covers carve-out accounts, opening balance sheet, close control, transition-service finance dependencies, buyer evidence and permanent control succession. It cannot rewrite the sale agreement to solve an accounting-operating weakness.

Why this seat is open

The failed mock close jeopardised completion readiness, then the separation controller departed during the most evidence-intensive phase. Corporate owners are accountable for ledgers that will leave them, while the buyer demands independent traceability. Temporary carve-out authority is needed to force account-level resolution and operate the controls beyond legal completion.

What you will own

• Reconstruct inventory, receivables, payables, provisions, intercompany and cash balances by entity, product flow and transaction perimeter.
• Establish opening balance-sheet logic with source evidence, accounting owner, transaction reference and cut-over date.
• Close intercompany differences across trading, royalties, cash pooling, central procurement and shared-service allocations.
• Separate transferred, stranded and temporary corporate cost while preventing unsupported pro forma normalisation.
• Run mock and stand-alone closes with issue ageing, materiality thresholds, buyer observation and signed controller evidence.
• Govern finance transition services through volumes, control ownership, exit tests, stranded capacity and dispute routes.
• Transfer account dossiers, journal controls, unresolved provisions, buyer questions and close calendars through successor-led cycles.

Candidate qualifications

• Held executive financial-control authority through a complex multi-entity carve-out and first stand-alone reporting periods.
• Built opening balance sheets from corporate ledgers not designed for divisional legal-entity reporting.
• Resolved inventory, intercompany, rebate and provision disputes involving plants, shared services and buyer finance.
• Distinguished accounting policy, transaction mechanics and operational evidence without masking gaps through pro forma adjustments.
• Controlled transition-service finance dependencies and stranded cost while protecting close and audit readiness.
• Handed a separated controllership to permanent leadership after observed mock, completion and stand-alone closes.

Non-negotiables

• Can assume onsite London control within ten days and travel monthly to factories and shared-service centres.
• Will accept exclusive executive accountability and continuous escalation for separation balance-sheet readiness.
• Brings completed carve-out controllership through opening balance sheet and stand-alone close; project coordination is insufficient.
• Must disclose relationships with seller, buyer, advisers, auditors, insurers and material transition-service providers.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe an opening balance-sheet position you rejected because legal-entity evidence did not support the carve-out logic.
2. 49 words maximum. Which three accounts usually expose hidden dependence on corporate ledgers during a mock close?
3. 49 words maximum. State your London availability and the largest separation balance sheet you personally controlled.