Payroll/Finance Controller Specialist

About Athena

At Athena, we empower possibility through transformative delegation. True leaders reflect on what they want and map the path to get there. We clear the way by pairing exceptional Executive Assistants with our driven clients and ensuring both receive ongoing support throughout the journey. The result is 10x more leverage, more time, and a greater impact on our clients' work and lives.

We are on a mission to build the best delegation platform in the world. We believe that the Human+AI combination will provide a superior experience to delegate complex tasks by combining the strengths of highly trained assistants leveraging highly trained AI.

Role Overview

Athena is seeking a Payroll/Finance Controller Specialist to build and manage a scalable, compliant, and efficient financial operation supporting our Guatemala office. This role is responsible for overseeing end-to-end payroll processing, ensuring compliance with Guatemalan labor laws, managing statutory payroll obligations (including Bono 14, Aguinaldo, and IGSS), and supporting accounting and finance operations. The Payroll / Finance Controller serves as a key partner between Finance and HR while ensuring accurate payroll, financial reporting, tax compliance, and regulatory readiness.

Key Responsibilities

• Payroll Administration Assistance: Assist the Payroll Specialist in the end-to-end payroll processing (monthly or bi-weekly), accurately calculating salaries, overtime (150% after 44 hours per week), commissions, bonuses, and payroll deductions while ensuring payroll is processed accurately and on schedule as needed. Be the back-up in the event that the Payroll Specialist is unable to fulfill his/her tasks.

• Statutory Compliance: Process mandatory Guatemalan statutory payments, including Bono 14 and Aguinaldo (Christmas Bonus), prepare and submit payroll tax filings, manage IGSS (Guatemalan Social Security) contributions, and ensure compliance with all applicable labor and tax regulations.

• Accounting & Financial Operations: Reconcile payroll transactions with General Ledger (GL) accounts, prepare payroll journal entries, maintain accurate financial records, process accounts payable using Tipalti, post accounting transactions in QuickBooks, and support month-end and year-end financial close activities.

• Accounts Payable Handling: Process invoices from Guatemala vendors ensuring timely payment and no disruption to operations. In charge of onboarding vendors, processing and ensuring necessary approvals are documented in the Tipalti system. Ensure that the transactions are recorded timely and accurately in Quick Books.

• External Audit: Be primary point of contact for external auditors in Guatemala. Ensure submission of accurate and timely statutory reports to local government offices in Guatemala.

• Data Management & Auditing: Conduct payroll audits to ensure data accuracy and integrity, maintain employee payroll records within HRIS and payroll systems, prepare documentation for government inspections and regulatory audits, and support internal and external audits.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with HR and Finance to manage employee lifecycle events, including new hires, promotions, salary changes, leaves of absence, and terminations, ensuring payroll changes are processed accurately and timely.

• Employee Support: Serve as the primary point of contact for complex employee inquiries related to payroll, taxes, benefits, and statutory deductions, and investigate and resolve payroll discrepancies promptly.

• Systems Management: Manage and maintain Planilla (Payroll), QuickBooks (Accounting), and Tipalti (Accounts Payable/Procurement), while identifying opportunities to improve payroll and finance processes for greater efficiency and scalability.

Qualifications

• Education & Experience: Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, or a related field, with 3–5 years of experience in payroll administration, accounting, or financial operations. Experience supporting multinational organizations is a plus.

• Certification: Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification is highly preferred.

• Legal & Regulatory Knowledge: Strong understanding of Guatemalan Labor Law, including IGSS, payroll taxes, severance calculations, overtime regulations, and statutory bonuses (Bono 14 and Aguinaldo), International Finance Reporting Standards

• Technical Skills: Proficiency with QuickBooks, Tipalti, Planilla (or similar payroll systems), HRIS/payroll software, and advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including formulas, pivot tables, and reconciliations.

• Language Skills: Native or advanced fluency in Spanish, with professional proficiency in English highly preferred.

• Core Competencies: Exceptional attention to detail, strong analytical and problem-solving skills, high integrity and confidentiality, excellent organizational and time management skills, and the ability to work independently while collaborating effectively across departments.