About Xpress
Xpress is a Philippines-based mobility and technology company operating ride-hailing, EV and hybrid taxis, motorcycle taxis, concierge services, and corporate transport across Metro Manila and key regional cities.
We operate a mixed model of owned fleet and marketplace operations, which means the economics of the business move every day. Rides, incentives, fleet costs, marketing spend, headcount, collections, payments and operating decisions all ultimately show up in the numbers.
Finance at Xpress is not here simply to record what happened. It should help determine what happens next.
About the Role
We are looking for a Finance Manager to lead Xpress's day-to-day finance function and help drive the company toward break-even and sustainable profitability.
You will report directly to the CEO on business and commercial matters, with a dotted line to the CFO for financial governance, statutory and regulatory requirements.
You will lead a lean team of 2–3 people covering General Accounting, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Compensation & Benefits, while remaining hands-on across reporting, budgeting, forecasting, cash management, compliance and commercial analysis.
This is not a traditional Finance Manager role focused mainly on closing the books.
The books need to be right and compliance needs to be strong — but that is the starting point.
We want someone who understands the business behind the numbers: where we make money, where we lose it, which costs are growing too quickly, whether an initiative makes financial sense, and what needs to change to improve profitability.
You should also naturally look for opportunities to automate. If the team rebuilds the same spreadsheet every month, your first question should be why it hasn't been automated yet.
What You Will Do
1. Lead the Finance Function
- Lead and develop the Finance team across Accounting, Receivables, Payables, and Compensation & Benefits
- Establish clear ownership, controls, deadlines and operating rhythms
- Ensure critical processes do not depend on one person
- Build a Finance team that supports the business quickly without compromising discipline or accuracy
2. Financial Control & Reporting
- Own the monthly close and ensure timely, accurate management accounts
- Maintain reliable P&L, balance sheet, cash flow and supporting schedules
- Oversee reconciliations, accruals, fixed assets, AP, AR and other accounting processes
- Ensure appropriate controls and documentation are in place
- Produce reporting that explains what happened, why it happened and what management should do next
- Identify financial issues early rather than discovering them after month-end
3. Break-Even, Budgeting & Forecasting
- Own company-wide budgeting, forecasting and financial planning
- Maintain a clear rolling model showing Xpress's path to break-even
- Track revenue, margins, operating costs, cash requirements and key financial drivers
- Build scenarios around volume, pricing, incentives, fleet utilization, headcount and operating costs
- Compare actual performance against budget and forecast, and explain material variances
- Identify the biggest opportunities to improve profitability and help departments act on them
4. Cost Discipline & Business Partnering
- Partner with department heads on budgets and spending decisions
- Challenge unnecessary or poorly justified expenditure constructively
- Review headcount requests, vendor spend, subscriptions, incentives, marketing budgets and other significant costs
- Identify duplicate, underused or avoidable spending across the business
- Help departments understand the financial impact of their decisions
- Escalate recurring overspending or weak cost discipline where necessary
Finance should be a partner to the business, but partnership does not mean automatically approving every request.
5. Commercial Finance & Decision Support
- Work closely with the CEO and department leaders on major commercial and operating decisions
- Build business cases for new services, fleet expansion, pricing, promotions, incentives, partnerships, capex and city launches
- Evaluate expected returns, payback periods, cash requirements and financial risks
- Challenge assumptions where the numbers do not support the proposal
- Review major initiatives after launch to determine whether they delivered what was originally forecast
6. Cash Flow, AP & AR
- Maintain clear visibility over cash, expected inflows and upcoming obligations
- Build and maintain reliable rolling cash-flow forecasts
- Ensure receivables are collected on time and ageing is actively managed
- Ensure payables are properly controlled and scheduled
- Improve working capital where practical
- Identify future cash pressure early enough for management to respond
7. Automation, Systems & AI
- Review Finance processes continuously for opportunities to automate, simplify or remove manual work
- Reduce repetitive spreadsheets, manual reconciliations and duplicated data entry
- Make practical use of accounting systems, dashboards, integrations, workflow automation and AI
- Use AI to assist with analysis, forecasting, variance investigation, reporting and other appropriate Finance workflows
- Work with Technology and other teams to improve data flows into Finance
- Build systems and dashboards that make financial information faster and easier to use
We are looking for someone who treats technology as part of how modern Finance operates, not as a separate IT project.
8. Compliance, Tax, Payroll & Audit
- Ensure accurate financial records and appropriate accounting practices
- Oversee BIR filings, tax compliance, statutory requirements and supporting documentation
- Coordinate annual audits and other financial reviews
- Work closely with the CFO on governance, regulatory requirements and specialist matters
- Oversee accurate payroll and compensation processing through the Finance team
- Coordinate with People & Culture on employee movements, benefits and payroll inputs
9. Board, Investor & Financing Support
- Prepare clear financial reporting for management and Board discussions
- Maintain models covering break-even, cash requirements and key sensitivities
- Support the CEO and CFO with investor, lender and financing requirements
- Provide modelling and due diligence support for fundraising, financing and strategic initiatives when required
This role supports fundraising and financing; it is not responsible for leading investor relations or capital raising.
What We're Looking For
We are not looking for someone who sees Finance primarily as an accounting and compliance department.
We are looking for a financial operator who understands accounting, thinks commercially and is willing to challenge the business when the numbers do not make sense.
Required
- 6+ years of relevant Finance, Accounting, FP&A or Commercial Finance experience
- At least 2 years leading or managing a Finance or Accounting team
- Strong understanding of Philippine accounting, taxation and statutory requirements
- Experience owning monthly close, budgeting, forecasting, cash flow and management reporting
- Strong financial modelling and analytical capability
- Experience managing AP, AR and payroll-related processes
- Comfortable challenging budgets, spending requests and commercial assumptions
- Able to translate financial data into practical business recommendations
- Strong communication, stakeholder-management and problem-solving skills
- High integrity and discretion with confidential financial information
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business or a related field
- CPA qualification is an advantage, but commercial capability matters more
- Able to work full-time on-site in Pasig
The Ideal Candidate
- Thinks like an owner, not simply a custodian of the accounts
- Wants to understand why a number moved, not just report that it moved
- Is comfortable telling a department head when an expense does not make financial sense
- Understands that controlling costs is different from simply cutting costs
- Looks for ways to improve revenue, margin and productivity
- Defaults to automation when work is repetitive
- Uses AI as a practical tool, not a novelty
- Questions assumptions and asks for evidence
- Can move between detailed accounting work and company-level commercial decisions
- Brings problems to leadership with a recommendation, not just an explanation
What Success Looks Like
Within the first 6–12 months:
- Leadership has a clear and continuously updated view of Xpress's path to break-even
- Monthly reporting, cash flow and forecasting are accurate, timely and useful
- Department budgets are visible and managers are more accountable for spending
- Material cost savings or productivity improvements have been identified and delivered
- Major initiatives are supported by proper financial modelling before money is committed
- Cash flow and working capital are actively managed
- Manual Finance work has been materially reduced through systems, automation and AI
- The Finance team has clear ownership and can operate without everything escalating to the Finance Manager
- Finance has a reputation for protecting the numbers while helping make the business better
Why Join Xpress
- Direct business impact — help move Xpress toward break-even and sustainable profitability
- Real influence — work directly with the CEO, CFO and department leaders
- Room to improve things — automate processes, challenge old ways of working and build a more modern Finance function
- Commercial exposure — work across mobility, fleet operations, technology, marketing and new business initiatives
- Opportunity to build — this is not a role where everything has already been solved
Reports to: CEO — Business & Commercial
Dotted Line: CFO — Financial Governance & Regulatory
Location: Pasig City, Metro Manila
Employment Type: Full-time
Work Setup: On-site, flexible working hours
Xpress is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate applicants based on merit and do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, disability, or any other protected status.
