A Chat With Our Controller: Greg Soltes

Greg Soltes is one of the original ChoiceLocal employees and is in charge of accounting and financial reporting. With as much change and growth as the company has seen, Greg ensures that ChoiceLocal’s financial health is being accurately tracked, understood and protected. We sat down with Greg to learn more about his day-to-day world.

What’s a typical day like for you?

On a typical day I start with verifying and classifying financial transactions and then reviewing MTD financial performance. After that I usually dive into financial analysis in various places, working on automation process improvements, and working on strategic initiatives.

What part of your job would surprise most people?

Beyond just numbers, my job acts as a bridge between operations, sales, and administrative roles. It is both strategic and cross functional.

Who do you work with most on the team, and how do you interact with account directors?

I primarily work with the partner facing team along with the capability directors. In regard to account directors, we work together on pricing & profitability along with data integrity and applications.

What’s the biggest financial challenge a digital marketing agency might face?

Digital marketing is an industry that rapidly changes and there tend to be new products, scope, and pricing created all the time. What we sell and how we sell it changes rapidly and on the finance side we have to make sure we can accommodate a variety of pricing structures and formats in a way that checks the boxes from an accounting and data standpoint. In regards to revenue and retention go, digital marketing is very transparent with ROI which causes us to earn our business day in and day out. Unlike some other marketing channels you cannot hide from poor results in the digital space.

How do you keep budgets and creative freedom in balance?

Being a smaller company in an industry that rapidly evolves; budgets tend to be fairly dynamic. That said, we adjust and update budgets frequently and allow our team freedom to make decisions if they feel there is ROI or value add that will make us more efficient.

How has your role evolved with the growth of ChoiceLocal?

I started as the 25th employee and we are now just south of 100 so there have been quite a bit of changes that have occurred over the years. The biggest way my role has evolved is that processes now must be formatted and created in a way that can be done at scale and automated to some degree. In our early stages we were small so we could be more custom and nimble as things could be done manually, if needed. We are now in a place where we have to make sure that any new process can be done at a large scale while still making sure we are partner driven and acting in their best interest.

What systems or tools do you rely on most?

On the finance team we rely the most on a few software systems that interact with one another: Maxio (invoicing and subscription management), Hubspot, Ramp, and Quickbooks.

What led you to a career in finance?

I have always enjoyed business and economics so a career in finance has allowed me to be involved with both of those areas every day.

Did you always want to work in the digital marketing industry?

To be honest this is an industry that never crossed my mind until I started at ChoiceLocal. I figured I’d likely work in the banking industry somewhere but I am fortunate that an opportunity to work at ChoiceLocal came my way years back.

What was your first job ever and what did it teach you?

First job ever was a paper route when I was young and my first “real” job was as an accounting analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. My paper route was a great teacher for accountability and responsibility and my job at the Fed was my first real world experience and it helped me learn that I prefer an environment that is dynamic as opposed to static.

Any mentors or big career influences?

When I was a general business major in college I had a great Accounting 101 professor that helped me narrow my focus into accounting & finance. Shout out to Professor Cannata!

Tell us something about you that people would be surprised to know.

I love birds and would consider myself an avid bird watcher.

Greg Soltes is an experienced finance and accounting professional with a background in accounting, financial reporting, and analysis. He currently serves as Controller at ChoiceLocal, a digital marketing agency, where he oversees the accounting & finance function. Since joining in 2017, Greg has helped support the company’s growth from 25 to over 90 employees. Prior to ChoiceLocal, Greg worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland in roles focused on financial analysis, internal audit, and regulatory compliance. He earned his B.S. in Accounting from Johnson & Wales University and holds certifications in financial modeling and tax preparation. Greg lives in Lakewood, Ohio with his wife, son, and dog. In his free time, he coaches youth hockey and enjoys traveling with his family.

About ChoiceLocal

ChoiceLocal is a full-service digital marketing agency specializing in serving franchises. Our digital marketing agency delivers amazing results, backed by The ChoiceLocal Guarantee. With a team of over 100 digital marketing experts, we utilize CLAI™, ChoiceLocal’s revolutionary sales and digital marketing AI super-intelligence, to accelerate digital marketing growth. We provide comprehensive digital marketing services for franchises with a special focus on home care marketing, moving and storage marketing, law firm marketing, plumber marketing, home improvement marketing, painter marketing, electrician marketing, pest control marketing, HVAC marketing, and more. Take advantage of a complimentary digital marketing growth strategy, complete with lead, revenue, and ROI projections, from ChoiceLocal today.