Senior Accountant & Accounting Team Lead

Overview

This role is a full-time independent contractor position requiring exclusive commitment. Compensation is competitive and commensurate with the candidate's market rate, experience, skills, and overall qualifications.

The organization is a remote-first bookkeeping and advisory firm serving approximately 60 businesses across various industries. The firm specializes in monthly bookkeeping, year-end close, and cleanup/catch-up engagements, focusing on delivering clean, accurate, and client-ready financials every month.

The firm primarily uses Xero (~80% of clients) and QuickBooks Online (~20%), with Double (formerly Keeper) for bookkeeping project management and workflow tracking.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Senior Accountant & Accounting Team Lead, acting as the middle-management layer between the owner and a team of 2–3 junior accountants.
• Take ownership of accounting quality, workflow, review, and delivery.
• Review and approve monthly financials for approximately 60 clients, validating balance sheet schedules and supporting documentation.
• Identify and resolve discrepancies in reconciliations, coding, and general ledger activity.
• Ensure every client's books are complete, accurate, and ready for review each month by monitoring close progress and following up on outstanding items.
• Lead and coordinate a team of junior accountants across different schedules and client portfolios.
• Coach team members on technical accounting, processes, quality standards, and professional judgment.
• Assign client workloads based on complexity, capacity, and accountant familiarity.
• Establish clear preparer/reviewer ownership for every engagement and ensure work progresses without constant supervision.
• Manage the operational side of engagements from post-onboarding through monthly close, including following up on uncategorized transactions and missing documentation.
• Coordinate out-of-scope requests and escalations with the owner.
• Support the owner by ensuring financials are accurate and reports are complete and ready for client meetings without requiring the owner's day-to-day involvement.
• Document institutional knowledge into written SOPs, Loom walkthroughs, and repeatable workflows.
• Identify recurring issues, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies and recommend improvements to workflows, controls, and systems.
• Participate in onboarding new clients, understanding engagement requirements, and structuring team assignments.

What This Role Does Not Include

• Tax preparation or tax advisory
• Payroll processing
• Accounts receivable or accounts payable management
• Direct client relationship management (the owner retains the primary client-facing role)

Requirements

• Minimum 5 years of U.S.-based bookkeeping or accounting experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading, mentoring, or supervising accountants.
• Strong working knowledge of Xero.
• Proficiency with QuickBooks Online is preferred.
• Strong understanding of full-cycle bookkeeping, month-end close, reconciliations, and balance sheet review.
• Ability to work U.S. business hours, with Central Time strongly preferred.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills.
• Strong professional judgment with the ability to identify errors, prioritize issues, and work independently.
• Ability to manage multiple client engagements and competing deadlines in a remote environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• CPA license or equivalent accounting credential.
• Experience working for a U.S.-based virtual accounting, bookkeeping, or BPO firm.
• Experience with Double, Keeper, or similar bookkeeping/project management platforms.
• Experience with client onboarding, engagement scoping, or pricing.
• Experience working across multiple industries such as restaurants, retail, professional services, and e-commerce.
• Experience documenting accounting processes through SOPs, Loom, or similar tools.

Technology Stack

• Accounting Platforms: Xero (primary platform for ~80% of clients), QuickBooks Online (~20% of clients)
• Project Management: Double (formerly Keeper)
• Integrations & Applications: Gusto, ADP, Expensify, Brex, Shopify, Carta/Shareworks, Build.com, RAM, Dex

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive USD compensation based on experience
• Permanent remote work
• Full company equipment provided
• 15 days PTO annually plus local holidays
• Guaranteed annual increases
• Referral rewards up to $1,000
• Monthly flexible stipend
• Structured onboarding and career development
• Long-term growth opportunities

Work Environment & Expectations

• Quality-first approach ensuring financials, documentation, and client deliverables are accurate and complete before delivery.
• Ownership mentality: proactively identifying and resolving issues.
• Reliable collaboration through clear documentation, predictable communication, and well-defined ownership.
• Commitment to continuous improvement of workflows, error reduction, knowledge documentation, and team efficiency.

Success Metrics

• The owner can trust that any client's financials are accurate and ready before meetings.
• The owner is removed from day-to-day accounting review.
• Clear ownership within the team, properly structured client workloads, and consistent monthly close processes.
• Development of documented processes, strong review standards, and an independently operating team.

Contract & Exclusivity

• This is a full-time independent contractor engagement.
• Full-time exclusivity is required; candidates must not hold other part-time or freelance engagements once hired.
• Conflict-of-interest checks may apply.

Location

• Remote position requiring availability during U.S. business hours, with a strong preference for Central Time overlap.