Senior Accountant - France (French Speaking)

Overview

This is a pioneer role: the first dedicated French accounting hire. The position will deliver French accounting for a portfolio of clients and help shape how accounting delivery is organized and run.

The role owns full-cycle accounting for a portfolio of French entities and builds the operating model behind it—selecting local tools, writing processes, documenting controls, and aligning work to global standards. This is a bridge between French statutory requirements and a global delivery organization.

Responsibilities

Delivery & Client Ownership

• Own full-cycle accounting for a portfolio of French entities, including bookkeeping, month-end close, reconciliations, management reporting, and supporting schedules.
• Deliver to each client’s reporting calendar and template, meeting tight statutory and client close deadlines.
• Run the payment cycle for your entities with sound controls.
• Prepare VAT (CA3) returns and the schedules supporting CVAE, DAS2, CFE, the liasse fiscale, and the annual accounts.
• Own e-invoicing set-up and compliance under the French mandate.
• Serve as the day-to-day contact for clients in your portfolio, representing the organization with clients, auditors, and French authorities, in French.
• Translate French requirements so a non-French finance team can act on them.

Client Onboarding & Transitions

• Lead onboarding for new French clients, including data migration, opening balances, chart of accounts, and system set-up through to the first close.
• Agree scope, timelines, and deliverables with the account team and own the resulting plan.
• Design engagements to scale as the French portfolio grows.

Technical Authority for France

• Act as the organization’s authority on French accounting—plan comptable général, FEC, and statutory reporting.
• Advise global and regional product teams on French accounting, compliance, and operational requirements.
• Track regulatory change, determine impact for clients and internal processes, and communicate required updates.
• Evaluate, recommend, and implement local accounting, compliance, and reporting tools needed for delivery.

Building the France Model

• Document and standardize French processes, controls, and working papers in line with global standards.
• Build and maintain a France knowledgebase and share learnings across the business.
• Support growth of regional delivery capability for France as the portfolio expands.

Requirements

• 5+ years in French accounting, gained in practice at an outsourced provider, shared-services environment, or similar.
• Hands-on experience preparing full sets of accounts under French GAAP and the plan comptable général.
• Working knowledge of French VAT and the statutory reporting cycle, including FEC, liasse fiscale, CVAE, DAS2, and CFE.
• Fluent French and business-level English.
• Experience building processes, controls, or ways of working from scratch in a new market, new service line, or start-up environment.
• Proficiency in at least one French accounting platform (Sage, Cegid, Pennylane, or similar) and comfort working inside a client’s system.
• Experience managing your own client portfolio.
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• DCG / DSCG, CPA, ACCA, CA, or equivalent professional qualification preferred. Expert-comptable membership is not required.
• Comfort with AI-assisted tools and interest in using them effectively.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience moving a client’s accounting from one provider to another.
• Experience selecting or implementing accounting, compliance, or reporting tools.
• French e-invoicing / PDP readiness experience.

Compensation & Benefits

• Not specified in the provided job description.

Location

• Not specified in the provided job description.