Job Overview
We are seeking an experienced Senior Accountant who is ready to grow into ownership of a small company’s accounting function. The successful candidate will work alongside an experienced part-time accountant and an outside accounting firm during a structured 6-to-12-month transition.
Responsibilities
- Take increasing ownership of the company’s accounting function during a structured 6-to-12-month transition with support from an experienced part-time accountant and outside accounting firm.
- Maintain accurate and complete financial records in QuickBooks Online.
- Lead the monthly and year-end closing processes, including journal entries, accruals and account reconciliations.
- Prepare monthly financial statements and management reports, including the income statement, balance sheet, cash position and budget-to-actual results.
- Oversee accounts payable and accounts receivable, including invoicing, cash application, payment scheduling, aging reports, collections and vendor reconciliation.
- Reconcile bank accounts, credit cards, payroll accounts and balance-sheet accounts.
- Identify, investigate and correct prior or current accounting errors with proper documentation and approval.
- Expand and improve the company’s use of QuickBooks Online for accounting, inventory, financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting and management analysis.
- Partner with the Parts/HR Manager, Operations Manager and Shop/Service Technician to maintain accurate inventory quantities, receipts, shipments and supporting documentation.
- Maintain accounting control over inventory costs, valuation, account mapping, adjustments, write-downs and reconciliation to the general ledger.
- Review new vendor and inventory-item records for proper financial information, account assignments, payment terms and duplicate prevention.
- Maintain a rolling 13-week cash-flow forecast and longer-term liquidity outlook.
- Forecast the cash effect of large customer orders, equipment purchases, inventory commitments, customer deposits, collections, vendor payments, freight, tariffs, payroll and taxes.
- Identify potential cash shortages early and help determine the amount and timing of any required funding from the corporate parent.
- Prepare the monthly financial and liquidity package for review with the President and Board of Directors.
- Support monthly discussions regarding financial performance, large incoming orders, major outgoing commitments, liquidity, risks and required actions.
- Prepare annual budgets and periodic forecasts and analyze differences between actual and projected results.
- Analyze gross margin, profitability and growth by product, order, customer or business segment.
- Record and reconcile intercompany transactions, corporate funding, loans, capital contributions and applicable foreign-currency activity.
- Reconcile Paychex payroll activity, including payroll journals, payroll taxes, employee deductions, benefits and 401(k) activity.
- Manage the accounting workflow in Dext, including expense documentation, coding, approvals, duplicate prevention and synchronization with QuickBooks.
- Develop and maintain Excel workbooks for reconciliations, budgets, forecasts, liquidity planning, inventory analysis and management reporting.
- Develop written accounting procedures, approval processes, monthly closing checklists and appropriate internal controls.
- Supervise and work closely with the part-time accountant, including assigning responsibilities, reviewing work and documenting procedures for future growth.
- Coordinate with company leadership, corporate finance in Germany, the outside accounting firm, banks, payroll providers, customers and vendors.
- Prepare accurate supporting schedules for taxes and year-end reporting while gradually transitioning routine accounting work from the outside accounting firm to the internal team.
- Protect confidential financial, employee, customer and vendor information.
- Communicate accounting issues, cash risks and financial concerns clearly and promptly to the President.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant accounting experience.
- At least 4 years of progressive accounting experience, preferably including Senior Accountant, Accounting Supervisor or similar responsibilities.
- Hands-on experience completing month-end close, journal entries, accruals and financial-statement preparation.
- Strong understanding of U.S. GAAP, double-entry accounting, debits and credits, general-ledger accounting and financial-statement relationships.
- Demonstrated ability to reconcile bank accounts, credit cards, accounts receivable, accounts payable and other balance-sheet accounts.
- Experience investigating accounting discrepancies, correcting errors and maintaining adequate supporting documentation.
- Strong working knowledge of accounts payable and accounts receivable processes.
- Proficiency with QuickBooks Online and the ability to improve accounting workflows, reporting and system use.
- Strong Excel skills, including formulas, lookups, PivotTables, reconciliations, financial analysis and management-report preparation.
- Experience preparing budgets, forecasts, cash-flow projections or other financial-planning reports.
- Ability to analyze financial results, gross margins, cash requirements and budget-to-actual variances.
- Ability to prepare accurate, understandable financial reports for company leadership and the Board of Directors.
- Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, professional judgment and follow-through.
- Ability to communicate accounting and financial information clearly to people without an accounting background.
- Ability and willingness to work hands-on with daily transactions while growing into leadership of the accounting function.
- Ability to supervise or coordinate the work of a part-time accountant and collaborate with operations, parts, service and company leadership.
- Ability to handle confidential financial, employee, customer and vendor information appropriately.
- Must be able to work primarily from the company’s office in Solon, Ohio.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with inventory accounting, inventory valuation, cost accounting or gross-margin analysis.
- Experience in an equipment, parts, distribution, manufacturing, construction or inventory-based business.
- Experience with customer deposits, large equipment orders, progress payments or long purchasing and collection cycles.
- Experience preparing rolling cash-flow or liquidity forecasts.
- Experience with intercompany transactions, parent-company reporting, corporate funding or foreign-currency activity.
- Familiarity with IFRS or experience working for a subsidiary of an international parent company.
- Experience using Paychex or a similar payroll and HR platform.
- Experience using Dext or another expense and document-management system.
- Experience improving QuickBooks procedures, permissions, reporting or integrations.
- Experience developing accounting procedures, monthly closing checklists and internal controls.
- CPA or CMA certification is beneficial but not required.
- Previous formal management experience is beneficial but not required; we will consider a strong Senior Accountant who is ready to grow into the Accounting Manager role.
Why Join Paus North America?
This is an opportunity to do more than maintain an established accounting system. You will work directly with company leadership and help build a reliable accounting function for a growing North American equipment business. The right candidate will have meaningful responsibility, visibility with our Board of Directors and corporate parent, and a clear opportunity to grow from Senior Accountant into the leader of our accounting department. If you enjoy solving problems, improving processes and turning accurate financial information into better business decisions, we encourage you to apply.
Pay: $80,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) 4% Match
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid sick time
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
- How many years have you personally performed month-end closing?
Have you independently reconciled balance-sheet accounts?
Have you prepared financial statements directly from the general ledger?
Rate your QuickBooks Online proficiency.
Describe your inventory-accounting experience.
Have you prepared cash-flow forecasts or budgets?
Are you comfortable working primarily in an office in Solon?
What is your expected salary?
Work Location: In person
