Accounting Manager -- In Office | QBO | Ecommerce

The Accounting Manager exists to ensure that every client's books are clean, accurate, and tax-ready — all year long. Not just in April. You are the bridge between clients and the tax team: you catch issues before they become tax problems, lead cleanup work for new clients, and own the financial accuracy that makes tax season a non-event. You free the partners entirely from day-to-day review, and build the systems that allow the firm to scale from 39 to 60 monthly clients without adding chaos.

OUTCOME 1 — Lead client accounting cleanups
Every new tax prep client whose books are a mess gets a structured, documented cleanup before their return is prepared. You own the cleanup process end-to-end: scoping the damage, communicating the plan to the client, executing the reconciliation, and handing clean books to the tax team. Goal: zero 'mystery balances' or unexplained discrepancies when a return is opened.

OUTCOME 2 — Own the monthly close — quality and on-time delivery
All 50 monthly clients have books closed, reviewed, and approved by the 8th of the following month, every month. Bank recs, COGS, A2X mappings, and merchant fees verified before any deliverable reaches a client. Within 60 days: zero partner review hours required for routine monthly work.

OUTCOME 3 — Be the client's primary accounting contact
You communicate directly with clients to clarify transactions, resolve discrepancies, and explain financials in plain English. Clients feel guided — not just serviced. You identify accounting issues proactively and surface them to clients before they become tax problems. Response to client inquiries within 24 hours, resolved within 48 hours.

OUTCOME 4 — Manage and develop the offshore bookkeeping team
Direct day-to-day oversight of 2 offshore bookkeepers — clear assignments, deadlines, and feedback loops. Onboard the second offshore bookkeeper (hired alongside you) to full productivity within 30 days. You are the quality gate: no client-facing deliverable leaves without your review.

OUTCOME 5 — Keep books tax-ready year-round — not just in tax season
Work proactively with the tax team throughout the year so that when filing season arrives, there are no surprises. Reconciliations are current. Financials are clean. Clients are informed. Goal: the tax team opens any client file and can begin preparation immediately — no cleanup queue in February or March.

OUTCOME 6 — Build systems that prevent future cleanup work
Document SOPs for all bookkeeping and cleanup workflows. Identify the root causes of recurring issues and eliminate them. The measure of success: the firm adds 5 monthly clients per quarter with no proportional increase in review hours or errors.

• Monthly close on-time rate. 100% of monthly clients' books reviewed and delivered by the 8th each month.
• Cleanup completion time. New tax prep client books cleaned up and tax-ready within agreed scope timeline.
• Books accuracy standard. Fewer than 2% of transactions require reclassification after partner spot-check.
• Partner review hours freed. Zero hours per week spent by partners reviewing routine client work.
• Client response time. All inquiries acknowledged within 24 hours; resolved within 48 hours.
• Tax-ready rate. 100% of monthly clients' books reconciled and finalized before tax prep begins.
• Offshore team productivity. Each bookkeeper maintains 1–15 hrs/client/month output with no backlog.
• SOP documentation. Full bookkeeping and cleanup SOP library built and accessible to team.
• New client onboarding. Any new monthly client fully operational in QBO and A2X within 14 days of signing.

Experience & Qualifications

• 5 years of hands-on accounting or bookkeeping experience
• Background in public accounting or outsourced/client-service accounting
• Proven experience leading full book cleanups from scoping to delivery
• Track record of managing multiple client relationships simultaneously
• Experience managing or overseeing remote/offshore staff

Technical Skills

• QuickBooks Online (QBO) — expert level, non-negotiable
• Bank and credit card reconciliations — fast and accurate
• Financial statement preparation and review (P&L, balance sheet)
• Month-end close process ownership
• Microsoft Excel / Google Sheets — pivot tables, VLOOKUP/INDEX-MATCH

Client-Facing

• Confident leading client calls — not just emailing back and forth
• Ability to explain accounting concepts in plain English to non-accountants
• Proactive communicator — surfaces issues before clients ask
• Experience resolving discrepancies and managing client expectations

Leadership & Management

• Delegates clearly and follows through without micromanaging
• Builds SOPs and documents workflows so gains are permanent
• Coaches bookkeepers and develops team capability
• Operates with high autonomy — creates their own structure without daily direction
• Identifies broken processes and fixes them

Character (Non-Negotiables)

• Owns outcomes — good and bad — without deflecting
• Proactive by nature — does the work in May so March is quiet
• High attention to detail that doesn't drop under deadline pressure
• Communicates bad news early, with a plan
• Thrives in a fully remote environment
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Not Required but a plus

• QBO ProAdvisor certification a plus
• A2X or equivalent e-commerce integration tool
• E-commerce accounting — Amazon FBA, Shopify, multi-channel settlements, COGS