Senior Accountant

Position: Senior Accountant

Reports to: Chief Financial Officer

Location: Milwaukee, WI

Duration & Type: Full-Time, Monday – Friday; Onsite

Company: A Rapidly Growing, Privately Owned Construction Firm

Compensation: Competitive base salary & year-end performance bonus. Total rewards include healthcare (medical, dental, vision), PTO policy, paid holidays, 401(k), and additional rewards.

Chamberlain Advisors is seeking a detail-oriented, hands-on Senior Accountant to join a highly complex, project-based construction organization. Reporting directly to the CFO and working closely with the Controller, this role is central to the accuracy and timeliness of the organization’s accounting information. The Senior Accountant will lead the month-end close process, own multi-state sales and use tax compliance, manage electronic timesheet reporting, and ensure the integrity of the general ledger through disciplined reconciliations and job cost accuracy. This is an ideal opportunity for a technically strong, proactive accountant who thrives in a hands-on construction environment, takes ownership of outcomes, and is motivated by improving processes and outcomes across the finance function.

Summary Of Most Suitable Profile

The ideal candidate is a hands-on, technically strong Senior Accountant with direct experience in construction or other project-based accounting environments. They bring a proven track record supporting the general ledger, leading month-end close activities, preparing journal entries and reconciliations, managing multi-state sales and use tax compliance, and supporting accurate and timely financial reporting in partnership with the CFO and Controller. This individual has successfully operated within evolving systems and processes, demonstrates working ERP ownership (with Sage Intacct experience strongly preferred), and applies advanced Excel skills to interpret and validate complex, job-cost-driven data sets. Beyond technical expertise, the successful candidate is a proactive, self-directed problem solver with a strong sense of ownership and accountability. They are adaptable and highly organized, able to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment and communicate effectively across all levels of the organization as a trusted business partner. While a CPA is preferred, it is not required; demonstrated construction job costing and hands-on project accounting experience are more critical than formal credentials. The right candidate brings a positive, resilient, team-oriented mindset aligned with a collaborative culture.

Differentiators: these will set you apart in the selection process

• Self-Starter Mindset, Entrepreneurial Spirit, and Cultural Compatibility – The ideal candidate is a self-starting accountant with a strong sense of ownership and accountability, motivated by the opportunity to help build and grow a business. They demonstrate initiative beyond task execution—proactively validating information, investigating anomalies, and pushing work forward with curiosity and persistence, even when operating with limited or incomplete data. This individual brings emotional maturity and a positive, solution-oriented mindset, remaining calm and collaborative under pressure, owning outcomes, and contributing constructively to a culture that values accountability, resilience, and continuous improvement.
• Construction Job Costing & Project Accounting Capability – Hands-on experience in construction job costing and project-based accounting is essential. The Senior Accountant must be comfortable recording and validating recurring job cost entries, posting reclassifications and corrections across cost codes and jobs, and supporting the integrity of project-level financial data. Familiarity with WIP concepts and comfort working across a high volume of projects at varying stages is highly valued.
• Month-End Close Leadership & Reporting Accuracy – Beyond processing journal entries, the Senior Accountant is expected to lead a disciplined, timely close: owning recurring entries, intercompany entries, contra accounts, and account reconciliations, and supporting the CFO and Controller in issuing accurate and timely monthly financial reports. The role requires strong historical reporting accuracy alongside an eye for surfacing potential issues before they reach the close.
• Multi-State Sales & Use Tax and Compliance Ownership – The Senior Accountant owns sales and use tax preparation and filings across every state in which the business operates, as well as year-end 1099 preparation, distribution, and reporting. This individual is expected to own compliance deliverables end-to-end, ensuring filings are accurate, timely, and audit-ready, and supporting state sales and use tax audits with organized documentation.
• Audit Support & Internal Controls Discipline – The Senior Accountant plays a critical role in audit readiness, ensuring reconciliations are complete, job cost entries are accurate, and support is well-organized. While the Controller and external advisors coordinate the audit, the internal discipline around documentation, reconciliations, and controls sits firmly with this role.
• Advanced Excel & Technical Aptitude – Strong Excel capability is essential, including the ability to build, read, and audit complex formulas such as nested IF statements, XLOOKUPs, and SUMIFS. This level of proficiency reflects the ability to understand, validate, and manage intercompany schedules, job cost reports, and large, data-intensive financial schedules with accuracy and confidence.
• Communication Skills & Business Partnership – This role requires a Senior Accountant who can communicate effectively across the organization—not a “head-down” accountant. The ideal candidate is comfortable partnering with operations, project teams, and non-finance stakeholders, including Superintendents, and can translate technical accounting concepts into practical, understandable language. Cultural participation and relationship-building are viewed as essential to success.
• Sharp, Analytical Thinking, & Problem Solving – Candidates must be analytical and investigative in nature—able to identify issues, diagnose root causes in general ledger and job cost activity, and bring forward well-reasoned solutions rather than merely surfacing problems. Surface-level analysis, defensiveness, or presenting incomplete work without full diligence are not aligned with expectations in this environment.
• Process Optimization & Continuous Improvement Mindset – This role calls for an individual who instinctively identifies and drives process improvement rather than accepting the status quo. The successful candidate will enhance month-end close cadence, reconciliations, timesheet and expense workflows, and the establishment of repeatable, scalable accounting routines, bringing the discipline and follow-through required to build processes where gaps exist and continuously refine existing practices.
  
  

What You Will Be Accountable For Accomplishing

Financial Close, Reporting, & the General Ledger

• Lead the month-end close process, ensuring accurate and timely preparation of journal entries, account reconciliations, and contra accounts.
• Support the CFO and Controller in issuing accurate and timely monthly financial reports.
• Ensure the integrity of accounting information by recording recurring job cost entries and verifying the accuracy of general ledger accounts.
• Compile monthly intercompany entry backup, generate supporting spreadsheets, and post monthly intercompany entries.
  
  

Job Costing & Project Accounting

• Record recurring job cost entries and ensure accuracy across cost codes and jobs.
• Assist with cost code and job cost transaction posting reclassifications and corrections as necessary.
• Process monthly employee paper expense reports for job costing.
• Support the accuracy and integrity of project-level financial data in partnership with operations and project teams.
  
  

Sales & Use Tax, 1099s, & Compliance

• Prepare and file sales and use tax returns for all states in which the business operates.
• Manage year-end preparation, distribution, and reporting of 1099s.
• Assist the accounting department with state sales and use tax audits, including organization of supporting documentation and responses.
  
  

Payroll, Timesheets, & Disbursements

• Manage HH2 electronic timesheet reporting, including training, adding new jobs, and employee setup and management.
• Prepare and communicate payroll items such as Superintendent bonuses, employee advances, and related items.
• Prepare bank deposits and generate daily positive pay files.
• Provide backup for reconciliation of employee credit card statements.
  
  

Audit, Budgeting, & Forecasting Support

• Support the accounting department with yearly audits, including coordination of schedules and documentation.
• Assist with budgeting and forecasting activities in partnership with the CFO and Controller.
• Assist with licensing and permitting activities as necessary.
  
  

Process Improvement & Systems

• Identify and implement process improvements to enhance accuracy, efficiency, and scalability across accounting workflows.
• Support optimization of accounting systems and integrations, including Sage Intacct, HH2, and Procore.
• Contribute to longer-term initiatives around reporting automation and close acceleration.
  
  

What Qualifications You Will Need

• Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university in Accounting, Finance, Economics required.
• Two to five years of related accounting experience and/or training, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience with construction job costing and/or construction auditing is required.
• CPA preferred; candidates without a CPA must demonstrate strong technical GAAP accounting competency through previous accounting experience or complex industry work.
• Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional (CCIFP) designation a plus.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, with advanced Excel skills; working knowledge of Word and Outlook required.
• Experience with Sage Intacct, HH2 time reporting, and Procore is a plus.
• Ability to read and comprehend general business publications, financial reports, and technical procedures.
• Strong written communication skills, including the ability to prepare reports, business correspondence, and procedure documentation.
• Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from management, staff, and external stakeholders.
• Ability to solve practical problems involving multiple variables in situations with limited standardization.
• Strong capability to interpret and apply instructions provided in written, oral, diagrammatic, or schedule-based formats.
• Ability to apply mathematical and statistical concepts, including probability, percentages, ratios, proportions, and basic statistical inference, to real-world business situations.
  
  

About Our Client

Founded in the early 2000s, the organization is a nationally active consulting and design-build firm operating within a highly specialized, project-driven environment. The company delivers a broad suite of services that span strategic advisory, market analysis, branding, design, technology integration, and end-to-end project execution. With a meaningful national footprint and revenues in the tens of millions, the business operates with an entrepreneurial mindset and a strong emphasis on collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.