Small Business Accountant & Client Advisor

Spark Business Consulting | Norwell, Massachusetts | Hybrid

Are you an accountant who actually likes small-business owners?

Not just their QuickBooks files. Not just getting the bank reconciled and the month closed.

We mean the people behind the businesses.

At Spark Business Consulting, we work with entrepreneurs who have put everything into building their companies. They need accurate financials, of course. But they also need someone who can look at the numbers, notice what doesn’t make sense, ask good questions and help them understand what is really happening in their business.

That’s the person we’re looking for.

Spark Business Consulting is a growing accounting and advisory firm based in Norwell, Massachusetts. We work primarily with small businesses, including restaurants and hospitality companies, contractors and trades, designers, retailers and other entrepreneur-owned businesses.

Our team believes accounting should help business owners make better decisions, not simply tell them what happened last month.

We’re also a Profit First Mastery-Certified firm, and our entire team is trained in helping entrepreneurs build healthier, more profitable businesses.

Around here, we call ourselves Sparkles.

It sounds lighthearted, but we take the work seriously.

Our core values are:

Authentic Enthusiasm. Empathy. Kindness. Integrity. Growth.

We care deeply about our clients, we help each other, and we want people on our team who genuinely want to get better at what they do.

You are a strong accountant with real QuickBooks Online experience.

You understand how the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow of a business work together. You can reconcile accounts, clean up a messy file, review financial statements and spot when something just doesn’t look right.

But technical ability is only half of this job.

You also like talking to business owners.

You are curious.

If a client tells you sales are great but they never have any money, your instinct is to figure out why.

If payroll jumps five percentage points, you notice.

If a balance sheet account has been carrying the same strange balance for two years, you don’t just roll it forward for another month.

And when a business owner looks at you and says, “My P&L says I made money, so where is it?”, you can explain the answer without sounding like an accounting textbook.

You’ll manage the accounting and financial reporting for a portfolio of Spark clients, including:

• Maintaining and reviewing QuickBooks Online files
• Completing monthly reconciliations and close
• Preparing accurate monthly financial statements
• Reviewing balance sheets and P&Ls for errors, inconsistencies and opportunities
• Cleaning up accounting issues when necessary
• Communicating directly with small-business owners
• Helping clients understand their financial results
• Identifying trends, concerns and questions that deserve attention
• Collaborating with other Sparkles on more complicated client situations
• Learning and applying Spark’s Profit First methodology and advisory approach

This is not simply a bookkeeping/data-entry position.

We want someone who wants to understand the businesses behind the books.

• You have several years of hands-on small-business accounting experience
• You are highly proficient in QuickBooks Online
• You understand accrual accounting and financial statements
• You are comfortable reviewing both P&Ls and balance sheets
• You know how to troubleshoot messy accounting situations
• You communicate well with people who are not accountants
• You genuinely like small-business owners and entrepreneurs
• You notice things and ask questions
• You take ownership of your work
• You enjoy being part of a collaborative team
• You are comfortable learning new systems and new ways of doing things

Experience working in a public accounting, outsourced accounting, bookkeeping or fractional-accounting environment is a plus.

Restaurant, hospitality, construction or other small-business industry experience is also a plus.

CPA certification is not required.

Spark is a hybrid team based in Norwell, Massachusetts.

Our normal hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

Team members work in the office at least two days Monday through Thursday, with Fridays generally working from home.

We believe people do their best work when they have independence, support, clear expectations and teammates they actually enjoy working with.

We work hard. We laugh a lot. We care about doing excellent work without creating a stuffy accounting-firm environment.

We are not looking for someone who simply wants another accounting job.

We are looking for someone who gets real satisfaction from helping an entrepreneur understand their business, solve a problem or finally feel in control of their finances.

If you read this and thought, “That is exactly why I became an accountant,” we would really like to meet you.