Tern spent years becoming the place travel advisors do their work. Now we're becoming part of how the industry actually transacts. That's a different kind of company, and it needs a different kind of finance function. This is an important bet, and if we get it right, the path to a genuinely large, successful business is clear. It only works if the books and the processes are right from day one- this is your job. If this sounds like a challenge you want to take on, let's talk.

ABOUT TERN

Tern is a venture-backed software company on a mission to reshape the $127B travel agency industry by giving power back to the entrepreneurs who built it.

Nearly 98% of travel agencies are small businesses. These businesses have been chronically underserved by technology. We're here to change that. Our platform helps travel advisors run more efficient, professional, and profitable operations, giving them the modern infrastructure they need to lead the next chapter of travel.

But the impact goes beyond business. Travel advisors help clients move more intentionally through the world. When a traveler works with an advisor, they're more likely to avoid overtouristed hotspots and more likely to spend their dollars in places where they can do real good. That's the kind of travel we want more of.

At Tern, we believe in small business. We believe in the power of travel. And we're building the future of both.

FINANCE LEAD

This role sits at the center of a rapidly expanding travel, fintech, and SaaS company. Our books need to evolve with our business as revenue is no longer just subscriptions running through Stripe. Someone has to decide how all of that gets recognized, build the close that produces it, and make the P&L legible to a leadership team and a board still looking at a SaaS company.

Tern has never had a dedicated finance and accounting hire. Bookkeeping is outsourced and the chart of accounts was built for a software company. Every decision about how this new business gets recorded is still unmade.

You're that person. You'll set the revenue recognition policy, build out our monthly close process, restructure the P&L into the businesses we actually run, own commission payouts, and own the burn. You'll report to our Chief of Staff, who covers finance today and will stay close on supplier economics and the investor-facing work, so you'll have a real partner on the finance side. The accounting is yours outright. You'll be the authority for the company, which means the questions come to you, both internally and externally.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Restructure the P&L so it describes the businesses we actually run, with unit economics per transaction, and own the model that comes out of it
Set Tern's revenue recognition policy across all business verticals
Oversee the month-end close process
Own the burn: the policy, the categorization, and the gap between the P&L expense line and what actually leaves the bank
Write the accounting requirements our payment and operations products have to meet, and work with our Finance Product Lead and engineering to get them built
Map and close the tax exposure that comes with new business lines
Be the accounting SME for Tern internal and our Users

WHAT YOU HAVE

Deep accounting expertise: You've owned the technical accounting at a company where the answer wasn't in a playbook. You can reason from the standard rather than from precedent, and you're the person others come to when nobody knows how something should be booked.
Built the function: You've been the first or earliest accounting hire at one or two startups. You built the chart of accounts, the close, and the controls rather than inheriting them.
Revenue recognition judgment: You've made a gross-vs-net call under ASC 606 and lived with it, ideally at a company that was or became the merchant of record. You can reason through the principal-vs-agent test, not just recite it.
Payments and marketplace accounting: You've accounted for money that flows through the company rather than to it- held funds, payouts, chargebacks, interchange, processing fees.
Requirements writing: You've told an engineering team what the ledger needs and had it built. You can hold that line without needing to own the roadmap.
Close ownership: You can spot a wrong close by looking at it. You've owned month-end, not just reviewed the output.
Pace: You operate without a defined process and without waiting for one. You pick up unowned work.

BONUS POINTS

Travel tech experience, or any industry where commissions, supplier statements, and trust accounting are normal
CPA
You've been part of an institutional fundraise and know what diligence does to a set of books
You've replaced an outsourced bookkeeping firm and brought the function in house
Multi-entity or multi-currency experience

WHAT WE VALUE @ TERN

🌱 We're always leveling up.

Whether you're deepening your craft, learning from a teammate, or embracing a new challenge, growth is core to our identity.

🧭 We act with optimistic agency.

We take initiative, seek clarity, and move forward, even when the path isn't obvious. Through every peak and valley, we lead with curiosity, laughter, kindness, and resolve.

💪 We expect operational excellence.

We ship value to our users every single week. We believe that compounding habits lead to sustainable productivity, consistency, and mutual trust.

OPERATING PRINCIPLES:
👂 We deeply understand our users.

At every level of the organization, we obsess about understanding those we serve and the industry we operate in.

➕ We embrace the power of and, and not now.

We challenge trade-offs by asking better questions. We break hard problems into small pieces and tackle them with intention. We also know to make the hard call to say "not right now".

📣 We speak up and move forward.

Everyone at Tern has a voice and a responsibility to use it. We invite healthy tension, share dissenting views early, and challenge each other with curiosity, not ego.

🏃 We move fast and sweat the details.

Velocity matters and relentless progress beats perfection every time. But speed isn't chaos: we stay aligned, own our outcomes, and care deeply about quality.

🤣 We take the work seriously, but not ourselves.

We hire kind, driven people who elevate the room. If you've got a big ego or take yourself too seriously, you won't last.

WHY JOIN TERN?

Be part of a mission-driven team transforming the travel planning space
Work with a supportive, curious, and creative team
Influence and shape our user success strategy from the ground up
Competitive salary, equity, and benefits package

Tern is committed to building a team that represents people from many different backgrounds and life experiences, reflecting our worldview coinciding with the users and customers we serve across the world. We prefer that you apply, so think of our postings as the start of the conversation. Take the chance, you may be a wonderful add to our Tern team, even if you don't fully match every requirement on the job description.

About the company

Tern Travel is a software platform for travel advisors that combines AI-powered tools with an all-in-one workspace. It helps advisors save time and grow their business by providing a drag-and-drop trip planner, commission tracking, and automated alerts for overdue payments, all tied to a centralized client-management system. The platform works by letting users design itineraries, manage client data, and automate routine tasks through an AI-enhanced interface, with access via a subscription model. What sets Tern apart from competitors is its integrated suite tailored specifically to travel advisors, combining itinerary creation, financial tracking, and client management in one easy-to-use system rather than requiring multiple separate tools. The goal is to reclaim advisors’ time, improve client satisfaction, and enable growth by streamlining operations and enabling more personalized travel planning.

Company Size

1-10

Company Stage

Series A

Total Funding

$16.8M

Headquarters

Kenmore, Washington

Founded

2014

Get referred to Tern Travel

See people who can refer or advise you

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

August 2026 pricing starts at $35 monthly annually, supporting faster small-advisor adoption.
Q2 2026 shipped inbox intelligence, client tours, transfers, and AI notetaker calendar controls.
Lucia’s acquisition broadens Tern beyond software into advisor services and support workflows.

What critics are saying

July 1, 2026 AI usage limits monetize heavy users and trigger churn among power advisors.
Legato’s July 2026 dual-stack choice with Travefy weakens Tern’s host-agency lock-in.
If host-agency deals stall, Tern’s subscription business loses its clearest distribution engine.

What makes Tern Travel unique

Tern bundles itinerary planning, CRM, payments, commissions, and AI into one advisor workflow.
Nexion’s April 2026 partnership gave 6,000-plus advisors access, validating host-agency distribution.
June 2026 AI Chat builds trips from photos, publishes itineraries, and mimics writing style.

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Benefits

Remote Work Options
Conference Attendance Budget
Company Equity

Company News

PR Newswire

Oct 19th, 2026

Travel Insured International partners with Tern to embed travel insurance, making it easier for advisors to offer coverage to meet travelers' needs.

Travel Insured International partners with Tern to embed travel insurance, making it easier for advisors to offer coverage to meet travelers' needs. Oct 19, 2026, 09:30 ET GLASTONBURY, Conn., Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Travel Insured International (TII), a leading provider of trip protection in the United States and part of Crum & Forster's (C&F) Accident & Health (A&H) Division, announces a partnership with Tern, the AI-powered operating system for travel advisors and agencies. Through this collaboration, TII's comprehensive travel insurance plans will be embedded directly within the Tern platform, enabling travel advisors and agencies to quote and sell travel insurance coverage within their client-facing itineraries. The integration creates a more seamless experience for the advisors and agencies, improves efficiency, and makes it easier to help protect travelers with travel coverage that meets their needs. With over 200 years of history, C&F brings financial strength, underwriting expertise, and flexibility that embedded partners need to help build insurance programs that align with their business and customer experience goals. Through TII, those capabilities are paired with deep travel expertise, strong service, and a practical understanding of how travel insurance protection fits naturally into the booking journey for advisors and travelers. "Travel advisors and agencies are at the heart of our business at Travel Insured International, and we're committed to making it easier for them to help protect their consumer clients. This partnership with Tern brings that commitment to life," said Barbra Taylor, President of TII. "As part of C&F, TII is advancing a broader travel insurance distribution strategy by integrating our protection into the platforms and workflows advisors already use every day." Tern is used by more than 16,000 travel advisors and agencies to help grow their businesses. Because client and trip details already live within Tern, advisors can generate a TII quote for travel protection in just a few clicks, and clients can opt in seamlessly. This integration eliminates the need for advisors to switch between platforms or re-enter information manually, simplifying the sales process. "Travel insurance should protect your clients and grow your revenue. It shouldn't eat up 10-20 minutes of re-typing trip details into a separate portal every time you want to offer coverage," said David Shull, CEO and Co-Founder of Tern. "We believe technology should support your business, not add friction to it. By incorporating TII's travel insurance plans directly into our platform, advisors can quote and offer coverage as a natural part of building each trip - helping protect travelers and creating a more efficient workflow without ever leaving Tern." The partnership comes at a time when the travel advisor channel continues to show strong momentum. According to the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), U.S. travel agencies sold nearly $130 billion in travel in 2025, with 25% of travel now booked through an agency. Advisors and agencies on Tern manage $2 billion in trips a year. By bringing TII coverage into the tools these advisors and agencies already use every day, this partnership positions both companies to serve this growing channel more effectively. A webinar on the integration of TII's coverage within Tern will be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at 4:00pm ET. For travel advisors and agencies interested in attending, visit the following link to register: https://tern.travel/events/tern-tii-launch-webinar About Travel Insured International Since 1994, Travel Insured International has proudly served as a trusted companion for global travelers, offering extensive insurance, robust travel protection and assistance services for consumers, travel advisors, agencies, and tour operators. Travel Insured International is part of Crum & Forster (C&F) Accident & Health Division. C&F (www.cfins.com) is a leading national property, casualty, and accident & health insurer, providing specialty insurance products through its admitted and surplus lines insurance companies. Founded in 1822, C&F holds some of the oldest U.S. insurance companies, and today conducts business through a network of independent agents, brokers and wholesalers. C&F companies had $6.2 billion in gross written premium in 2025, and the insurance companies of C&F are rated A+ (Superior) by AM Best (2026). Best's Credit Rating as of August 27, 2026; access for the latest rating and rating scale. The C&F logo, C&F, Crum & Forster, Travel Insured International and the logo are registered trademarks of United States Fire Insurance Company. About Tern Tern is the AI-powered operating system that more than 16,000 travel advisors use to run their business and manage $2 billion in trips a year. Learn more at tern.travel. Media Contact Amy Whilldin VP, Public Relations & Communications [email protected] SOURCE Crum & Forster

Tern

Jun 25th, 2026

Build trips from your own photos, and reorder rooms at last.

Build trips from your own photos, and reorder rooms at last. AI Chat now builds trips from your own photo library, and you can finally reorder room options. Plus clearer monthly KPIs and stronger task search. Molly Johnson·June 25, 2026 Your own photos, working for you. You take photos on every site inspection and fam trip, and most of them sit in your library waiting for a reason to come out. This week, AI Chat picked up three new skills, including one that builds a trip from the photos you already have. There is also a clearer way to read your month-to-date numbers, room options you can finally reorder, and a stronger task search. Here is what shipped. A quick reminder before the updates: usage limits on Tern Pro take effect July 1. If you lean on AI Chat heavily and want to avoid any disruption, you can add a higher usage tier under Settings, then Subscriptions. The Help Center article on usage limits walks through what changes and how to think about the right tier for you. AI Chat: 3 new skills. Three new skills landed this week. As always, the downvote button is the fastest way to tell Tern when something misses, and the team is watching that feedback closely. Build a trip from your photo library. AI Chat can now search your library photos and use them to populate a trip. Ask it to create a trip and pull in your photos, and it will find the relevant ones and place them on the itinerary cover and trip items, the same way the photo gallery works today. This is a brand new, early version. Right now it matches on the details attached to each photo, the name, location, and supplier. Folder context is not part of the match yet. Since you often group photos by location in folders, Tern is working on an upgrade to read that context too, which will make the right photos easier to surface. If the results are not what you expected, the downvote button helps Tern tune it. Match your writing style automatically. Ask AI Chat to draft your writing style based on your past conversations, and it will look at how you have written before and propose a style for you. Review it, accept it, and it saves straight to your branding settings, so the tone carries through the writing AI Chat does on your behalf. Publish a trip from the chat. AI Chat can now publish a trip for you. Once the itinerary and photos are in place, you can have it publish without switching screens or doing the final step by hand. Quality of life improvements. * Month-to-date KPIs now compare year over year. The reporting dashboard cards used to compare this month to last month, which does not hold up against the seasonality of travel. Now they compare to the same period last year, so you can see how you are actually tracking. * Reorder room options. Built your room options out of order? You can now move a room up or down to get them in the right sequence, descriptions and photos included. * Task search got more powerful. You can now search tasks by title, description, trip, and owner, so you can pull up everything assigned to one person across your trips and contacts in a few keystrokes. It also helps AI Chat find the right tasks. That is it for this week. More next week.

TravelPulse

Oct 30th, 2025

Legato Joins Forces With Tern to Raise Bar on Tech Offerings

Legato joins forces with Tern to raise bar on tech offerings. Image: The Tern partnership is designed to provide Legato advisors with a seamless technology experience. (Source: oselote/Adobe) The host agency Legato has joined forces with Tern, a technology platform customized for travel advisors, designed to streamline operations, automate workflows, track commissions and more. "Through this partnership, Legato advisors receive introductory access to Tern, direct integration with their proprietary solution, MontisPro, pre-built Tern stacks and exclusive pricing designed specifically for Legato partners," the host agency said "By integrating Tern and Montis, we're creating a seamless experience for Legato agents - eliminating invisible work and empowering them to focus on what matters most," said Legato Owner and President Jonathan Morris. "As Tern's first host partner, we're proud to join forces on the leading edge of travel technology, modernizing the industry together with these innovative platforms." "They were the first large agency to extend discounted access to Tern, and that forward-thinking spirit shows up in everything they do," he said. "We're thrilled to help their advisors experience how Tern's technology can simplify their operations and free up time to focus on what they do best: serving clients," Shull added. Topics from this article to explore.

TravelAge West

Oct 27th, 2025

Under New CEO, Avoya Increases Tech and Eyes Luxury Growth

Under new CEO, Avoya increases tech and eyes luxury growth. The 2025 Avoya Travel Conference was held onboard MSC World America earlier this month, and across the week-long sailing, more than 600 attendees participated in networking sessions, community building opportunities and educational workshops. Marc Kazlauskas, who was named CEO of Avoya Travel in August, was inspired by the enthusiastic business building he witnessed at the event. "The 2025 Avoya Travel Conference marked a defining moment for our company," he said. "It was a week that reflected the best of Avoya - our community, our innovation and our commitment to driving unprecedented levels of advisor success in the years ahead." Attendees were privy to an extra special conference session, too. Avoya staged its first-ever interview conducted in the style of "Hot Ones," during which Kazlauskas posed questions to Phil Cappelli (chief sales officer for Avoya) and Mickey McBride (vice president of partnerships) as they ate incredibly spicy chicken wings. Post conference, Kazlauskas, Cappelli and Sam McCauley, senior vice president of marketing for Avoya, hosted an online "Avoya Future Briefing" with media. They were also joined by Karl Treier, Avoya's new chief technology officer. Here's what we learned about what's coming down the pipeline at Avoya Travel. The Power of tech. Kazlauskas kicked off the briefing by highlighting the historical strength of Avoya, including its proven track record of tremendous travel advisor support and sales. He credited some of that success to the "industry-leading technology" Avoya has long provided its affiliates, while also recognizing that the organization must continue to grow its offerings in an ever-advancing tech world. "Technology is in our DNA, and here, we're going to double down," Kazlauskas said. "We're going to build smarter systems, we're going to put [forth] faster automation. We want tech that doesn't just make our independent advisors [or IAs] work faster, but that makes them feel like the future is on their side every day." To that end, Avoya announced a partnership with travel CRM company Tern while onboard MSC. Tern has rapidly become known for its itinerary and workflow tools, and Kazlauskas is eager to see how those tools bolster network agencies. Chief tech officer Treier also shared that Avoya will make a "substantial increase in platform investments across technology and marketing." As AI becomes a consistent part of travel advisor businesses, Avoya will increasingly incorporate AI in its platforms, driving "new interactive experiences for customers and enhanced experience in terms of itinerary building," according to Treier. Avoya's Agent Power platform will also debut an updated look and new interactive features that grow its efficiency. Advisors can expect to see new elements roll out into 2026. Expanding what Avoya sells. McCauley says that Avoya has been a very strong player in the cruise and land tour markets for a long time. Now, the goal is to increase Avoya's share in markets such as air and luxury travel. "You're going to see Avoya forge some new ground, not just in expanding the portfolio product, but in moving up that value chain and that value ladder," he said. "You're going to also see us strike some new partnerships and strategic alliances. We're going to go bigger than we ever have in 2026." Year-over-year data from Avoya shows market share growth already. At the conference, Avoya reported 92% growth in river cruise sales, a 69% jump in escorted tour sales and a 110% increase in air sales. McCauley says Avoya will invest increased marketing efforts (and dollars) in order to keep building product diversity and adding new partnerships to its portfolio. Additionally, Kazlauskas says that Avoya will also continue to recruit new-to-the-industry advisors. New agents can dive into the field with help from Avoya's training programs. Prioritizing culture. Kazlauskas may be new to the Avoya team, but he already sees the company's culture as a feather in its cap - it's a great place to work, he says, and it's also a great place to work for. "No fake smiles, no spin - just respect, transparency and candid, consistent communication," he said. "That's how we treat each other." Kazlauskas says Avoya staffers listen, act, then listen again. And that pattern moves the needle, making for happy employees, independent advisors and supplier partners. And happy people do better business.

ShareProphets Ltd

Jul 14th, 2025

Tern raises £1.2M, valuation concerns.

Tern (TERN) has raised £1.2 million before expenses since its year-end results to 31 December 2024. The news highlights concerns about how Tern values its stakes in Talking Medicines and FRVRS.

Tern Travel

Finance Lead

About the job