Senior Associate - Finance and Accounting

Line of Service

Advisory

Industry/Sector

Technology

Specialism

Managed Services

Management Level

Senior Associate

Job Description & Summary

The Senior Associate supports end-to-end accounting delivery for assigned clients, entities, or process areas within a finance delivery / shared-services model. The role is responsible for accurate transaction processing, reconciliations, close support, reporting preparation, issue follow-up, and maintenance of strong supporting documentation.
Working under the guidance of Managers and Senior Managers, the Senior Associate contributes to reliable service delivery across General Ledger, Record-to-Report, Accounts Payable, Order-to-Cash, FP&A support, and reporting activities. The role requires strong attention to detail, accounting fundamentals, ownership of assigned tasks, and the ability to coordinate effectively with internal teams and client stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities
• Execute assigned accounting activities for client entities, including journal preparation, reconciliations, subledger checks, close tasks, reporting support, and open-item follow-up.
• Support GL, R2R, AP, O2C, FP&A, and month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close activities in line with agreed timetables and quality expectations.
• Prepare working papers, account analyses, variance explanations, aging summaries, schedules, and supporting documentation for review by Managers or client teams.
• Prepare standard and recurring journal entries, accruals, prepaid expense schedules, intercompany entries, reclassifications, and adjustment requests based on approved inputs.
• Perform account reconciliations and investigate reconciling items by coordinating with process owners, client contacts, vendors, customers, or internal teams as applicable.
• Assist in preparing statutory and management reporting packs by compiling data, validating balances, cross-checking supporting schedules, and maintaining version control.
• Follow client accounting policies, internal procedures, applicable controls, and standard operating procedures to ensure consistent and compliant execution.
• Identify processing exceptions, control issues, missing approvals, incomplete documentation, and unusual account movements, escalating them with clear facts and proposed next steps.
• Maintain accurate trackers for close tasks, action items, audit requests, issue logs, approvals, and delivery dependencies.
• Support audit readiness by preparing samples, retrieving evidence, reconciling supporting files to ledgers, and responding to first-level audit queries.
• Contribute to process documentation by updating SOPs, checklists, handover notes, and knowledge-transfer materials when changes occur.

•Participate in transition and stabilization activities for new clients, entities, or scope additions, including data validation, shadowing, reverse-shadowing, and issue capture.
• Support KPI reporting and service-level monitoring by providing accurate status updates, exception comments, and remediation actions.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams such as procurement, payroll, tax, treasury, IT, and business stakeholders to resolve items impacting end-to-end finance outcomes.
• Suggest practical improvements to templates, reconciliation approaches, documentation practices, and repetitive activities to improve speed, quality, and control.

Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or a related field; progress toward CPA, ACCA, CMA, or equivalent qualification is an advantage.
• 4–7 years of accounting or finance experience, preferably within shared services, BPO, professional services, or multinational environments.
• Solid understanding of accounting principles, financial close activities, reconciliations, journal entries, and reporting support.
• Practical exposure to one or more finance process areas such as GL, AP, AR/O2C, R2R, intercompany, fixed assets, or management reporting.
• Working knowledge of IFRS and/or US GAAP concepts, with the ability to apply client policies and escalate areas requiring judgment.
• Experience using ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics/AX, or similar platforms.
• Strong Excel skills and comfort working with large data sets, reconciliations, pivot tables, lookups, and structured trackers.
• Previous experience in a Big Four or other professional services/audit environment will be viewed favorably, particularly where it includes exposure to financial statements, reconciliations, reporting, close activities, and internal control frameworks.
• Good communication skills, attention to detail, ownership mindset, and ability to meet deadlines in a multi-client delivery environment.

•German language proficiency is a plus.

Key Competencies • Accounting accuracy and discipline • Task ownership • Close and reporting support • Analytical review • Control awareness • Client-service mindset • Documentation quality • Collaboration • Problem solving • Adaptability and learning agility
Suggested reporting line: This role typically reports into the next senior level within Finance & Accounting Delivery, adjusted based on client portfolio size and operating model.

Education (if blank, degree and/or field of study not specified)

Degrees/Field of Study required:Degrees/Field of Study preferred:

Certifications (if blank, certifications not specified)

Required Skills

Optional Skills

Accepting Feedback, Accepting Feedback, Accounting Policies, Accounting Practices, Active Listening, Analytical Thinking, Balance Sheet Analysis, Budgetary Management, Cash Flow Analysis, Communication, Creativity, Embracing Change, Emotional Regulation, Empathy, Escalation Management, Financial Budgeting, Financial Close Process, Financial Data Mining, Financial Forecasting, Financial Management, Financial Policy, Financial Reporting, Financial Statement Analysis, Generating Financial Reports, Inclusion {+ 9 more}

Desired Languages (If blank, desired languages not specified)

Travel Requirements

Not Specified

Available for Work Visa Sponsorship?

No

Government Clearance Required?

No

Job Posting End Date