Certified Public Accountant

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Schedule: Full time, onsite five days per week

Compensation: Target base salary of approximately $140,000, negotiable based on experience, with potential additional performance incentives

Credential: Active CPA license required

About the Opportunity

Paro is recruiting on behalf of a growing Brooklyn CPA firm with more than 40 team members. The firm is seeking an Accounting Director to lead its client accounting operations, develop staff, improve engagement profitability, and help build a more scalable practice.

This is an opportunity to work directly with the owner and influence how the firm operates. The immediate priorities are establishing consistent staff performance reviews, strengthening monthly engagement budget reviews, and ensuring client fees remain aligned with the services delivered.

The role combines accounting oversight, people management, client relationships, and operational improvement. Strong accounting and client accounting services experience is essential, complemented by tax knowledge and sound business judgment.

Key Responsibilities

Accounting Oversight and Client Service

• Oversee bookkeeping, client accounting, and financial reporting engagements, ensuring accurate work and timely delivery.
• Provide technical review and guidance as client businesses grow and their accounting needs become more complex.
• Coordinate with tax professionals to support consistent service across a shared client base.
• Build client relationships, resolve service issues, and communicate clearly about expectations and changing needs.
• Provide hands on accounting or advisory support when an engagement requires additional senior expertise.

Staff Leadership and Development

• Manage team priorities, assignments, workloads, and accountability.
• Establish regular performance reviews and coaching conversations supported by meaningful individual and department KPIs.
• Identify technical education, training, and performance needs and set clear improvement expectations.
• Support existing managers and staff while taking operational responsibilities off the owners’ plates.

Engagement Budgets and Profitability

• Establish and maintain realistic budgets by client, service, and staff level, including preparation, review, client communication, and coordination time.
• Evaluate actual hours, labor costs, and engagement margins against budgets.
• Lead a monthly review of material budget overages, documenting causes, corrective actions, responsible individuals, deadlines, and subsequent results.
• Distinguish scope growth and client complexity from unrealistic budgets, training needs, avoidable rework, inefficient workflows, and inappropriate staffing.
• Implement checkpoints so staff identify unexpected work, missing information, and likely overruns while engagements are underway.
• Escalate significant issues to leadership with evidence and clear recommendations.

Scope Management, Proposals, and Pricing

• Identify services performed beyond agreed engagement scope and coordinate client approval and additional billing under firm policies.
• Recommend revised recurring fees when increased service needs become ongoing.
• Help develop proposals for complex or expanding accounting engagements, including deliverables, scope boundaries, staffing needs, and pricing.
• Document proposal assumptions, client responsibilities, and circumstances requiring additional fees.
• Address late or incomplete client information and its effect on delivery, budgets, and fees.

Processes and Technology

• Turn performance and budget findings into improvements through coaching, workflow changes, automation, staffing adjustments, or engagement revisions.
• Support the firm’s transition to centralized practice management and workflows through Canopy.
• Help implement AI tools,…