Senior Manager Finance Accounting

Pendergast Law is seeking a hands-on Senior Manager, Finance & Accounting to lead the firm’s day-to-day financial function and turn financial data into clear, timely operating decisions. This is a true player-coach role that combines strategic finance development with hands-on controllership. The successful candidate will build budgets and forecasts, support firm leadership, and create forward-looking financial visibility while also personally completing and reviewing the detailed accounting work required to keep the books accurate, the controls strong, and the close on schedule.

This position is not limited to supervising the finance function. The Senior Manager must be equally comfortable presenting a forecast to leadership and working directly in the general ledger, preparing reconciliations, reviewing payroll, processing or approving payables, investigating discrepancies, and ensuring trust and client-cost activity is accurate. Initially, this role is expected to operate as a senior individual contributor and may build or develop the finance team as the firm’s needs grow.

The right candidate understands that personal injury law has a distinctive financial model. Revenue timing depends on case progression and resolution, client costs must be tracked and recovered accurately, trust activity requires exact controls, and leadership needs forward-looking visibility into cash, fees, expenses, and capacity. This person will create that visibility and personally maintain the financial foundation behind it.

• Lead the firm’s annual budget, rolling forecast, and multi-year financial planning process, connecting financial targets to case volume, staffing, marketing investment, and growth priorities.
• Build and maintain a disciplined 13-week cash forecast and longer-range cash model, including expected fee receipts, operating expenses, client cost funding, tax obligations, and capital needs.
• Develop leadership dashboards and a reliable monthly reporting package that explain performance, variance to plan, cash position, profitability, and the actions needed next.
• Partner with the COO, Managing Partner, and Fractional CFO on financial strategy, scenario planning, investment decisions, compensation planning, banking relationships, and risk management. Work closely with the Fractional CFO during an anticipated six-to-twelve-month transition period, progressively assuming full ownership of the firm’s finance function.
• Translate the case pipeline into practical financial insight using Filevine and accounting data, including probability-weighted fee forecasting, case-cost exposure, aging, and expected collections.
• Personally lead and complete a timely, accurate monthly and year-end close, including journal entries, accruals, account reconciliations, general ledger review, financial statements, and management reporting.
• Maintain the chart of accounts and supporting schedules; investigate discrepancies, correct entries, resolve reconciling items, and ensure every material balance is supported and review-ready.
• Design, document, and perform key internal controls for cash receipts, disbursements, accounts payable, payroll, trust accounting, settlement-related activity, client costs, vendor management, and financial-system access.
• Prepare or directly review IOLTA and other trust-account reconciliations, resolve differences promptly, and safeguard compliance with applicable Washington trust-accounting requirements and firm policies.
• Personally manage or review accounts payable from invoice coding through payment, including approvals, vendor records, cash requirements, credit-card activity, and proper general-ledger classification.
• Manage hands-on payroll and benefits-related financial administration, including payroll review, journal entries, reconciliations, deductions, reporting, and coordination with Paychex and internal stakeholders.
• Ensure client costs are advanced, coded, reconciled, reported, and recovered accurately; reconcile Filevine and accounting records, investigate leakage or process breakdowns, and drive corrective action with case teams.
• Manage banking activity, deposits, transfers, cash…