Staff Accountant

Overview

People Operations Lead at Santa Barbara Management

Santa Barbara Management was founded by a small group of families who were dissatisfied with traditional wealth management offerings and who sought to reimagine the ideal family office experience. Our mission is to make wealth management effortless, freeing our member families to thrive. We take a holistic approach to serving our clients: focusing on all aspects of investment management, trust and estate planning, tax strategy and execution, financial operations and lifestyle services.

We are fiduciaries who provide unbiased, independent advice, who believe in transparency and the importance of alignment. We believe we have a unique approach to wealth management, and will be defined by what we do, but also by what we do not do:

• We are singularly focused on delivering after-tax, after-fee investment returns with a high level of service and a personal touch.
• We do not steer clients into our own, or other managers’, high-fee investment products.
• We are a firm-centric model, not an advisor-centric model. We expect our growth to be organic and driven by our ability to deliver service as a firm vs. attracting advisors from other platforms or acquiring other RIAs.
• We are wholly-owned by our employees and founding families and will not take outside investment.

Santa Barbara Management was founded first and foremost to serve our own families - and we are unyielding in our pursuit of the ideal family office experience. We are committed to building this organization for the very long term because it will be a linchpin of our own families for decades to come.

The Role

We are looking for a motivated, organized professional to join our small, dynamic team in our Chicago office as a Staff Accountant. The Staff Accountant will support the accounting and tax functions of our family office, assisting with the preparation of financial statements, maintenance of general ledger accounts, quarterly reporting for cash flows, supporting month-end and year-end close processes, preparing journal entries, and assisting with internal and external reporting across multiple entities and asset classes.

This role is ideal for someone who has a strong foundation in general accounting principles and is eager to grow their experience working with privately held entities, trusts, and individuals with complex financial profiles. The successful candidate will be proactive, reliable, and committed to delivering high-quality work in a confidential setting. This role will ensure the successful delivery of Santa Barbara Management’s services by providing an impeccable operational experience for our clients.

We are a small team that moves quickly. This role requires a strong work ethic, a proactive mindset, a comfort with ambiguity, and a drive to tackle challenges head-on, as you will play a crucial part in shaping our firm’s operations. The ideal candidate is passionate about client services, is curious and enjoys learning, and is eager to contribute to a team that values initiative and forward-thinking solutions.

Responsibilities

• Monthly and annual General Ledger reconciliations for various entities.
• Prepare and review monthly and year-end financial statements of various entities.
• Prepares work papers and documents for client review and tax purposes.
• Assists in variance analysis in quarterly and annual reports.
• Assists with administrative functions related to the maintenance of accounting records.
• Record financial transactions, balancing and reconciling a variety of accounts.
• Maintain and review general ledger accounts and consolidations.
• Prepare financial statements for multiple entities, including operating businesses, trusts and estates, partnerships, private foundations, and individuals.
• Foster and maintain strong relationships with each client and client’s outside advisors, and address any questions or issues that arise.
• Assume ownership and responsibility for effectively researching, tracking, and resolving accounting or documentation problems and discrepancies.
• Develop, implement, modify, and document recordkeeping and accounting systems.
• Timely and accurate processing of month-end…