Accounting Specialist (Bookkeeping) (remote from anywhere)

Accounting Specialist (Bookkeeping) (remote from anywhere) Location: Remote (Work from Home) Schedule: Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–6:00 PM (PST, CST, EST) | Compensation: $1,250 USD/month first 90 days, $1,500 USD/month after About Us We support U.S.-based operators and franchise owners — real businesses with real payroll, real vendors, real bank accounts, and real decisions being made off the numbers you produce. Yes, we code transactions, reconcile accounts, chase invoices, process AP/AR, and run month-end close. But the real business we are in is the number being right. An owner looks at a cash report and decides whether to hire. A CPA opens the books in April and either finds them clean or spends two weeks and a lot of the owner's money fixing them. A vendor gets paid twice because nobody caught it. A customer never pays at all because nobody followed up. A month closes on day 22 instead of day 8, so by the time anyone sees the number, it is too old to act on. Every one of those is a decision made on bad information, or made too late. That is what this role is for. We are hiring a Bookkeeping / Accounting Support Specialist who owns accuracy, consistency, and timeliness of financial operations across one or multiple businesses. This is a remote role through ScaleSource. This is not a slow back-office seat where things wait until next week. Clean books, tight deadlines, real ownership. If you need to be told every step, this is not the role. If you close on schedule, reconcile to the penny, and get genuinely uncomfortable when something does not tie out, you may be exactly who we need. The Big Picture Our standard is simple: The books are always clean, always current, and always ready — before anyone asks. If a transaction hits the account, it gets coded correctly and consistently. If an account needs reconciling, it reconciles — not "reconciles except for a $340 variance nobody has looked at since March." If a bill is due, it gets paid. If an invoice is out, it gets collected. If it is month-end, the close checklist runs on cadence, not on inspiration. And when the owner, the CPA, or the finance lead opens the books, they find documentation, not archaeology. We do not need someone who says, "It's close enough, I'll clean it up at year-end." We need someone who says: "All three accounts reconciled as of the 5th. Close checklist complete, books closed day 8. Two variances found and resolved — one duplicate vendor payment recovered, one miscoded expense reclassified. Cash report and close summary are in the folder. AR over 60 days is down to two accounts, both with follow-up dates." That is the difference. Role Mission Your mission is to make the numbers trustworthy and make them fast. You are the person who makes sure the owner can look at a report on the 10th and actually believe it. You are the person who makes sure the CPA has nothing to clean up. You are the person who catches the duplicate, the miscode, the missing receipt, and the invoice that has been sitting unpaid for 74 days while everyone assumed someone else was on it. You will work between operators, vendors, customers, and the CPA or finance lead to keep the books accurate, current, and documented. You are not just entering transactions. You are protecting the accuracy the whole business runs on. What You'll Own 1. Transaction Coding and Reconciliation You will own the daily accuracy of the books. You will be responsible for: Coding transactions correctly and consistently — the same expense hits the same account every time Reconciling accounts on a set monthly cadence, not when someone remembers to ask Investigating variances instead of forcing a balance Catching duplicates, miscodes, and missing documentation before they compound Keeping the chart of accounts clean rather than adding a new account every time something is unclear Flagging anything that looks wrong, even when it is technically not your call A reconciliation with an unexplained variance is not a reconciliation. It is a note to your future self. 2. AP, AR, Invoicing, and Collections You will own the money moving in and the money moving out. You will be responsible for: Processing accounts payable accurately and on time Invoicing customers correctly and promptly — a late invoice is a late payment Following up on collections without being asked to, and without being timid about it Managing invoice workflows end to end, from receipt through approval through payment Vendor follow-up: missing bills, wrong amounts, unanswered questions, duplicate charges Aging AR and AP with real owners and real follow-up dates attached Nobody enjoys collections. Do them anyway. The invoice that has been unpaid for 90 days is not going to chase itself. 3. Month-End Close You will run the close on a tight, consistent cadence. You will be responsible for: Month-end prep starting before month-end, not after it Running the close checklist completely — every line, every month Closing books on schedule, every single month Producing a close summary that says what happened, what changed, and what needs attention Keeping the cadence stable enough that the owner can plan around it Our standard is books closed by day 10 or faster. Every month. Not most months. If something will push the close, the owner hears about it before the deadline — not after. 4. Reporting and Cash Visibility You will deliver recurring finance reports on schedule. You will be responsible for: Recurring finance reports, delivered on cadence without a reminder Cash updates that are current, clear, and useful to a non-accountant Close summaries the owner can actually read Flagging what is worth their attention — an unusual expense, a spike, a trend, an aging problem Presenting the number and what it means, not just the number A report nobody reads is a report you built wrong. 5. Documentation and CPA Readiness You will keep the books and documentation ready for the owner, CPA, or finance lead at all times. You will be responsible for: Receipts, backup, and documentation attached where they belong Notes explaining anything non-obvious — the weird transaction, the one-off, the judgment call Books that any competent accountant could pick up cold and understand Nothing living only in your head, your email, or a folder on your desktop Being ready for review on any day, not just the days you were told to be ready The test is simple: if you disappeared tomorrow, could someone else run these books next week? Our Core Values and Mindset We care a lot about fit. Skills matter, but mindset matters more. 1. The Number Is Either Right or It Isn't There is no "roughly reconciled." We need someone who does not let a variance slide, does not force a balance, and does not plan to fix it later. Later is how books become expensive. 2. Own It Ownership means the problem does not have to be your fault for it to become your responsibility. If a vendor invoice is wrong, you do not just note it. You chase it until it is right. You do not get to say, "I emailed them" and wash your hands of it. 3. Document It or It Did Not Happen Every judgment call, every reclass, every one-off, every unusual transaction — documented, dated, explained. We are not running a business on your memory. Your memory is not auditable. 4. Communicate Early and Honestly Bad news early is useful. Bad news late is expensive — and in finance, it is expensive in a way that shows up in a tax filing. If the close is going to slip, say it before the deadline. If you found a mistake — yours or anyone's — surface it immediately. If you are not sure how something should be coded, ask before you guess. Nobody has ever been fired here for finding a problem. 5. The Deadline Is a Real Thing Month-end is not a suggestion. Close is not "when I get to it." We need someone who treats a cadence as a commitment and builds their month backwards from it. 6. Make the Company Better We are not hiring you to maintain broken systems. If the coding conventions are inconsistent, the close checklist is missing steps, the AR follow-up is nonexistent, or the same vendor issue keeps recurring — speak up and help fix it. What Success Looks Like You are winning in this role if: Books close by day 10 or faster, every month, without a fire drill Accounts reconcile with zero unexplained variances Transactions are coded consistently enough that reports are comparable month over month The owner gets cash updates and close summaries on schedule without asking The CPA opens the books and finds nothing to clean up AR aging is shrinking, and every old invoice has an owner and a follow-up date Vendors are paid correctly, once, on time Documentation is complete enough that someone else could take over next week Problems surface early, from you, before they become expensive The owner stops worrying about whether the numbers are right Requirements Required Qualifications Please do not apply unless you meet these requirements. 3+ years full-cycle bookkeeping or accounting support 2+ years hands-on with QuickBooks Online and/or Xero Reconciled 3+ accounts monthly for at least 12 months Managed $100k+ in monthly transaction volume, or 150+ transactions per month Closed books by day 10 or faster for 6 straight months, OR managed 10+ client books simultaneously Fluent written and spoken English at a professional level Strong organization skills with a real personal system for tracking deadlines and open items Ability to work independently against a fixed monthly cadence Professional home office setup and reliable internet Introductory video submission — required as part of the recruitment process Must be available Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–6:00 PM in PST, CST, or EST These numbers are not decorative. If you cannot point to where in your work history each one happened, please do not apply. Preferred Qualifications These are not all required, but they are a big plus. Experience supporting franchise, multi-location, or multi-entity businesses Experience with U.S.-based clients, U.S. GAAP basics, or U.S. tax-prep support Experience working directly with a CPA or external accountant Experience in a bookkeeping firm or outsourced accounting environment Experience with collections and AR aging cleanup Experience building or improving a close checklist Experience with payroll processing or payroll reconciliation Bookkeeping or accounting certification (QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Xero Advisor, CPA/CMA track, or local equivalent) Experience improving a process, not just following one Tools You May Use You do not need to know all of these, but you need to be tech-comfortable and able to learn quickly. QuickBooks Online / Xero Bill.com, Ramp, Expensify, Dext, Hubdoc, or similar AP and receipt tools Gmail / Google Workspace Google Sheets / Excel (comfortable, not just "familiar") Gusto, ADP, or other payroll platforms Stripe, Square, or other payment processors Slack, WhatsApp, or other internal messaging tools Zoom / Google Meet Loom or similar video tools If learning a new tool stresses you out, this is probably not your seat. Who This Role Is Perfect For This role is perfect for someone who: Gets a small amount of joy from a reconciliation that ties out clean Is bothered by an unexplained variance in a way that will not let them sleep Closes on time because that is who they are, not because someone is watching Chases an unpaid invoice without being asked twice Can explain a number to an owner who does not read financial statements Notices when something looks off, even when it technically balances Keeps documentation good enough that anyone could pick it up Wants exposure to how real U.S. operators run and scale Who This Role Is NOT For This role is not for someone who: Forces a balance to make it go away Plans to "clean it up at year-end" Waits quietly when a coding question is unclear Treats month-end as a rough target Avoids collections because they feel awkward Leaves documentation for later, which means never Needs a manager checking in daily Wants a slow, quiet back-office seat This is an ownership role. You will have support and a CPA to escalate to, but you must bring accuracy, urgency, and follow-through. Benefits Schedule Remote, supporting U.S.-based operators and franchise businesses. Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–6:00 PM (PST, CST, or EST). Your assigned time zone will be confirmed during the interview process. Month-end is heavier than mid-month. That is the job. Compensation $1,250 USD/month for the first 90 days. $1,500 USD/month after. Benefits: Faster Hiring Process — we move quickly, communicate clearly, and don't leave candidates guessing Better Role Matching — you are placed where you can actually perform and grow, not just fill a seat Real Upside — strong performers unlock raises, long-term stability, and future opportunities Work With U.S. Operators — direct exposure to franchise owners and operators focused on growth and execution Real Ownership — your work directly impacts operations. Less bureaucracy, more responsibility from day one Multi-Location Exposure — work across multiple franchise locations and learn how scalable operations actually run