Assistant Controller (Experienced Accounting Manager)

Company Overview

NextKey Services is a US-based outsourced accounting and finance firm serving small to mid-sized companies across the US. We help entrepreneurs use finance and accounting as a tool for better decisions, and we go deep with our clients rather than running a fixed set of tasks on repeat. As our clients grow, expand, acquire, and sell, their accounting needs change, and our team grows with them.

We are adding an Experienced Accounting Manager (Assistant Controller) to support our team on complex client engagements. This is someone who knows accounting deeply, leads the people doing the work, and still rolls up their sleeves on the hardest issues.

Position Summary

This is a hands-on technical accounting manager role. You will partner with a Senior Manager on a focused set of complex client engagements, leading the accounting on those engagements and the staff accountants assigned to them. Your Senior Manager leads the client relationship and engagement direction, and you lead the accounting.

We are looking for someone with experience in the financial services industry, specifically lending, who understands loan accounting, debt accounting, multi-entity structures, audit preparation, and complex accruals. You take ownership of your work and accountability for its quality, and you can clearly explain the accounting behind a number to a Senior Manager, an auditor, or a client.

As our clients grow and scale, their accounting takes on new complexity. This role suits someone who is curious, enjoys a continually challenging work environment from an accounting perspective, and likes sharing that knowledge with the team around them.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the accounting lead on assigned client engagements, partnering with a Senior Manager who leads the client relationship, advisory work, and engagement direction.
• Keep client deliverables on track, including when Senior Managers are focused on special projects.
• Lead the monthly, quarterly, and year-end close for your engagements, with clear documentation and support for the numbers we deliver to clients.
• Work hands-on through complex accounting for our clients, including loan and debt accounting, multi- entity and intercompany accounting, consolidations, and complex accruals.
• Perform analytical review of client financials each period, confirming they flow sensibly month to month and investigating anything that looks unusual.
• Support clients through their annual audits, including preparing schedules, working with auditors, and resolving proposed adjustments.
• Lead and develop the staff accountants on your engagements, reviewing their work for technical accuracy and coaching them on the reasoning behind it.
• Use sound judgment on unclear issues, raise questions early, and bring recommendations to your Senior Manager.
• Help clients adapt their accounting as they grow, whether converting to accrual, adding entities, or taking on new financing.
• Communicate with clients, auditors, and other advisors on technical matters as appropriate to the engagement.

Key Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• 8+ years of hands-on accounting experience, including at least 2 years reviewing others’ work and leading staff on complex engagements.
• Hands-on experience in each of the following:
• Financial services accounting, specifically lending including loan and debt accounting, and loan portfolio or fund accounting.
• Multi-entity and intercompany accounting, including consolidations.◦ Audit preparation and support, from building schedules through resolving auditor adjustments.
• Thorough command of US GAAP and accrual accounting, with the curiosity to research and resolve issues you have not seen before.
• Strong analytical review skills: you notice when a balance or trend looks unusual, and you find out why.
• Comfortable making judgment calls with incomplete information and raising questions early.
• Experience developing staff by explaining the reasoning behind the work.
• Strong proficiency in QuickBooks Online and Excel.
• Tech-forward and adaptable: hands-on experience using AI tools such as Claude in your work. We use AI every day.
• Strong, proactive written and verbal communication, with regular updates throughout the day.
• Available to work US business hours in Eastern or Central Time, including afternoons.
• Based in the US, with reliable equipment and internet suitable for fully…