Accounting Manager

Client Controller — Remote Accounting Firm (Interior Design Niche)

Location: Fully Remote (U.S.) Job Type: Full-time, W-2 Schedule: 35-hour work week Pay: $100,000 to start · $110,000 at 90 days · $120,000 at one year

A 35-hour week. And a firm that specializes in something almost nobody else does.

If you're a Client Controller in public accounting, you already know the trade: the money is fine, the work is interesting, and it costs you your calendar. Sixty-hour weeks from January to April. Clients who call at 9pm. A book so broad you're relearning a new industry every time you open a file.

This role is a different arrangement.

We're recruiting on behalf of a boutique accounting firm — that built its entire practice around one industry: interior design. Ninety-five percent of their clients are design studios. Job costing, client deposits, vendor procurement, progress billing, inventory — the things that make design-firm books genuinely hard, this firm has spent twelve years getting right.

That focus is why they don't compete on price, why clients stay for years, and why the owner is now looking for a Client Controller who could eventually become far more than an employee here.

Why this one is worth a conversation

• Fully remote since day one. The whole company is distributed. No hybrid drift, no return-to-office memo waiting in the wings.
• A rare specialty. Design-industry accounting is a real niche with a short list of people who know it. Every year you spend here makes you harder to replace.
• You lead a team, not just a book. Three Client Success Managers report to you, each with a dedicated assistant. The firm's team-of-three client model is the reason their retention is what it is.
• Succession is on the table. The owner is thinking about who eventually takes the firm forward. If long-term ownership interests you, this is a conversation worth having early. (We'll discuss the specifics directly.)
• A new tax services line is launching. You'll help shape it rather than inherit it.

What you'll actually do

• Review and finalize monthly financial statements across a book of roughly 60–65 client accounts
• Lead monthly and quarterly CFO-level calls with design-studio principals — advising, not just reporting
• Manage and coach three Client Success Managers, developing them toward their own next seat
• Serve as the escalation point for client issues on your accounts
• Partner directly with the Owner/CEO on firm strategy, process, and growth - Support the launch and delivery of the firm's new tax services offering - Own quality across the accounting stack: QuickBooks Online, Keeper, and integrated payment platforms including Stripe, Shopify, and Square
• What you bring

Required

• 5+ years of accounting experience - CPA license or CPA-eligible — valued, not required- Interior design, creative-industry, or construction accounting background
• Bachelor's degree
• Client write-up experience in a CPA firm or client accounting services (CAS) environment - High-volume financial statement review
• Comfort leading client-facing advisory conversations with polished, senior professionals - Demonstrated ability to learn new software quickly — this is genuinely the skill that has separated people who thrived here from people who didn't
• QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor certification before your start date — the firm pays for it if you don't have it yet

Nice to have (not required)

• Job costing, WIP, or progress billing experience
• Prior experience managing a small team
• Familiarity with Studio Designer, Houzz Pro, or Dext

Who thrives here

• The firm is candid about what they're looking for, so we will be too. The people who succeed in this seat:
• Take ownership. They finish the task. They treat the book like it's theirs, because functionally it is.
• Are genuinely good with people. Clients are creative professionals billing $300–$500 an hour. They expect that level of presence in return — and they notice when they get it.
• Learn software fast and without complaint. The stack is connected and it evolves. - Are playing a long game. This firm is building something durable and wants someone who wants to be part of it in five years, not five months.

Compensation & benefits

• Salary: $100,000 to start → $110,000 at 90 days → $120,000 at one year - 401(k) with safe harbor match (eligible after one year)
• QSEHRA health reimbursement — $450/month
• 35-hour work week
• Fully remote

Pay: $100,000.00 - $120,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Health insurance

Work Location: Remote