Senior Accountant — Remote, California | Pacific Executive Search

Senior Accountant

(Job ID: 1989)

Remote, California

Off-Site

Direct Hire

Real Estate

$85,000 – $110,000 base

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Overview

A boutique financial advisory firm specializing in real estate accounting is expanding its remote team to support a diverse portfolio that includes REITs, healthcare, and educational properties. This position centers on property-level and joint venture accounting, with opportunities to engage in treasury management and payment processing across multiple asset classes. Candidates with a strong background in real estate accounting and hands-on experience managing intercompany transactions will find this role both challenging and rewarding.

Title: Senior Accountant
Industry: Financial Advisory Services
Location: Remote

Responsibilities

Manage comprehensive property-level accounting activities across various real estate asset types, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
Oversee joint venture and upstream entity accounting, including intercompany reconciliations and partner financial reporting.
Support accounts payable operations by reviewing, coding, and processing invoices, as well as handling vendor communications and payment issues.
Assist with treasury functions such as initiating wire transfers, monitoring cash balances, and performing bank reconciliations.
Prepare and deliver monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements tailored to client-specific accounting methods, including cash, accrual, and tax bases.
Serve as a primary contact for bookkeeping, payment inquiries, and client reporting, adapting to diverse accounting systems and standards.
Contribute to process enhancements, system transitions, and audit preparations as needed to support operational efficiency.

Qualifications

Must-Have:
- Minimum of 3 years’ experience in property accounting with proven expertise in joint venture or upstream entity accounting.
- Proficient in Yardi, with familiarity in other platforms such as MRI, QuickBooks, or AppFolio considered a plus.
- Strong understanding of cash, accrual, and tax-basis accounting principles relevant to real estate.
- Demonstrated capability in accounts payable, payment processing, and treasury operations including wire transfers.
- Exceptional attention to detail and ability to manage high-volume transaction environments independently.
- Effective written and verbal communication skills suitable for remote client interactions.
Nice-to-Have:
- Experience supporting fund accounting activities.
- Background in audit support or financial reporting process improvements.
- Comfort with system migrations and adapting to evolving client accounting technologies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do companies mis-hire at the Senior Accountant level?
Because they hire based on task lists instead of ownership. Two candidates may both mention reconciliations, journal entries, and close support, but only one has truly owned balance sheet areas, resolved issues independently, worked directly with auditors, and operated with minimal supervision. Titles vary widely in the market. Ownership is the more reliable signal.
When is a Senior Accountant actually ready for promotion?
Usually when they stop simply executing assigned work and start identifying issues before they surface. Promotion to Accounting Manager or a broader leadership track is less about how many close tasks someone can perform and more about whether they have become a source of reliability, judgment, and escalation control.
Why do accounting roles in real estate often require a different kind of operator?
Because entity structures, property-level reporting, intercompany activity, partnership considerations, and ownership reporting can create a more structurally complex environment than many standard corporate settings. Real estate accounting roles usually demand a candidate who understands the operating rhythm of the business, not just the debits and credits.
How do strong candidates typically evaluate opportunities like this?
Strong candidates rarely evaluate a role based on title alone. They look at what the position actually owns, how the function is viewed internally, whether the environment is stable or in transition, and what success will realistically look like in the first 6 to 12 months. Many first discover a role through a posting, but the strongest career decisions usually come from understanding the context behind the opportunity, not just the job description. In accounting and finance hiring, that level of context is often what separates a lateral move from a meaningful one. Learn more about how strategic accounting and finance searches differ from transactional recruiting.