Senior Accountant — Greater Los Angeles, California | Pacific Executive Search

Senior Accountant

(Job ID: 1994)

Greater Los Angeles, California

On-Site

Direct Hire

Fin Serv - Investment

$110,000 – $120,000 base

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Overview

A seasoned accounting professional will find a distinctive challenge managing the financial and operational accounting functions within a specialized private credit platform overseeing approximately $400 million in assets. This role offers direct collaboration with senior finance leadership and external partners, including fund administrators and auditors, in a compact team setting based in Los Angeles. The position demands a CPA or CPA candidate with a solid foundation in fund accounting, treasury operations, and financial reporting under U.S. GAAP, ready to engage beyond traditional accounting boundaries.

Title: Senior Accountant
Industry: Private Equity
Location: Greater Los Angeles

Responsibilities

Oversee and maintain the accounting records for the general partner and management entity, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
Collaborate with third-party fund administrators to reconcile fund books and maintain shadow accounting ledgers.
Prepare and review journal entries, account reconciliations, and detailed supporting schedules to facilitate month-end and year-end closes.
Manage high-value domestic and international wire transfers, monitor cash flows, and support treasury functions including capital calls and distributions.
Coordinate and respond to investor due diligence questionnaires and operational inquiries, liaising with auditors, legal counsel, and service providers.
Facilitate communication between investment teams, finance, compliance, and external partners to ensure seamless operational workflows.
Support administrative and office management tasks, including vendor coordination and event planning, contributing to firm-wide initiatives.

Qualifications

Must-Have:
- CPA certification or active CPA candidate status.
- Minimum of five years’ experience in accounting roles within alternative investments such as private credit, private equity, hedge funds, or fund accounting.
- Proven expertise in fund accounting, management company accounting, and treasury operations.
- Strong knowledge of U.S. GAAP and financial reporting standards.
- Experience working directly with fund administrators, auditors, and investment teams in a lean, entrepreneurial environment.
- Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and ability to manage multiple priorities under deadlines.
Nice-to-Have:
- Background in public accounting, especially with Big Four or reputable regional CPA firms.
- Familiarity with investor due diligence processes and operational compliance within private credit or asset-backed lending sectors.
- Experience supporting treasury functions involving large wire transfers and cash management.
- Strong communication skills to effectively interface across departments and external service providers.

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 are finance and accounting roles in private equity-backed companies different?
Because the expectations are usually sharper. These environments often involve more pace, more visibility, more accountability, and more change than slower-moving businesses. Candidates are often expected to produce cleaner reporting, better discipline, and faster adaptation while operating under leadership that is highly focused on results. Pacific Executive Search's private equity insights explain why these environments require more specialized hiring.
Is the CPA really required for roles like this?
Sometimes yes, and often functionally yes even when the posting says "preferred." At leadership levels especially, the CPA frequently acts as a credibility signal for hiring managers, auditors, lenders, investors, or boards. There are exceptions, but in many accounting searches it remains one of the clearest markers of technical foundation.
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.