Corporate Accountant
Keeps the books: the close, the reconciliations, accounts payable and receivable, and the file the auditor will ask for.
Who to hire
The shape of person who does this job well — and whether you should be hiring it at all yet.
The first finance hire in most companies, often part time, and the one that most reliably pays for itself — a clean set of books is the difference between a two-week diligence and a two-month one.
Education
Accounting diploma or degree, or a designation in progress. For bookkeeping-level work, experience with your accounting system matters more.
Experience
3+ years including monthly closes they ran themselves. Ask how long their close takes and what the longest step is; the answer tells you whether they improve processes or endure them.
Vertical / domain experience
Light. Your industry's chart of accounts and billing model are learnable in a month. Multi-entity and multi-currency experience matters more than industry.
What it pays, roughly
$83,949 median, Canada — for Auditors, accountants and investment professionals, the closest occupation Statistics Canada actually measures, measured from $75,005 to $90,002 over 391,235 people. That occupation is broader than this role, so read it as an anchor, not a salary band — and note that a startup usually pays below it in cash and above it in equity.
Credentials and certifications
What exists, who issues it, and whether it means anything for this seat. A credential is evidence of a floor, never of judgment — and in a few of these roles it is a legal requirement rather than a nice-to-have.
| Credential | Issued by | When it matters |
|---|---|---|
| CPA (or in progress) | CPA Canada / AICPA | In progress is normal and fine at this level. |
| CPB — Certified Professional Bookkeeper | CPB Canada | For the bookkeeping version of this seat. |
| Accounting system certifications | Your accounting vendor | Practical and verifiable. |
What this role does at each stage
The same title means three different jobs depending on how much money is in the bank. Read the stage you are at, then read the next one — that is what you are hiring toward.
A bookkeeper for a few hours a month. The founder still reads the bank statement line by line.
Part-time or first full-time accountant. Monthly close on a calendar, every account reconciled, receipts attached to transactions as they happen.
A small team under a controller, with AP approval limits and a close that finishes in days rather than weeks.
Can one person hold this and something else?
The whole point of the many-hats problem: which of these jobs merge safely into one person, and which merges quietly cost you money or control.
Merges well with
- Manager, Technical Accounting and Reporting
- Payroll Administrator (Operations)
- Chief Financial Officer (Founders & fractional leadership)
Bookkeeping plus payroll plus AP in one person is normal and sensible under 30 people. The control to keep: someone other than that person approves payments and reviews the bank reconciliation.
Keep separate from
Whoever records transactions should not also hold sole banking authority — the most common small-company fraud pattern.
Reading a candidate
What good looks like in an hour, and what should stop the process.
Good signals
- Reconciles everything, including the awkward accounts
- Keeps a close checklist and shortens it
- Flags unusual transactions without being asked
Red flags
- Close takes three weeks and always has
- Receipts collected at year-end
- No interest in why a number moved
What this role runs on
The software categories this seat lives in, each linked to the screen of who sells it — the incumbent, the challengers and what the lock-in is.
This role on a real job board
How a funded company words it. These are Pebl’s own open listings, quoted as published.
- Senior Accountant, Corporate Accounting · Bengaluru, India
Source: Pebl careers, retrieved 2026-10-09.