Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Corporate Accounting Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Corporate Accounting Manager owns the integrity of the company's accounting functions — managing the month-end close, statutory and management reporting, general ledger maintenance, and accounting policy. This role leads a team of accountants, partners with Finance and Business leaders, ensures compliance with GAAP/IFRS and SOX, and continuously improves accounting processes, systems and controls to scale with business growth.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Accountant (General Ledger / Financial Reporting)
Accounting Supervisor or Accounting Team Lead
Financial Analyst with strong accounting exposure

Advancement To:

Director of Accounting / Accounting Director
Corporate Controller
Head of Finance / VP of Finance

Lateral Moves:

FP&A Manager / Director, Financial Planning & Analysis
External or Internal Audit Manager
Tax Manager (corporate tax accounting)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the monthly, quarterly and annual close cycle end-to-end: prepare and review journal entries, account reconciliations, and consolidation adjustments to ensure accurate and timely financial statements for management and external reporting in compliance with GAAP and/or IFRS.
Manage and coach a team of general ledger accountants and financial reporting staff, conducting regular performance reviews, assigning work, developing training plans, and ensuring coverage of core accounting processes.
Own preparation of consolidated financial statements and supporting schedules for multi-entity and multi-currency environments, including intercompany elimination and foreign currency translation.
Drive SOX/internal control programs: document controls, perform control testing, remediate deficiencies, and liaise with internal and external auditors to support compliance and audit readiness.
Prepare and present monthly variance analysis and commentary for key P&L and balance sheet accounts, identifying trends, risks and opportunities to senior finance leadership and business partners.
Oversee account reconciliations and balance sheet integrity: establish reconciliation standards, enforce timely completion, and investigate and resolve unreconciled items and aged reconciling items.
Implement and maintain accounting policies and procedures, ensuring consistency across entities and alignment with GAAP/IFRS, including new accounting standards implementation (e.g., ASC 606, ASC 842, IFRS 16).
Coordinate with external auditors during annual and interim audits: provide schedules, support testing, respond to requests, and drive timely resolution of audit findings.
Manage fixed asset accounting, capitalization and depreciation policies, periodic physical asset verification and reconciliation of fixed asset subsidiary ledgers to the general ledger.
Lead revenue accounting and recognition activities: evaluate contracts, maintain revenue recognition support, and ensure correct application of ASC 606/IFRS 15 where applicable.
Supervise intercompany accounting and treasury interfaces: reconcile intercompany balances, manage intercompany billing and settlements, and coordinate cash or treasury reporting as needed.
Own tax provision support activities: provide balance sheet and P&L support for tax provisioning (ASC 740), coordinate with corporate tax teams, and prepare schedules required for tax compliance and planning.
Improve accounting processes and close efficiency: lead process improvement initiatives, standardize accounting procedures, and implement automation (e.g., ERP configuration, month-end checklists, RPA where applicable).
Configure and steward ERP and financial systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite) with finance and IT teams: support chart of accounts design, period close automation, master data governance and reporting enhancements.
Prepare journal entries, accruals, prepayments and adjusting entries; ensure appropriate documentation and approvals consistent with accounting policies.
Perform technical accounting research and evaluation for complex transactions, M&A activity, leases, stock-based compensation and other non-routine items; prepare memos and recommendations for management.
Deliver statutory reporting and local GAAP compliance support for jurisdictions where the company operates, liaising with local accounting resources or external advisors.
Collaborate with FP&A, treasury, tax, legal and business unit leaders to deliver accurate forecasts, budgets, cash flow analysis and business partnering insights.
Develop and monitor key accounting and finance KPIs (close cycle times, reconciliation aging, error rates) and drive corrective actions to improve accuracy and timeliness.
Lead or support financial due diligence, carve-outs, post-merger integration and accounting of business combinations including purchase accounting and goodwill calculations.
Ensure controls and processes for accounts payable, accounts receivable and payroll interfaces are maintained and reconciled to the general ledger.
Manage special projects such as system implementations, process harmonization across regions, or transition to shared services centers, ensuring minimal disruption to close activities.
Act as primary point of contact for finance-related requests from executive leadership, board committees and external stakeholders, delivering clear, accurate and timely information.
Oversee compliance with regulatory reporting requirements and investor reporting packages where applicable (e.g., financial statement disclosures, management packs).
Build a continuous learning environment: mentor team members on technical accounting standards, professional development and career growth opportunities.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc analysis and special accounting projects requested by Finance leadership, such as contract accounting reviews or one-time adjustments for corporate initiatives.
Partner with IT to implement or test accounting-related system changes, upgrades and integrations to ensure transaction flows and reconciliations remain intact.
Participate in cross-functional project teams to define accounting impacts of new products, markets, or service offerings and help design appropriate accounting treatments.
Assist with management reporting pack preparation for executive leadership, investors or the board, including narrative explanations and supporting schedules.
Support continuous improvement initiatives: document workflows, update process maps, and roll out change-management communications to accounting stakeholders.
Provide training sessions and reference materials to non-accounting stakeholders to improve financial literacy and ensure correct recording of business transactions.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Deep knowledge of GAAP and/or IFRS technical accounting, including experience implementing new accounting standards (e.g., ASC 606, ASC 842, IFRS 15/16).
Consolidations and multi-entity financial reporting experience, including intercompany eliminations and foreign currency translation.
Month-end, quarter-end and year-end close management and execution with demonstrated ability to shorten close cycles.
Strong general ledger and subledger expertise: reconciliations, journal entry preparation, accruals, fixed assets, and prepaids.
Experience with SOX compliance, internal control frameworks and audit support (both internal and external).
Proficiency in ERP and financial systems (experience with SAP, Oracle EBS/Cloud, NetSuite, Workday Financials or similar).
Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, Power Query), financial modeling and reporting automation.
Familiarity with financial consolidation tools (e.g., Oracle FCCS, Hyperion, OneStream, NetSuite OneWorld).
Experience with tax provision support (ASC 740) and coordination with tax teams for provision and compliance.
Knowledge of lease accounting, stock-based compensation accounting and complex revenue recognition.
Experience supporting M&A accounting, purchase accounting and post-merger integrations.
Ability to use data query tools or business intelligence tools (e.g., SQL, Power BI, Tableau) to extract and analyze accounting data.
Strong documentation skills for accounting memos, policies, reconciliations and audit evidence.

Soft Skills

Leadership and people management: coaching, delegation, performance development and building high-performing teams.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with an ability to synthesize complex information and present actionable recommendations.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills; able to present financial results and technical accounting matters to non-accounting stakeholders and executives.
Detail-oriented with a high degree of accuracy and commitment to data integrity and compliance.
Stakeholder management and business partnering: ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive alignment.
Project management skills: planning, prioritization, execution and delivering accounting projects on schedule.
Change management and continuous improvement mindset with a focus on process standardization and automation.
Time management and the ability to work under tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Ethical judgment and integrity in handling confidential financial information.
Adaptability and resilience to manage shifting priorities and growth-related accounting complexities.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics or a related field.

Preferred Education:

CPA, CMA or equivalent professional accounting certification.
Master's degree in Accounting, Finance or MBA considered a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Accounting
Finance
Business Administration
Economics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

5–10+ years of progressive accounting experience, with at least 2–4 years in a supervisory or management role.

Preferred:

7+ years of corporate accounting experience in multi-entity or multinational companies.
Demonstrated experience leading SOX/compliance programs, external audits, ERP implementations and accounting for complex transactions such as revenue recognition, leases and M&A.