Role Overview

Kirby Creative Accounting is seeking a highly capable Senior Client Advisory & Integration Specialist to serve as a long-term owner of client relationships and a strategic integrator across our accounting, advisory, and operations teams. This senior, trust-based role is critical for protecting client relationships and creating stability as the firm scales. You will ensure financial clarity and continuity for clients, act as a thought partner to leadership, and drive operational excellence. This position demands someone who can think like a CFO, communicate like a CSM, and execute like an operator, removing the CEO as the default integrator and building a scalable, repeatable client experience.

Employee Value Proposition

Your work is vital to KCA's mission: building a sustainable firm that delivers exceptional financial clarity without chasing growth for the sake of growth. You will own the client experience, drive operational improvements, and protect our long-term client relationships. By serving as a trusted advisor and removing the CEO as the default integrator, you give clients confidence in their numbers and give our internal team the clarity they need to thrive.

As a Senior Specialist, you will have significant room to grow inside a firm that values stewardship over corporate ladder-climbing. You will deepen your expertise across real estate accounting, strategy, and operations, working alongside leadership and diverse clients. We hire capable adults and give them full autonomy to manage their work. For proven long-term contributors, this role offers potential for profit-sharing or equity as you help us build something worth being proud of.

We believe that building a successful business should never require sacrificing your health, your family, or your life outside of work. Burnout is not a badge of honor here. If you are motivated by high autonomy, honest communication, direct client impact, and working with a close-knit team that puts family first, KCA offers an environment where you are respected as a human being—not just for what you produce.

Major Performance Objectives

Establish Baseline Capacity & Scoping for Profitable Growth

Within the first 90 days, the Senior Specialist will establish a robust framework for assessing client needs, accurately scoping cleanups, and coordinating with the delivery team to define KCA's baseline capacity for new client intake. This objective focuses on building a reliable, repeatable process for client acquisition without hard sales quotas initially. Success will be measured by the successful establishment of this baseline, setting accurate baseline estimates alongside the Head of Bookkeeping, efficiency of coordination with the delivery team, and client satisfaction with the initial scoping process, setting the stage for profitable, capacity-gated growth. The potential for future compensation performance components tied to profitable client acquisition and successful client outcomes will be considered after this baseline is established.

Standardize Client Integration & First-Six-Call Journey

By the end of the first year, develop and implement a standardized, yet flexible, Client Journey from initial inquiry through the first six client meetings. The Client Journey will include these six components:

• Cleanup & Report Review

• Monthly Financial Walkthrough

• Financial Literacy Education (P&L and Balance Sheet)

• Business Goal Setting & Metrics

• Internal Controls & Review Processes

• Progress Review & Future Action Plan

This framework will include agendas, educational materials, follow-up tasks, and clear milestones, adaptable to individual client financial literacy levels. The Senior Specialist will oversee coordination with the delivery team for cleanups, ensuring seamless transitions and a consistent experience. Success will be measured by onboarding completion rates, early client retention, client satisfaction with the first six calls, and the efficiency of transition into ongoing service, fostering a repeatable and scalable client experience.

Enhance Accounting Oversight & Strategic Client Advisory

Within the first six months, implement enhanced accounting oversight protocols to ensure accuracy, timeliness, and clarity in financial reporting for all clients, leading to improvement in the speed of financial interpretation and decision-making for clients. While not directly executing complex cleanups, the Senior Specialist will coordinate and project manage technical accounting issues, reviewing financials for reasonableness, trends, and red flags, supporting budgeting and forecasting conversations, and effectively escalating strategic or tax-related matters to leadership or external partners, positioning KCA as a true strategic financial advisor.

Critical Subtasks

30-60-90 Day Get-Started Action Plan

Within the first 30 days, learn KCA's services, pricing, ideal clients, values, and real estate accounting niche. Understand current workflows, cleanup processes, and team capacity. Shadow discovery calls and client meetings to build industry context. Build relationships with the Head of Bookkeeping and the delivery team, identifying initial bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement.

By day 60, begin leading selected discovery calls, scoping cleanups, coordinating with the Head of Bookkeeping and managing routine pricing within guidelines, establishing initial templates.

By day 90, independently manage routine discovery calls, qualified prospects, cleanup scoping, coordination, and the standardized onboarding process for assigned clients, presenting measurable results and a plan for the next quarter. Success means routine sales, integration, and early client meetings no longer default to the founder.

The Senior Specialist is expected to "challenge leadership and offer direct feedback" during their first 90 days.

Technical Competency & Cleanup Coordination

By the end of the first quarter, demonstrate robust technical accounting judgment by accurately assessing prospective clients' books, identifying cleanup needs, and developing accurate scopes, estimates, and timelines. This will involve shadowing the Head of Bookkeeping and the CEO through 6+ cleanups to build real estate accounting context and then independently coordinating with the delivery team on capacity, handoffs, and delivery, ensuring that sales promises align with the bookkeeping team's actual capacity and 70% utilization cap. This subtask requires the ability to spot missing information (e.g., an unstructured chart of accounts, negative balances in accounts that should reflect positive balances, unreconciled accounts, asset vs. liability misclassifications, items that have been expenses vs. capitalized) and communicate expectations clearly to clients, maintaining scope and estimate accuracy.

Team/Collaboration Milestone (70% Capacity Handoff)

Within the first 60 days, design and implement a standardized protocol for handoffs and collaboration between client advisory, accounting, and delivery teams. This protocol will clarify roles, responsibilities, communication channels, and success metrics, specifically ensuring that all new client intake and project handoffs respect the delivery team's 70% capacity threshold. The goal is to pace client growth to protect the team from burnout. This aims to reduce inter-departmental friction and improve response times to client inquiries within the first four months, ensuring growth does not compromise team well-being or quality.

Process/Systems Milestone

Over the first year, lead the initiative to improve client lifecycle workflows, from onboarding through renewal. This includes mapping current state processes, identifying inefficiencies, and implementing at least three key improvements such as a refined chart of accounts review, a standardized historical cleanup process, and a more robust system setup, reducing onboarding time and improving data accuracy. Contribute to SOPs, playbooks, and quality control standards, supporting tooling decisions across accounting, CRM, and workflow systems.

Strategic Initiative Milestone

On an ongoing quarterly basis, serve as a strategic advisor to the founder and leadership team by providing insights into client health, operational capacity, and resource allocation. Proactively identify potential growth opportunities or warning signs within the client portfolio and contribute to strategic planning sessions, ensuring firm priorities are aligned with operational realities and client needs. Long-term, develop the ability to lead more sophisticated financial advisory conversations, helping clients understand their financial position, identify opportunities and risks, establish goals, and improve their businesses. The goal is to treat clients as long-term partners, not quick financial transactions.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years of professional experience in accounting, bookkeeping, client accounting services, or a related financial role.

• Strong working knowledge of general accounting principles, including reconciliations, financial reporting, and cash versus accrual accounting.

• Proficiency with QuickBooks Online, including reviewing financial records and identifying discrepancies or areas requiring correction.

• Ability to independently review, interpret, and explain financial statements, including balance sheets and profit and loss statements.

• Ability to identify missing financial information, recognize bookkeeping errors, and determine what steps are necessary to resolve accounting issues.

• Experience communicating financial information clearly and professionally to clients, business owners, or other non-accounting stakeholders.

• Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills, with the ability to assess situations, ask thoughtful questions, and exercise sound judgment.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with confidence leading professional conversations.

• Strong organizational and time management skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities, maintain accurate documentation, and follow through on commitments.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office or Google Workspace, particularly Excel or Google Sheets.

• Ability to work independently, take initiative, and collaborate effectively with an established accounting team.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working directly with small-business owners or managing client accounting relationships.

• Previous experience in an outsourced accounting, bookkeeping, CPA, or financial advisory firm.

• Familiarity with bookkeeping cleanup assessments, identifying required corrections, and coordinating work with accounting professionals.

• Experience conducting client consultations, discovery calls, onboarding meetings, or financial review meetings.

• Experience preparing service proposals, discussing pricing, or recommending accounting services based on client needs.

• Familiarity with real estate accounting, including multiple entities, property-level reporting, loans, and intercompany transactions.

• Experience improving workflows, developing standard operating procedures, or coordinating client onboarding processes.

• Previous experience in an accounting management, senior bookkeeping, or client advisory position.

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.

Who We Are & What We Believe

At KCA, being a small firm is one of our greatest strengths. We build lasting client relationships and a supportive team culture grounded in four core values:

Trust: We lead with honesty, accountability, and integrity. We value autonomy, ownership, and the courage to speak up, even when it's uncomfortable.

Care: We meet clients with compassion, clarity, and zero judgment. We extend that same respect and support to our team.

Innovation: We value curious problem-solvers who challenge the status quo, identify inefficiencies, and find better ways to serve clients.

Balance: Family and well-being come first. We will never prioritize growth at the expense of our people.

What This Means for You

You'll thrive here if you're emotionally intelligent, proactive, accountable, and comfortable working independently. We seek someone who values meaningful relationships over transactions and wants to help build a firm we're all proud of.