Senior Accountant

About Vizhen Books

Vizhen Books is a modern bookkeeping and financial advisory firm serving small and mid-sized businesses across Canada and the United States. We pair clean, technology-driven bookkeeping with proactive advisory work that helps founders make better decisions. We are a tight-knit team headquartered in Oakville, ON, growing quickly, and looking for a senior leader to help scale the practice with us.

The Role

We are looking for a CPA-designated Senior Accountant or Manager who can own the full client experience: lead new client onboarding, oversee service delivery for a portfolio of files, and mentor a small team of junior bookkeepers and accountants. You will work directly with the Founder on advisory engagements, process improvements, and quality control.

This is a high-trust role with a clear path to Controller / Practice Manager as we grow. The right person enjoys both the technical side of accounting and the people side of building a team and partnering with clients.

What You’ll Do

• Client onboarding: lead the intake, scoping, and onboarding of new clients (Canadian and US SMBs), including cleanup engagements and system setup.

• Service delivery: review monthly and quarterly files prepared by junior team members. Sign off on financials, working papers, and reconciliations.

• Canadian compliance: oversee GST/HST filings, payroll remittances, T2 corporate tax preparation, and coordinate with our tax partners on complex returns.

• US compliance: support US client work including sales tax, 1120 corporate filings, and payroll deliverables (with US tax partner support as needed).

• Advisory / CFO services: deliver monthly management reporting, KPI dashboards, cash flow forecasts, and quarterly business reviews for advisory clients.

• Team leadership: coach, review work, run weekly check-ins, and help build SOPs and training material for two to four junior team members.

• Process and tech: identify automation opportunities across QBO, Xero, Dext, and our practice management workflow. Drive efficiency without sacrificing quality.

• AI in your day-to-day: use AI tools daily (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and AI features inside QBO, Xero, Dext, and Karbon) to draft client communications, research technical positions, review working papers, categorize transactions, and speed up file preparation. You should already be doing this in your current role and eager to push it further with us.

• Client relationships: act as the primary point of contact for a portfolio of clients. Build trust and translate financial information into plain-language guidance.

What You Bring

• CPA designation (Canada or US) in good standing.

• 5–7 years of progressive experience in public practice or a multi-client bookkeeping/advisory firm.

• Strong working knowledge of GST/HST, payroll source deductions, T2 corporate tax, and ASPE.

• Exposure to US small business compliance (sales tax, 1120, payroll) is required or a strong willingness to learn quickly.

• Hands-on expertise with QuickBooks Online and Xero. Comfort with Dext / Hubdoc and modern app stacks.

• Active, daily use of AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or equivalent) in your current work — for drafting client emails, tax and technical research, reviewing files, categorizing transactions, and building SOPs. This is a must, not a nice-to-have. You should be able to walk us through specific AI workflows you rely on today.

• Demonstrated experience reviewing junior staff work and managing client deliverables to deadline.

• Clear, warm written and verbal communication. You can explain a balance sheet to a non-financial founder.

• Comfortable working hybrid with one in-person day per week at our Oakville office.

Nice to Have

• Experience with cross-border tax considerations and HST elections.

• Background advising clients in professional services, e-commerce, SaaS, or trades.

• Familiarity with Karbon, Double, Financial Cents, or similar practice management tools.

• Prior experience scaling a bookkeeping team or building SOPs from scratch.

• Experience building custom AI workflows or automations (Zapier + AI, Karbon AI, Puzzle, Keeper, Uncat, or similar).

What We Offer

• Competitive base commensurate with experience.

• Performance bonus tied to firm growth and client satisfaction.

• Health benefits

• Hybrid schedule: one day per week in Oakville, the rest remote.

• Modern tech stack and a culture that values clean books, client trust, and continuous improvement.

• A clear leadership path as the firm grows.

How to Apply

Send your resume and a short note about why this role caught your eye to ***email_hidden*** with the subject line “Senior Accountant – [Your Name]”. We review applications on a rolling basis and aim to close this role within the next four weeks.