Staff Accountant

Job Description

Accountant | Goodwin

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at Goodwin. Goodwin is a leading law firm, a 3,932-person organization that partners with successful investors, entrepreneurs, and disruptors across life sciences, private equity, real estate, technology, and financial industries. Joining the Global Operations Team, you will make a real impact on a global scale by supporting critical day-to-day accounting activities and ensuring accurate and timely financial information. This role involves collaborating with diverse colleagues to deliver cutting-edge solutions in high-stakes litigation, regulatory compliance, and complex transactions, driven by a commitment to integrity, ingenuity, agility, and ambition.

The TL;DR
• Role: Early Career
• Type: Full-time
• Pay: $70000–$90000 yearly
• Team: GL accounting team
• Mission: Support global financial operations by managing daily accounting tasks, reconciliations, and reporting, while identifying opportunities for process efficiency and automation.
• Tech Stack: Aderant Expert

What You’ll Actually Do
• Financial Transaction Review: Substantiate financial transactions by reviewing all supporting documentation to ensure they are properly approved, documented, and accurately charged or credited in accordance with firm policies.
• Monthly Close Support: Actively support the monthly close process by timely completing assigned tasks, investigating any variances, and ensuring appropriate resolution.
• Bank and GL Reconciliations: Prepare and reconcile monthly bank and general ledger accounts on a timely basis, investigating any variances and reconciling items to ensure accuracy and appropriate resolution.
• Budgeting and Financial Reporting: Participate in and support budgeting and reforecasting for accounts managed by the Accounting team, and prepare various financial transactions, reconciliations, and reporting, including VAT filing support, statutory book trial balance preparation, and journal entries.
• Audit and Tax Preparation: Assist with the preparation of internal financial reporting, such as financial statements and monthly financial analyses, and support year-end schedules and analyses for external auditors and tax preparers for both domestic and international entities.
• Process Improvement and Backup: Document current accounting procedures, recommend improvements to internal controls and productivity, identify opportunities for efficiency and automation, and provide backup coverage for other team members to ensure continuous operations.

The Must-Haves
• Background: An understanding of core accounting principles is essential for this staff-level role, with a foundation in financial transactions and reporting.
• Experience: Demonstrated ability to manage a high volume of tasks effectively while maintaining meticulous attention to detail and prioritizing responsibilities appropriately. This includes experience communicating professionally with individuals at all levels.
• Skills: Proficient Microsoft Office skills, particularly with Excel; strong attention to detail and organizational capabilities; the ability to analyze financial activity and investigate variances or unusual transactions; and effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Bonus: Knowledge of Aderant Expert financial software; experience with international transactions; and a preferred background in process improvement and automation, particularly identifying opportunities to streamline accounting processes.