OVERVIEW
Small Batch Standard is the premier financial agency built to serve the craft brewing industry. Our team of consultants, accountants, tax specialists and industry experts are here to help breweries grow, profit, and thrive. We do this in order to build deep, successful relationships with the owners and operators who make this industry great.
We’re fully remote, with both team members and clients located all across the U.S. We’ve also made a commitment to running a Calm Company (basecamp.com/books/calm) that supports work-life integration. Here’s a short introduction to our firm: sbstandard.com/about
THE ROLE
We're looking for a full-time, remote Brewery Accountant to join our specialized team. The main objective of this role is to lead our outsourced accounting engagements in accordance with the SBS Core Values.
OUR VALUES
How we work is just as important as the results that we deliver. Everything that we do, day-in and day-out, is guided by our core values and is embodied in our team, our process, and our relationships with clients, partners, and the industry. Our core values are:
Antifragile
Play The Long Game
Embrace Technology
Build and Trust The Process
Operate With The Client’s Best Interest In Mind
Far from your typical corporate “values” checklist, we hire, evaluate, and make our most important strategic decisions against these criteria. The right fit for this role will embrace, uphold, and contribute to forwarding these values in the work they do, and the interaction they have with clients and team members.
THE PERSON
We’re looking for an individual who:
Has the technical chops AND the relationship management skills. You’ve got the fundamentals covered. Integrations with QBO? Got it. Payroll accruals? No problem. Inventory reconciliation? In your sleep. Chart of accounts re-organization? Easy-peasy. But in addition to that (and more importantly), the person best fit for this role can translate all of the accounting-speak into clear communication with clients, can manage scope and minimize extra work, and can just simply make working relationships with clients… work!
Enjoys the continuity of a core portfolio of clients. This role acts as an extension of our clients’ team, and so the relationships, workflow, and chemistry our accountants develop with our breweries is essential to maintain and build upon. The individual best fit for this role will enjoy the consistency of working with a regular set of clients week-in and week-out. “Consistency is key” is your motto.
Is a manager of one. Unlike working within a traditional firm, in this role you’ll be in the driver’s seat, managing your workflow and workload in order to meet the standard set of deliverables required for each client. For most individuals in the accounting profession, this shift in working style is dis-orienting and challenging. It requires self-discipline, habits, routines, organization, scheduling, and the ability to communicate effectively and set boundaries. For a select few (and the person who is the right fit for this role), it’s exactly the freedom, autonomy and breath of fresh air they’ve been searching for.
THE WORK
This role will report to our Director of Accounting and is accountable for fulfilling the following responsibilities:
Accounting service delivery for our brewery clients. In the primary function of this role, you’ll work hand-in-hand with our brewery clients to ensure their books are up to date, reconciled, and closed each month. Because breweries involve a complex set of sales, manufacturing, and general business transactions, this process requires a deep technical proficiency and comfort with process and technology. Additionally, you’ll be responsible for supporting the annual tax return filing process for our clients. The end goal is to deliver accurate, timely outsourced accounting to our clients to enable them to run their businesses effectively.
Client account management. Beyond the technical execution of the accounting work, you’ll also act as the main point of contact for each of your clients and be responsible for ensuring that relationship is healthy. This involves setting an effective cadence of communication, establishing excellent working relationships with key contacts within the brewery, and ensuring the client adheres to our processes and recommendations. We will also rely on you to surface issues and potential improvements for the team to act on in order to support your work.
Own your scorecard and rock projects. We run our business on EOS and Shape Up and use those frameworks to set monthly objectives (the Scorecard) and longer-term strategic projects (the Rocks) both at the team and individual level in order to make progress towards the firm’s annual goals and overall vision. You’ll be responsible for ensuring you’re meeting your targets and completing projects.
Participate and contribute to the overall success of our team. Each week the team meets (both over Zoom and asynchronously) to share wins, progress, and knowledge, as well as identify and solve issues. This occurs at multiple levels: as a company, as an operations team, as an accounting team, and individually both with your manager and peers. Your full participation in this process in critical order to problem solve, develop both individual and group knowledge and skill, and ensure that we are operating as a cohesive unit to achieve our ultimate mission.
Participate in ongoing process improvement. Each week we work not only to serve our clients, but also to improve the process of how we conduct that work. Every member of our team is expected to be on the lookout and vocal about issues, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement. You’ll work both internally and with clients to contribute to that ethic and continuously improve our processes.
THE REQUIREMENTS
In order for this role to operate effectively, the following basic requirements must be met:
Previous experience managing a book of accounting and/or tax clients either independently or within a firm.
Have a demonstrated ability to complete cross-functional projects in a remote environment.
Have crystal clear professional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work with clients, partners, vendors, and internal team members alike.
Have exacting organizational standards and a calm and friendly, yet persistent follow-up focus in order to ensure things get done on time.
Have a demonstrated ability to rapidly adapt to new technologies and software, as well as learn independently as needs come up.
Have rock solid proficiency with QuickBooks and the full Google Suite of products.
Available and responsive during normal business hours (9am-5pm Eastern Time, Monday-Friday).
Have a strong, consistent internet connection and a work environment conducive to video calls.
Preferred, but not required qualifications include:
Direct previous experience managing outsourced accounting and/or tax engagements in a remote environment.
Experience and/or knowledge of the craft brewing industry and brewing process.
Sales or customer service experience directly interacting with clients or customers.
Experience with the following platforms and their integrations: Bill.com, Ekos, Square, Toast, Gusto, Paychex, ADP, Eventbrite, Stripe.
Experience using Podio or similar remote project management tools (e.g. Trello, Asana, Wrike, Smartsheet, etc.).
Beyond the basics, the individual best fit for this role will need to be consistently motivated, engaged, curious, and able to exemplify the core values of the firm, while executing the objectives of the position with speed, precision, and expertise.
NEXT STEPS
If the position, culture, values, and mission at Small Batch Standard sound like they’re the right fit for you, please apply here: sbstandard.com/brewery-accountant-application
Job ID: 336263238
