An established CPA firm in Hamilton is seeking an experienced Senior Accountant / Office Lead to manage a portfolio of corporate and individual clients while helping oversee the day-to-day operations of the office.
The practice is focused primarily on bookkeeping, corporate and personal tax, year-end accounting, payroll, CRA matters, and related compliance services for owner-managed businesses and individuals.
This is a hands-on senior role for someone with strong Canadian public-practice experience who can independently manage client files, prepare corporate year-end engagements and tax returns, review bookkeeping, handle CRA matters, support staff, and make practical day-to-day decisions regarding clients, workflow, and office operations.
The successful candidate will be expected to exercise sound judgment and make routine decisions independently, while recognizing when more complex technical, tax, client, or operational matters should be escalated.
Key Responsibilities
Client & Office Management
- Act as a primary day-to-day contact for assigned clients.
- Manage a portfolio of corporate, owner-managed business, and individual clients.
- Make practical day-to-day decisions regarding client accounting, tax, compliance, and service matters.
- Respond to routine client questions and determine appropriate next steps.
- Manage client expectations, deadlines, outstanding information, and follow-ups.
- Help oversee the day-to-day workflow and priorities of the Hamilton office.
- Coordinate staff responsibilities and help ensure work is progressing appropriately.
- Resolve routine operational and client-service issues as they arise.
- Determine when matters can be handled independently and when escalation is required.
- Act as a senior on-site point of contact for staff and clients.
Accounting & Year-End
- Prepare and review corporate year-end working paper files.
- Review bookkeeping files and general ledgers for accuracy and completeness.
- Prepare adjusting entries, reconciliations, continuity schedules, and supporting documentation.
- Prepare compilation engagements and related financial statement packages.
- Investigate unusual transactions, discrepancies, and incomplete accounting records.
- Complete accounting clean-up and catch-up work where required.
- Review work prepared by bookkeepers and junior accounting personnel.
- Ensure client files are complete, properly documented, and ready for final review.
Corporate Tax
- Prepare Canadian corporate income tax returns and supporting schedules.
- Review corporate tax balances, instalments, continuity schedules, and payment requirements.
- Identify tax issues requiring further technical review.
- Assist with tax matters affecting owner-managed businesses.
- Monitor corporate tax filing and payment deadlines.
- Communicate tax requirements and payment obligations to clients.
Personal Tax
- Prepare and review T1 personal income tax returns.
- Handle personal tax matters for business owners and individual clients.
- Review employment income, investment income, rental income, self-employment income, deductions, and credits.
- Assist with owner-manager compensation and dividend-related personal tax matters.
- Review personal tax instalments, balances, and CRA correspondence.
- Identify personal tax matters requiring further technical review or planning.
GST/HST, Payroll & Information Returns
- Prepare and review GST/HST filings and reconciliations.
- Assist with payroll and source-deduction compliance.
- Review payroll remittances and account balances.
- Prepare or review T4, T5, and other information returns as required.
- Assist with T3 returns where required.
- Monitor filing and payment deadlines.
- Ensure required government remittances are completed accurately and on time.
CRA Matters
- Manage routine and moderately complex CRA correspondence.
- Make practical decisions regarding responses to CRA inquiries and requests.
- Review Notices of Assessment and Reassessment.
- Investigate discrepancies between client records, tax filings, and CRA accounts.
- Communicate directly with CRA where required.
- Assist clients with corporate tax, personal tax, GST/HST, payroll, and other account balances.
- Respond to CRA reviews and information requests.
- Coordinate supporting documentation for CRA audits, reviews, and examinations.
- Identify matters involving higher technical, financial, or compliance risk and escalate appropriately.
Bookkeeping, Payments & Remittances
- Review bookkeeping completed by accounting personnel.
- Oversee accounts payable processes for selected clients.
- Review vendor invoices and payment schedules.
- Prepare or review payment runs.
- Coordinate corporate tax, personal tax, GST/HST, payroll, source deductions, and other government remittances.
- Monitor upcoming payment deadlines.
- Ensure proper approvals and controls are followed before payments are processed.
Team Leadership & Staff Support
- Provide day-to-day direction and support to bookkeepers, junior accountants, and administrative personnel.
- Review work prepared by accounting staff.
- Help prioritize work based on deadlines, complexity, and workload.
- Monitor staff workload and assist with reallocating work where required.
- Answer routine technical and procedural questions from team members.
- Provide practical guidance and feedback to staff.
- Identify errors, incomplete work, or issues requiring additional follow-up.
- Help maintain consistent standards for accounting, tax preparation, documentation, and client service.
- Escalate significant staff or performance matters where appropriate.
Workflow & Office Operations
- Monitor the status of client engagements and ensure work progresses efficiently.
- Coordinate outstanding client information and follow-up requests.
- Help manage tax-season and year-end workflow.
- Assist with scheduling and prioritization of client work.
- Help improve accounting, bookkeeping, tax, and administrative processes.
- Maintain and improve internal checklists, templates, and procedures.
- Identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary manual work and improve efficiency.
- Assist with onboarding and transitioning new client files.
- Help ensure the office operates effectively on a day-to-day basis.
Location
This is a Hamilton-based position.
The successful candidate must be able to work from the Hamilton office on a regular basis and should live within reasonable commuting distance of Hamilton.
Qualifications
- Approximately 5–10+ years of Canadian public-practice accounting experience.
- Strong experience working with Canadian owner-managed businesses and individual tax clients.
- Strong experience preparing corporate year-end working paper files.
- Strong experience preparing Canadian corporate income tax returns.
- Strong experience preparing T1 personal income tax returns.
- Strong knowledge of bookkeeping and full-cycle accounting.
- Good knowledge of GST/HST, payroll, T4s, T5s, and related compliance matters.
- Strong experience dealing directly with CRA.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple client files independently.
- Experience reviewing or supervising the work of accounting personnel.
- Comfortable making practical day-to-day decisions without requiring constant supervision.
- Comfortable communicating directly with business owners, individual clients, CRA, and employees.
- Strong organizational and time-management skills.
- Strong professional judgment and ability to recognize when matters require escalation.
- Experience with QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop preferred.
- Experience with Canadian tax preparation software required.
- CPA designation is an asset but is not required. Significant Canadian public-practice experience will be strongly considered in place of a designation.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is a hands-on senior accounting professional who is comfortable taking ownership of both client files and the practical day-to-day needs of a busy accounting office.
You are comfortable moving between reviewing bookkeeping, completing a corporate year end, preparing T2 and T1 returns, responding to CRA, coordinating government remittances, reviewing staff work, answering client questions, and helping determine what the team should prioritize next.
You do not need to be given detailed instructions for every situation.
You are able to assess routine issues, make sensible decisions, communicate clearly with clients and staff, and move matters forward independently.
At the same time, you recognize when an issue carries additional technical, financial, client, or operational risk and should be escalated.
You are organized, dependable, practical, and comfortable being accountable for the quality and timely completion of work within the office.
Compensation
$80,000–$95,000 per year, depending on experience, technical capability, level of independence, client-management experience, and ability to provide day-to-day leadership within the office.
Pay: $80,000.00-$95,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
