Senior Accountant — San Gabriel Valley, California | Pacific Executive Search

Senior Accountant

(Job ID: 1903)

San Gabriel Valley, California

On-Site

Direct Hire

Retail

$75,000 – $100,000 base

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Overview

Join a dynamic and innovative manufacturing and distribution company in the automotive industry as a Senior Accountant. In this pivotal role, you will directly support the CFO and collaborate with cross-functional teams to enhance financial management and drive operational excellence. This position offers a unique opportunity for professional growth, allowing you to take ownership of core accounting processes and contribute to the integration of newly acquired businesses, all within a flexible and collaborative work environment that values innovation and work-life balance.

Responsibilities

Process invoices, manage accounts payable, and apply customer payments to ensure accurate cash flow management.
Reconcile bank accounts, maintain cash activity, and assist with treasury-related functions to support financial stability.
Perform month-end close activities, including journal entries, account reconciliations, and preparation of financial statements for CFO review.
Oversee balance sheet reconciliations and manage recurring/non-recurring journal entries, ensuring compliance with accounting standards.
Support quarterly reporting requirements and assist with tax reporting for CPA firms, including sales and payroll data.
Identify and implement process improvements across accounting operations to enhance efficiency and accuracy.
Assist with annual audit processes and physical inventory counts, contributing to overall financial integrity.

Qualifications

Must-Have:
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
2+ years of accounting experience, preferably in small to mid-sized companies.
Strong understanding of general accounting principles and month-end close processes.
Detail-oriented with exceptional organizational skills and the ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment.
Nice-to-Have:
Experience with ERP systems such as SAP or NetSuite.
Familiarity with acquisition integration and revenue recognition principles (ASC-742).
Previous involvement in process improvement initiatives within accounting operations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do companies mis-hire at the Senior Accountant level?
Because they hire based on task lists instead of ownership. Two candidates may both mention reconciliations, journal entries, and close support, but only one has truly owned balance sheet areas, resolved issues independently, worked directly with auditors, and operated with minimal supervision. Titles vary widely in the market. Ownership is the more reliable signal.
When is a Senior Accountant actually ready for promotion?
Usually when they stop simply executing assigned work and start identifying issues before they surface. Promotion to Accounting Manager or a broader leadership track is less about how many close tasks someone can perform and more about whether they have become a source of reliability, judgment, and escalation control.
Why is manufacturing accounting and finance talent difficult to hire well?
Because manufacturing environments expose weak operators quickly. The work touches inventory, costing, margins, controls, operations, and often plant-level realities. Employers are not just hiring accounting knowledge. They are hiring someone who can function inside an operational business where the numbers have to connect to what is happening on the floor.
Why does ERP experience matter so much in roles like this?
Because many accounting and finance roles are really process-and-systems roles disguised as job titles. A candidate may know the accounting, but if they cannot operate effectively inside the company's environment, ramp time becomes risk. Exact system match is not always mandatory, but comparable complexity often is.
How do strong candidates typically evaluate opportunities like this?
Strong candidates rarely evaluate a role based on title alone. They look at what the position actually owns, how the function is viewed internally, whether the environment is stable or in transition, and what success will realistically look like in the first 6 to 12 months. Many first discover a role through a posting, but the strongest career decisions usually come from understanding the context behind the opportunity, not just the job description. In accounting and finance hiring, that level of context is often what separates a lateral move from a meaningful one. Learn more about how strategic accounting and finance searches differ from transactional recruiting.
Is the CPA really required for roles like this?
Sometimes yes, and often functionally yes even when the posting says "preferred." At leadership levels especially, the CPA frequently acts as a credibility signal for hiring managers, auditors, lenders, investors, or boards. There are exceptions, but in many accounting searches it remains one of the clearest markers of technical foundation.