Senior Staff Accountant

Position Summary

The Senior Staff Accountant serves as the main point person for the day-to-day accounting function at Menlo Church. This role is responsible for the execution of core accounting work that supports financial integrity, ministry stewardship, and operational excellence across our multi-campus organization. The work includes month-end close, balance sheet and cash reconciliations, fixed asset and capitalization accounting, payroll execution, and operational ownership of the annual audit.

Menlo's accounting environment is multi-dimensional, with financial activity tracked across multiple campuses, departments, ministry programs, and fund types (unrestricted, designated, and restricted). Comfort working with these dimensions and producing accurate reporting at each level is part of the work.

This is a role for an accountant who is energized by running the recurring accounting function with real autonomy. You will partner closely with Peter Sherman, Director of Finance, on complex, technical, and strategic matters, and there is room over time to grow into expanded responsibility, including supervisory work and an Accounting Manager track.

Menlo Church is a multi-campus church serving the Bay Area. We hold ourselves to a high standard of financial stewardship and ministry partnership. The Finance team operates as a ministry partner, not a back-office function, and this role contributes directly to how well we steward the resources entrusted to us by our community.

Menlo Church is investing in the Finance function as a meaningful ministry partner to the broader organization. This role is central to that vision. We are looking for someone who is genuinely good at the work, who wants to do it with excellence, and who is energized by contributing to a multi-campus church that takes financial stewardship seriously. If that describes you, we would value hearing from you.

Essential Functions

What You Will Own: This role is defined by what you own end-to-end. The primary areas of ownership are:

Month-End Close

• Execute the full month-end close cycle within Menlo's defined timeline, including journal entries, accruals, prepaid amortization, and intercampus allocations.
• Prepare and post recurring entries (depreciation, fixed asset amortization, deferred revenue, etc.) with limited direction.
• Reconcile all balance sheet accounts on a monthly cadence, with documented support and a clear audit trail.
• Produce preliminary financial statements for review prior to issuance.
• Surface variances, anomalies, and process gaps as they emerge.

Audit Operational Ownership

• Serve as the primary point of contact with our external audit firm (CapinCrouse) for day-to-day requests during the annual audit cycle.
• Prepare and maintain the Prepared-By-Client (PBC) list, including pulling supporting documentation, reconciliations, contracts, and schedules.
• Respond to auditor questions on routine matters and route technical or policy interpretation questions appropriately.
• Support memo drafting for technical accounting positions, working with the Director of Finance on review and final approval.

Payroll Execution

• Run the full bi-monthly payroll cycle in Rippling, including processing approvals, exception handling, and timely transmission.
• Execute approved salary adjustments, classification changes, and other personnel financial actions, routing for final approval prior to processing.
• Coordinate with HR on payroll-adjacent matters, including benefits deductions, retirement contributions, and pay date logistics.
• Reconcile payroll to the general ledger and ensure accurate posting of all payroll-related entries.

Balance Sheet Ownership and Month-End Reconciliations

• Own the integrity of the balance sheet end-to-end. This is one of the defining responsibilities of the role.
• Reconcile all cash accounts (operating, payroll, savings, designated, and restricted) monthly with documented support and a clear audit trail.
• Reconcile all balance sheet accounts on a monthly cadence, including receivables, prepaids, fixed assets, accrued liabilities, deferred revenue, restricted net assets, and intercampus accounts.
• Reconcile investment accounts (Schwab) and payment processors (Stripe) on a timely basis.
• Work reconciling items to resolution in the period they arise.
• Maintain reconciliation files that are clear and easy for others to review.
• Surface unusual balances or trends as they appear.

Fixed Assets, Capitalization, and Construction in Progress

• Own the fixed asset accounting function, including maintaining the fixed asset subledger, calculating and posting monthly depreciation, and reconciling the subledger to the general ledger.
• Evaluate the nature of expenditures against Menlo's capitalization policy to determine appropriate accounting treatment, including whether costs should be capitalized as fixed assets, recorded as Construction in Progress (CIP), or expensed in the period.
• Track and manage Construction in Progress for active capital projects, including invoice coding, milestone tracking, retainage, and the eventual transfer of completed projects from CIP to fixed assets with appropriate useful life and depreciation method assignment.
• Partner with project managers, contractors, and finance leadership on capital project accounting, including active facility renovation work and future projects contemplated under Menlo's longer-term capital planning.
• Maintain documented support for capitalization decisions, including invoice review, classification rationale, and policy citation.
• Bring questions on ambiguous expenditures forward for discussion when the right treatment is not clear.

Multi-Dimensional and Fund Accounting

• Apply fund accounting principles to track restricted, designated, and unrestricted giving accurately, including campaign accounting for active initiatives such as the H4E capital campaign.
• Maintain accurate accounting across Menlo's organizational dimensions: campuses, departments, ministry programs, and fund classifications. Code transactions correctly and produce reporting that holds up at each level of granularity.
• Support financial reporting for ministry leaders, including monthly budget-to-actual reports by campus and department, and ad hoc analysis.
• Lead capital campaign accounting and donor reporting, working in partnership with finance leadership.

Qualifications

• Required
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, or a related field (Finance, Business with Accounting concentration) with demonstrated accounting depth.
• Minimum 5 years of progressive accounting experience, with hands-on ownership of month-end close, journal entries, accruals, and balance sheet reconciliations in prior roles.
• Track record of operating with autonomy on recurring accounting work, with the judgment to know when to escalate.
• Strong technical foundation in U.S. GAAP, including the ability to apply accounting principles to non-routine transactions.
• Proficiency with modern accounting systems. Experience with Sage Intacct strongly preferred; experience with comparable systems (NetSuite, Blackbaud Financial Edge, QuickBooks Enterprise) with willingness to learn Intacct is welcome.
• Advanced Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, complex formulas, and the ability to build and audit financial models.
• Experience owning or substantially supporting an annual audit cycle from PBC list through fieldwork response.
• Experience with fixed asset accounting, capitalization judgment, and Construction in Progress tracking. Comfort applying a capitalization policy to evaluate the nature of expenditures and determine appropriate accounting treatment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain financial concepts to non-financial colleagues across multiple campuses and functions.

Preferred

• Experience in church, nonprofit, or other fund accounting environments. We are open to candidates with strong commercial accounting backgrounds who can demonstrate readiness to learn fund accounting; this dimension is teachable for the right candidate.
• Experience working in multi-entity, multi-location, or multi-department accounting environments, where transactions need to be coded and reported across several dimensions.
• Experience with Rippling or comparable payroll systems.
• Familiarity with nonprofit governance frameworks, audit standards, and board reporting practices.
• CPA or progress toward CPA is welcomed but not required for this role.

How We Will Evaluate Fit

We want to do this hiring well for both sides. Our process is designed to give us a clear picture of fit and to give you a clear picture of the role. Candidates who progress through the process should expect:

• Resume and application screen against the required qualifications above.
• One way video interview (approximately 15 minutes) focused on background, experience, and fit with the role's scope.
• Technical accounting assessment to validate foundational competency. This is a standardized assessment used to confirm comfort with the technical work the role involves.
• Interview with the Director of Finance and Onsite panel interview to meet with the team, Sr. Leadership & check our campus.

We appreciate candidates who engage with the process fully. It is meant to be informative for both sides, not a hurdle. References will also be requested as part of the hiring process. 

Working Relationships

• Partners closely with Peter Sherman, Director of Finance, on month-end close, audit, technical accounting matters, and strategic finance work.
• Works alongside the AP/AR Clerk, who manages day-to-day accounts payable and receivable processing. The Senior Staff Accountant does not supervise this role at hire but may take on supervisory responsibility as the role grows.
• Coordinates with the HR Director on payroll, benefits, and personnel financial matters.
• Coordinates with the IT lead on system access, integrations, and tooling.
• Engages with the Finance & Administration Committee of Session, the Compensation Committee, and external auditors as the work requires.

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong working knowledge of U.S. GAAP and the ability to apply it to non-routine transactions.
• Disciplined attention to accuracy. Strong candidates for this role hold themselves to a high standard on data integrity.
• Comfort with autonomy. You take ownership of recurring work and bring questions and issues forward as they come up.
• Calm, professional, and constructive in how you engage with colleagues across the organization, including under deadline pressure.
• Open to feedback and able to integrate it into ongoing work.
• Comfortable working in a confidential environment with sensitive financial and personnel information.
• Proficient with Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Chat, Docs, Sheets) and comfortable learning new tools.

Work Conditions

• Regular work hours include office hours at the designated campus according to established staff rhythms.
• This job typically operates onsite in a professional office and church environment with standard office equipment such as computers, printers, and telephones.
• Occasional off-site visits may be required to meet with campuses, vendors, or external partners such as auditors.
• Days and hours of work are generally Monday through Friday with occasional evenings or weekends as needed for close cycles, audit fieldwork, or special projects. WFH on Fridays is permitted.
• Hand/eye coordination and dexterity for small objects, office and computer equipment. Light to moderate lifting may be required.

Spiritual

• Live out their personal relationship with Jesus Christ by growing more in His likeness, eager to share and see others come to know true hope.
• Demonstrate active engagement as a member of Menlo Church by: Regularly attending and inviting others to services, connecting in community through groups, volunteering in a ministry, and committing to giving to the mission and vision of Menlo Church.
• Holds themself and others accountable to live and love others with integrity and diligence in light of their identity in Christ.
• Hold compatible theological beliefs in alignment with the essential tenets of ECO, as outlined on their website (https://eco-pres.org/).

The position described in this posting represents that a staff member must meet to perform the essential functions of this job successfully. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform their essential functions. All offers for employment with Menlo Church are contingent upon the candidate having successfully completed the required background checks.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of all possible duties, activities, or responsibilities. These requirements may change at any time.