08/10/2022
JOB POSTING:
Senior Accountant
We want YOU!
We have a once in a lifetime opportunity, full-time position, for someone with the ability to work successfully as a critical part of our CPA firm, built around helping small businesses and their owners with their accounting and tax needs.
We are looking for a Senior Accountant who will make everyone around them successful by motivating, embracing and leading in accordance with our Values, Vision, and Mission, and from a desire to serve others. The right candidate will also love interacting with clients, our team and our referring partners, as well as have a genuine desire to make a real difference in people’s lives. We’re looking for someone who wants to Make Meaning, not just money.
1. Broad responsibility to serve our clients, guard our values, vision and mission, champion our people, and pilot the results.
2. Empathetic, proactive, detail oriented, with a sense of urgency and the desire to work as part of a great team built around emotional intelligence, training, mentoring, and holding people to the highest standards, not by telling, yelling, and directing, but through collaborative leadership and working to bring the best out in everyone. People will follow you because they choose to, not because you have power over them.
3. You will help us continue to build our reputation of great service, listening to our clients, communicating superbly with team members, and leading with a “whatever it takes” enthusiasm for life.
4. A joy for interacting with clients and working with our team to grow our firm.
Who are we?
Glisson & Associates LLC is intent on leading the profession and paving the way for others. To that end, we are not a “one size fits all” assembly line, but rather a “boutique” firm that does everything necessary to get it right every time, so that each of our clients leaves our firm knowing they have been listened to, heard, and presented with the best solutions. The result we want isn’t just prepared financial statements and taxes. We want to help people understand their business and taxes better.
With a commitment to giving the best possible service to each client, Glisson & Associates LLC is a firm that specializes in helping small business owners of the Denver Metro area.
As you can see, we’re passionate about people, not just numbers. That passion for our client translates to:
• Extraordinary Relationships
• Empathy for our clients
• Many of our clients are our friends
We are giving you all this information because you need to be interviewing us, not just us interviewing you. You will be responsible for guarding, embracing, becoming the embodiment of, and infecting everyone in our firm with our values, our vision, and our mission. If you are looking for just a job, this isn’t a fit for you. If you’re looking for a way to make meaning as an accountant, this could be a great match! As you read the following carefully, decide whether you would want to be the person who guards and carries these things forward for everyone in our firm.
Guarding the Values, and making sure that EVERYONE in our firm (no exceptions) embraces them and practices them daily, will be one of your main responsibilities:
Our Core Values:
• We are committed to unequivocal excellence
• We do WHATEVER it takes in every situation
• We have fun
• We are passionate about our work and our community
• We have integrity in all we do
Here’s more on what each of these means to us (and needs to mean to you, as our Senior Accountant):
We are committed to Unequivocal Excellence:
• No excuses—accept responsibility, get it “right”
• Demand results—from yourself and those around you
• Be the best part of everyone’s day
• Take pride in your work
We do WHATEVER it takes in any situation:
• Always maintain a positive, “can do” attitude
• Open and honest communication is our goal
• Our reputation and our client’s experience outweigh profit every time
• Be flexible
• Don’t take it personally
We have FUN:
• Choose to be happy, no matter the circumstances
• Always celebrate . . . even the little things
• Be thankful
• Look for ways to “Make Their Day”
We are passionate about our work and our community:
• Take pride in what you do as an individual and what we do as a team
• Get involved
• Give back
• Volunteer
• Always remember . . . we change lives
We have integrity in all we do:
• Always tell the truth
• Put the interests of our clients and your team before your own
• Be honest with yourself
• Be compassionate, you never know what’s going on in someone else’s life
We are NEVER satisfied:
• Always ask, “how can I/we do this better?” (more efficiently/comfortably/profitably)
• Celebrate, then move on
• Demand results from you and your team
• Make today better than yesterday and make tomorrow better than today
These values drive everything we do. And when they don’t, it is your job and everyone’s job to bring us back in alignment with them. We believe that Core Values are just that—the core of everything else we do, our true north, the six things that govern every decision we make, from buying a copier to building a relationship with a referring office. If you find yourself in 100% agreement with these—not just in your head, but in your heart—and they grab you and make you want to live them out and help everyone in our firm do the same, this position could be a great fit for you.
Our Core Values give rise to our Vision. A Vision Statement is different than a Mission Statement. The Vision is for US, not our clients. It’s what motivates us to get out of bed and run to work. It reveals how we want to be known, and the legacy we want to leave behind. The Vision is a direct result of our commitment to our Values and is a short-hand way of summarizing those values, but with a little bit more measurement to it.
Our Vision (our Passion):
“Serving others. Helping others achieve their financial goals.”
We work that out in this measurable way:
“Our work family makes accounting and taxes easy for our clients”
The third motivator for us (Values is first, Vision is second), is our Mission Statement. The Mission Statement is all about THEM, our clients. It’s about the RESULT we will get for them because we touched their lives. When they read it, they know exactly what to expect of their experience with our firm.
Our Mission:
“Prepare taxes and accounting so clients can focus their time & efforts in other areas of their businesses.”
We want you to know as much as possible, so you can make an informed decision about joining us. This is very intentional—we want someone who will be “missional” about their commitment to their work, and who will integrate that work into their life, not someone simply looking for a paycheck. If you’re looking to just make money, this isn’t the position for you. If you’re looking to make meaning, read on.
Who are you?
You are a fit if:
1) You are looking for a position where you will make a significant impact for a very long time as an important and equal team member.
2) Results-Based Incentives—The traditional organization is built on a time-based rewards system—sit in the chair for another quarter or year, and you get a bonus. We want to build an organization around results—whoever gets the best results, gets the most reward. And incentives don’t always mean money—there are seven ways to incentivize and engage people: Time, Experience, Education, Recognition, Relationships, Money and Stuff (think “TERMS” of engagement).
3) Enthusiasm and Curious – the successful senior accountant is eager to grow and curious about learning. This person asks questions and especially the question why? The world is moving fast and we need someone who is excited about staying current.
4) You don’t enjoy making decisions for others on the team, or telling them what to do. They are adults and don’t need a “manager.” You love working as a collaborative team member, not a rugged individualist.
5) You love to serve others—to train, guide, champion, raise the bar, ask hard questions, mentor, connect people with resources, and generally use your strategic leadership to make them successful, not to make you look good.
6) Attention to Detail—If you enjoy ensuring that everyone is working at their highest, following procedures that THEY created (not you), and taking care of all the small details that make for a great firm, you’ll be a great fit here.
7) Sense of Urgency—If you have a built-in clock that wants to help us all get things done and not leave them hanging out there, AND you can do it without bullying, threatening or harassing…well, that’s an art, and you’ll fit in really well. We need someone who can keep pushing everything ahead by getting everyone on board to do it, not by forcing their hand.
8) Abundance—You live in a world of abundance with the mindset, “How can I make you successful?” The alternative is a world of scarcity, with only so much to go around and everyone “out for themselves.”
9) Stakeholder Mentality—You will have the mentality of a person who has put a stake in the ground and “claimed the territory” of our firm in the name of excellence, commitment, customer service, distributed decision-making and distributive leadership. A Stakeholder is someone who thinks and acts like they own the firm, and proactively works to build a great firm not for the owner, but with the owner. A Stakeholder is a self-managed adult who brings their whole, messy self to work, not just the part that does “the job”. And they are committed to living in community with others and having regular input in how the firm could best meet the needs of clients. Employees are reactive children at work, waiting for someone to tell them what to do. Stakeholders are proactive adults working in collaboration with others to build a great practice. Everyone in our firm needs to move from a simple Employee mentality to becoming Stakeholders, and we will want you to lead the charge.
10) Self-Managed Adult—And, finally, you are a self-managed adult who will enjoy helping us all figure out how to help us all get perform at our best. We’ll need you to make suggestions for how we can improve and asserting yourself as a strategic leader in our firm, who serves many tactical leaders. We’re not where we want to be with the above and that’s why we need you—to spearhead the effort. You won’t be alone. You’ll get tons of support and specific training from others who have gone down this path of leadership many times, in order to make it happen.
Does it look like a long list? It’s not, really. We just want to explain clearly what the few things are that will make you successful:
1) be a great servant leader—lead by asking questions and motivating, not telling people what to do, 2) be good at building relationships,
3) live in a world of abundance,
4) have a “Stakeholder” mentality,
5) be self-managed, and
6) have a desire to help others become those things.
Responsibilities include, in order of importance:
1) Guard, Live Out, and Promote Our Core Values (see above)—This will be the most important aspect of your responsibilities. If we aren’t fully committed to our Values, everything else will begin to show the wear and tear of not having a true north. As a senior accountant and leader in our firm, you will beat the drum, gently and relentlessly, on our core values so that everyone in the firm lives them out every day.
2) Guard, Live Out and Promote Our Vision Statement—Help us build the legacy we will all be proud of years from now.
3) Guard, Live Out and Promote Our Mission Statement—Help us change the lives of our clients. You will not be anyone’s “boss,” because the Mission is everyone’s boss. Everyone serves at the pleasure of the boss, and we will all help each other serve that Mission. In that sense, it’s a level playing field—everyone should be working with each other to help us learn how to serve the boss better. You will want to be highly approachable and teachable, so others can help you serve the boss, too.
4) “Whatever it Takes”: Operating with the Mindset of an “Stakeholder”—Again, you won’t have a manager. You will take initiative and ownership, make decisions with input from your team, think ahead and be proactive. You will work with others to constantly make things better and deliver better products and services every day. As a Stakeholder, you’ll take ownership of tasks, roles/responsibilities, processes and, most importantly, their results. You will be an incredibly valuable part of our team—our clients will get to know you and lean on you to help them be Stakeholders, too. You’ll jump in where needed at times because great leaders get their hands dirty when that’s what is needed. It shouldn’t be a lifestyle, but something that everyone knows you are willing to do, because they’re willing to do the same.
About the position:
• Be a great team player. Live out the mission and vision.
• Experience Level--- CPA or EA or someone working towards one of these certifications, minimum 2 years experience with QuickBooks Online. Tax preparation experience helpful but not required (must be willing to learn).
• Record transactions in QBO and prepare month end closes
• Prepare personal and business taxes.
• Provide a business advisor role for clients.
• Pay—Your compensation is 100% incentive base. Your compensation will be based on the results you get the company on a monthly basis. This is similar to gig work or piece meal work. We won’t let pay stand in the way of getting the right person. The objective of our pay stagey is you are in control of your income, and have the opportunity to make more than you would any where else doing the same thing, in the same amount of time or less. You should not have to work longer here to make more money. We agree together on how this will work. This has to work for you and us. This is a full time position that will pay from $60,000-$100,000.
• Work schedule — 5 days per week. We don’t have set work hours. We will want you available to the client during standard business hours.
Please do not send us your resume/CV yet. We don’t need to see it at this stage. Just email us answers to the following questions to [email protected]. These questions will help us get to know you:
1) How is this position a fit for you, and what would you get out of working in the environment described here?
2) What is your reaction to our firm values, vision and mission?
3) How can we support you—what do you need from us to be successful?
4) What makes you want to get out of bed and come to work day after day?
5) Why don’t you need a manager?
6) How do you make your team better?
7) List the top three things, in order of impact, that you would bring to the game
8) Any other helpful info that we forgot to ask?
This is a two-way interview. You need to interview us to see if you want to work here, which is why we’ve given you so much detail in this ad!
Here’s a link to our website to learn more about us www.5280cpa.com.
We don’t just want to be a great firm. We want to be a leader who helps transform the way accounting is done. If you want to play a significant role in that transformation, and you have the talents and skills of a leader, you’ll be a great fit.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Glisson & Associates is your Local Lakewood CPA offering Accounting and Taxes with a personal touch. Click here now for more info!
