Assistant Accountant: Path to Accountant (Xero & Payroll)

Studiohawk; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Birthday leave

Health and wellness initiatives

Daily breakfast

Monthly physio sessions

Regular team events and lunches

Other benefits

Job summary

StudioHawk in Melbourne, Australia, is seeking an Assistant Accountant to support the Head of Finance. You’ll own accounts payable, payroll and reconciliations, and help speed, reliability and accuracy of our numbers while growing toward an Accountant role.

You’ll join a team blending strategy, creativity and curiosity, with a clear path for progression, hands-on training, and opportunities to work with Xero, Dext and modern AI tools as you learn and contribute.

Qualifications

• Based in Melbourne, Australia.
• 2–4 years’ experience in an accounting or transactional finance role (public practice candidates welcome).
• An accounting qualification (Degree, Diploma or Certificate IV).
• Working towards, or willing to undertake, a CPA or CA pathway.
• Hands-on experience with Xero or similar accounting software, including bank reconciliations, accounts payable and accounts receivable.
• Experience with manual journal entries and balance sheet reconciliations.
• Payroll processing experience.
• Intermediate Excel or Google Sheets skills (SUMIFS, XLOOKUPs, pivot tables).
• High attention to detail, with strong organisation and time management.
• BAS/GST/FBT experience, and familiarity with Dext, Practice Ignition or AI tools like Claude, are a big plus.

Responsibilities

• Owning the finance inbox: clearing around 25 emails a day and processing 60–70+ invoices, receipts and reimbursements each week through Dext.
• Preparing the weekly payment run and payroll in Xero, ready for the Head of Finance to review and approve.
• Reconciling all bank accounts and credit cards weekly, and preparing journals (accruals, prepayments and reclassifications).
• Supporting month-end close and balance sheet reconciliations, and taking on delegations from the Head of Finance.
• Maintaining the commissions register, Client Board and Practice Ignition, and keeping everything clean and in sync with Xero.
• Assisting with accounts receivable over time: owning collections and working with leaders on late-paying clients.
• Improving how we work: building Dext rules, automating manual steps, using AI tools like Claude to work smarter, and documenting every process you own.

Skills

Xero

Education

Accounting qualification (Degree, Diploma or Certificate IV)

Tools

Dext

Practice Ignition

Claude AI

Job description

StudioHawk in Melbourne, Australia, is seeking an Assistant Accountant to support the Head of Finance. You’ll own accounts payable, payroll and reconciliations, and help speed, reliability and accuracy of our numbers while growing toward an Accountant role.

You’ll join a team blending strategy, creativity and curiosity, with a clear path for progression, hands-on training, and opportunities to work with Xero, Dext and modern AI tools as you learn and contribute.