Accounting & Client Relations Manager

Pivot Bookkeeping Incorporated; Halifax; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Pivot Bookkeeping is a growing cloud accounting firm seeking an Accounting & Client Relations Manager. You will lead a bookkeeping team, own all client contact for 35–45 clients, and ensure work is accurate, on time, and clearly communicated.

You will start by finishing the training of a senior bookkeeper, then scale the team with a junior bookkeeper. Payroll runs from day one, with advisory work and process improvements as the firm grows.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive Canadian accounting experience, including tax and financial reporting.
• ASPE/GAAP knowledge and corporate/personal tax familiarity.
• Strong leadership and client management abilities.
• Excellent communication and ability to explain numbers to owners.

Responsibilities

• Finish training the senior bookkeeper and build the team as you scale.
• Run payroll for the book from day one and oversee GST/HST remittances.
• Disburse and oversee daily bookkeeping tasks and ensure accuracy.
• Own client contact for the 35–45 client book and provide proactive advisory.
• Meet all compliance deadlines (tax, payroll, GST/HST, T-slips).
• Lead higher‑level advisory work (cash flow, budgeting, year‑end).
• Improve processes across the software stack to enable growth.

Skills

Team leadership

Client relationships

Financial reporting

Budgeting

Communication

Education

CPA in progress

Tools

QBO

Dext

Wagepoint

Karbon

Excel

Job description

Pivot Bookkeeping is a growing, subscription-based cloud accounting firm that helps business owners stay on top of their finances and year-round tax reporting. We are hiring an Accounting & Client Relations Manager to run our day-to-day operations, lead a small team, and be the trusted point of contact for our clients.

This is a leadership role first. You will own a book of 35-45 clients and lead our bookkeeping team. You will not be doing every transaction yourself; your job is to make sure the work is accurate, on time, and well communicated, and to be the steady hand clients and your team rely on. If you are a strong accountant who is energized by managing people and relationships rather but can also roll up your sleeves for the heads-down data entry, this is for you.

To be fully transparent about what the first few months look like: you will start by finishing the training of a recently hired, experienced bookkeeper, and we plan to add a more junior bookkeeper to the team. From day one you will personally run all payroll for the book, disburse and oversee the daily bookkeeping tasks across the team, and own all client contact. As the team gets up to speed, more of the transactional work moves off your plate so you can focus on client relationships, advisory, and running the firm.

What you will own

• Finish training our recently hired experienced bookkeeper, then assign work, review output before it reaches clients, and develop the team (with a junior bookkeeper joining).
• Run all payroll for the book yourself from day one (via Wagepoint), including the related GST/HST and payroll remittances. This is expected to shift: once the junior bookkeeper is hired and trained, payroll moves to the team under your review.
• Disburse and oversee daily bookkeeping tasks across the team, keeping everything accurate and on schedule.
• Own all client contact across the 35-45 client book: proactive communication, plain-language explanations of their numbers, and a great overall experience.
• Make sure every compliance deadline is met: corporate and personal tax, GST/HST, payroll remittances, and T-slips, with no penalties.
• Handle the higher-complexity and advisory work yourself: owner compensation (salary vs. dividend), cash flow, budgets, and year-end, and be the point person for CRA reviews.
• Keep improving how the firm runs: tighten processes across our software stack so we can grow without the stress growing with us.

What we are looking for

• Proven ability to manage people and client relationships. This is the most important thing. Tell us about a team you have led and clients you have kept happy.
• Someone who stays calm and organized under deadline pressure and asks for support early rather than absorbing it all silently.
• 5+ years of progressive Canadian accounting experience, including tax and financial reporting; solid on ASPE/GAAP and corporate/personal tax.
• Hands‑on with QBO, Dext, Wagepoint (payroll), and Karbon, or able to get up to speed fast, plus strong Excel.
• CPA (completed or in progress) is a strong asset but not a strict requirement for the right leader.
• Excellent communicator who can make financial statements make sense to a business owner.

Why Pivot

• A real leadership seat with a team underneath you and the autonomy to shape how the firm runs.
• A modern, cloud-based stack and a diverse client base where your work has visible impact.