Manager – Accounting & Assurance

Armstrong Jones LLP; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 95,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid overtime

Vacation

Health benefits

On-site parking

Referral bonus

Professional development

Job summary

Armstrong Jones LLP in Ottawa is seeking a CPA with strong public accounting and audit experience to advance into an Accounting and Assurance Manager role.

The position suits an experienced Senior Accountant or Team Lead ready to move into a first-time or working Manager role, in-office in Ottawa with a clear path to leadership and significant engagement exposure.

Qualifications

• CPA designation required and strong public accounting background.
• Minimum five years of progressive public accounting experience with audit involvement.
• Ability to lead engagements and develop junior staff, with client-facing skills.

Responsibilities

• Review and supervise audits and review engagements from planning to completion.
• Manage engagement budgets, timelines and staff allocations across files.
• Develop and maintain client relationships while expanding business opportunities.
• Coach, train, and provide feedback to junior and intermediate team members.
• Ensure compliance with ASPE and ASNPO and current professional standards.

Skills

Public accounting

Audit experience

Leadership

Communication

Client management

Education

CPA designation

Tools

CaseWare

CaseView

Jazzit

TaxPrep

QuickBooks Online

Sage

Job description

Armstrong Jones LLP is a growing Ottawa public accounting firm providing assurance, accounting, tax and advisory services to not-for-profit organizations, privately owned businesses and other organizations throughout the Ottawa region.

We believe smaller firms can offer something different: broader experience, direct access to decision-makers, meaningful responsibility and the opportunity to grow alongside the firm.

We are looking for a CPA with strong public accounting and audit experience who is ready to take the next step into an Accounting and Assurance Manager role.

This opportunity is particularly well suited to an experienced Senior Accountant, Senior Assurance professional or Team Lead who has demonstrated strong technical and leadership abilities and is ready to move into a first-time or working Manager position.

You won't be expected to arrive on day one knowing everything about being a Manager. You will work closely with experienced partners who remain actively involved with clients and who are committed to investing time in developing our people.

Ottawa, Ontario | Full-Time | Permanent | In-Office

Salary: $95,000–$115,000 (plus paid overtime*)

Small-firm culture. Big-firm experience.

Armstrong Jones LLP is a growing Ottawa public accounting firm providing assurance, accounting, tax and advisory services to not-for-profit organizations, privately owned businesses and other organizations throughout the Ottawa region.

We believe smaller firms can offer something different: broader experience, direct access to decision-makers, meaningful responsibility and the opportunity to grow alongside the firm.

We are looking for a CPA with strong public accounting and audit experience who is ready to take the next step into an Accounting and Assurance Manager role.

This opportunity is particularly well suited to an experienced Senior Accountant, Senior Assurance professional or Team Lead who has demonstrated strong technical and leadership abilities and is ready to move into a first-time or working Manager position.

You won't be expected to arrive on day one knowing everything about being a Manager. You will work closely with experienced partners who remain actively involved with clients and who are committed to investing time in developing our people.

The role

As an Accounting and Assurance Manager, your responsibilities will grow as you become established within the firm.

Initially, you will focus on reviewing compilation engagements prepared by staff, participating in audits and review engagements and taking increasing responsibility for engagement planning, staff supervision, review and completion.

Over time, you will progress toward independently managing a growing portfolio of assurance engagements while continuing to work closely with the firm's partners.

Our assurance practice is primarily focused on not-for-profit organizations, together with review engagements for privately held businesses. The primary financial reporting frameworks used by the firm are ASPE and ASNPO.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Assisting with and increasingly managing audit and review engagements from planning through completion.
• Reviewing working papers, financial statements and related disclosures.
• Identifying accounting, assurance and internal-control issues and working with partners and staff to develop practical solutions.
• Working directly with clients to gather information, resolve questions and keep engagements moving forward.
• Working alongside partners, who will continue to maintain key client relationships and involvement in significant engagement matters.
• Preparing or reviewing income tax provisions associated with client financial statements.
• Supervising staff assigned to your engagements and coordinating work across multiple files and deadlines.
• Scheduling and allocating staff across engagements for which you are responsible and working with other members of management to resolve scheduling challenges.
• Coaching, training and developing junior and intermediate team members.
• Providing timely feedback on staff performance and, as your management responsibilities grow, participating in formal performance evaluations.
• Participating in recruitment and interviewing as appropriate.
• Monitoring engagement budgets, timelines and work-in-progress.
• Staying current with relevant accounting, assurance and professional standards.
• Identifying opportunities to improve the firm's engagement processes, templates and use of technology.
• Developing stronger client-management and business development skills over time.

Business development is not an expectation when you walk in the door. We want to help interested team members develop those skills as they progress, and the firm provides a referral bonus for successfully onboarded new clients.

What we're looking for

Our ideal candidate has:

• A CPA designation.
• Ideally five or more years of progressive public accounting experience.
• Meaningful hands-on audit engagement experience.
• Experience with review and compilation engagements.
• Strong knowledge of Canadian accounting and assurance standards.
• Experience applying ASPE and ASNPO.
• The ability to review the work of others and communicate review points clearly and constructively.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage several engagements, employees and deadlines at the same time.
• Sound professional judgment and a practical approach to solving accounting and assurance issues.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• A genuine interest in helping develop more junior accountants.
• The confidence to communicate directly with clients while recognizing when matters should be escalated to a partner.
• A collaborative approach and an interest in being part of a growing firm.

Previous formal Manager experience is not required. An exceptional Senior or Team Lead who is ready to demonstrate Manager-level capability is encouraged to apply.

Bilingualism in English and French would be an asset but is not required.

Experience with some of the following software would also be an asset:

CaseWare | CaseView | Jazzit | TaxPrep | QuickBooks Online | Sage

Experience with every program is not required.

Why Join Armstrong Jones LLP?

Broader experience

In a smaller firm, your role isn't limited to one narrow part of an engagement. You will see files through multiple stages, work across different types of engagements and develop both technical and management skills.

Direct access to partners

Our partners remain actively involved in client engagements and are available to staff. You will have opportunities to discuss technical issues, client situations, management challenges and career development directly with experienced professionals.

A genuine opportunity to advance

We are a growing firm, and growth creates opportunities for our people. Career progression will depend on the individual's interests, performance, readiness and contribution to the firm. For people who demonstrate the ability and desire to take on greater responsibility, there is significant opportunity to grow with us.

A defined seasonal work schedule

Public accounting is seasonal, and our regular schedule reflects that. Our standard workday is:

• January through June: 9 hours per day
• July through December: 7 hours per day

Additional hours worked are tracked. Banked time can be taken as time off, with remaining eligible balances paid out annually in February in accordance with firm policy.

Compensation and benefits

We offer:

• Base salary of $95,000–$115,000, depending on experiences and qualifications.
• Paid overtime reconciled annually.
• Three weeks of paid vacation.
• Employer-sponsored health benefits, with the firm currently covering approximately 80% of the overall premium cost.
• Free on-site parking.
• A client referral bonus for qualifying new clients successfully onboarded to the firm.
• A paid Christmas holiday closure in addition to regular vacation entitlement and statutory holidays. The firm currently provides three additional paid closure days during this period.
• Ongoing technical and professional development.
• Direct mentorship and access to the firm's partners.
• Opportunities for increased responsibility and advancement as both you and the firm grow.

Work arrangement

This is a fully in-office position located in Ottawa, Canada.

The position is structured around collaboration with partners and staff in the office and is not offered as a remote or hybrid position.

Where required by applicable law, Armstrong Jones LLP will consider and provide appropriate workplace accommodations.

Who tends to thrive here?

You may be a particularly strong fit if you are currently a Senior Accountant or Senior Assurance professional and find yourself thinking: "I'm ready to take on more responsibility, but I want support while I learn how to be a great Manager."

You enjoy solving problems, reviewing and improving the work of others, developing junior employees and seeing a client engagement through from beginning to end.

You also want to work somewhere that is large enough to provide interesting work and professional development, but small enough that your contributions are noticed and you have regular access to the firm's partners.

That's the environment we are working to build. Learn more about careers at Armstrong Jones LLP at armstrongjones.ca/careers.

Armstrong Jones LLP is committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. Accommodation is available upon request for candidates participating in any stage of the recruitment and selection process.

Use of artificial intelligence in recruitment: AI is not expected to be used in screening applications, though is not ruled out as tool depending on the volume of interest.