Lead Analyst - Accounting (Payroll Accounting)

Principal Financial Group; Pune District; On-site; INR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Principal Financial Group in Pune, India seeks a Lead Analyst - Accounting to own core accounting processes within our offshore/shared services team. You will manage stock compensation, payroll interfaces, reconciliations, and monthly closes, ensuring accuracy and compliance with U.S. GAAP.

You will coordinate with global teams, support external audits, and look for opportunities to streamline and improve reporting, while leading workstreams and mentoring colleagues as needed.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or professional certification in finance/accounting.
• CA or MBA in Finance preferred.
• 7–8 years of finance/accounting experience, offshore/shared services preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manage accounting processes for stock compensation, security benefits, employee benefit plans, and other HR-related functions in line with U.S. GAAP/SAP.
• Independently manage the incentive accrual process, including review, calculations, variance analysis, and coordination with global teams.
• Monitor payroll general ledger interfaces, ensuring accuracy, identifying discrepancies, and resolving issues with partners.
• Review and perform complex account reconciliations; analyze HR variances; ensure balances are accurate and well-supported.
• Support monthly, quarterly, and year-end close processes, including preparation and review of financial statement schedules.
• Assist external audit processes by providing audit-ready documentation and responding to requests.
• Identify opportunities to streamline, standardize, or improve accounting and reporting processes.
• Lead workstreams and collaborate to challenge status quo and drive improvements.

Skills

US GAAP knowledge

Account reconciliations

End-to-end close

Auditor coordination

Excel proficiency

Analytical thinking

Intercompany/payroll interfaces

Education

Master’s degree or professional degree

CA or MBA Finance

Tools

SAP

Oracle ERP

MS Excel

Job description

Responsibilities

As a Lead Analyst - Accounting, you'll play a pivotal role in our accounting team, owning and driving key processes that are crucial for our success. This is an outstanding opportunity to work in a dynamic and encouraging environment where your expertise will make a significant impact!

Key Responsibilities

• • Manage accounting processes for stock compensation, security benefits, employee benefit plans, and other HR-related functions in line with U.S. GAAP/SAP.
  • Independently manage the incentive accrual process, including review, calculations, variance analysis, and coordination with global teams.
  • Monitor payroll general ledger interfaces, ensuring accuracy, identifying and researching discrepancies, and working with partners to resolve issues.
  • Review and perform moderately complex account reconciliations. Analyze variances in HR-related accounts. Ensure balances are accurate, supported, and follow internal controls. Provide clear explanations with supporting analysis to management.
  • Support monthly, quarterly, and yearend close processes, including preparation and review of financial statement schedules.
  • Assist external audit processes by preparing audit-ready documentation, responding to routine audit requests, and addressing follow-up questions.
  • Find opportunities to streamline, standardize, or improve accounting and reporting processes.
  • Serve in an informal leadership role, motivated by challenging the status quo, collaborating with others, and generating new insights to continue to advance and improve deliverables.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Master’s degree / Professional Degree / Relevant Industry Certification.
• Preferably Chartered Accountant or MBA Finance.
• Around 7-8 years of relevant experience in Finance/Accounting, preferably in an offshore or shared services environment.

Technical Skills

• Strong U.S. GAAP/SAP accounting and reporting knowledge.
• Experience with general ledger ownership, complex account reconciliations, and endtoend close processes.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel; strong working knowledge of other MS office tools (PowerPoint/Word).
• Expertise in leveraging financial systems, applications, and reporting tools to analyze transactions, produce reporting, and support decisionmaking.
• Experience working with Oracle ERP systems and reporting tools preferred; ability to extract, analyze, and validate datasets.
• Ability to lead interactions with external auditors and respond to audit requests accurately and timely.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Proactive, analytical, and improvementoriented mindset; comfortable challenging data and assumptions.
• Demonstrate ability to apply professional judgment and independently resolve issues in gray or nonstandard accounting areas.
• Collaborative team player who can also operate independently and lead workstreams as needed.
• Must have fluent English communication skills (spoken and written).