Accountant

The OpenAI Foundation; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The OpenAI Foundation is seeking an Accountant or Senior Accountant to support nonprofit accounting, financial reporting, annual audit, and Form 990 preparation. You will contribute to the monthly close, maintain accurate financial records, and prepare schedules that support transparent reporting and accountability.

This hands-on role reports to the Global Corporate Controller and focuses on tracking charitable activity, grants, donor restrictions, and ensuring well-supported records across

Qualifications

• 3+ years of relevant accounting or audit experience in nonprofit sector.
• 6+ years for Senior Accountant level with close ownership and reporting responsibilities.
• Working knowledge of US GAAP for nonprofit organizations.
• Strong documentation and organizational skills.
• Ability to coordinate with internal teams and external auditors.

Responsibilities

• Support accurate and timely close with journal entries and reconciliations.
• Maintain nonprofit accounting records with donor restrictions and net asset classifications.
• Support grant accounting, grant expense and payable schedules, and reconciliations.
• Track expenses by function and program with allocations under policy.
• Assist with annual financial statement audit and Form 990 preparation.
• Prepare financial statements and variance analyses for leadership.
• Strengthen processes and controls, including automation with proper safeguards.

Skills

Nonprofit accounting

GAAP knowledge

Journal entries

Close processes

Audit coordination

Grant accounting

Financial reporting

Education

CPA qualification or progress toward

Tools

Accounting software

Job description

About OpenAI Foundation

AI is already changing how people work, learn, and access care. It has the potential to unlock extraordinary benefits—faster medical breakthroughs, accelerated scientific discovery, more personalized services in healthcare and education, new tools for creativity and invention, higher productivity and economic growth, improved public services like transportation systems, and so much more.

About OpenAI Foundation

AI is already changing how people work, learn, and access care. It has the potential to unlock extraordinary benefits—faster medical breakthroughs, accelerated scientific discovery, more personalized services in healthcare and education, new tools for creativity and invention, higher productivity and economic growth, improved public services like transportation systems, and so much more.

But building powerful systems to benefit humanity is only a part of the work of our mission. Advanced AI models will also present new challenges that are already surfacing, and we need to be prepared to identify these challenges and develop solutions to address them.

These are the two dimensions of what we’re building the Foundation to do. We aim to enable the use of AI to find solutions to humanity’s hardest problems, transform what people are capable of, and deliver real benefits in people’s lives—while working hard with partners to be ready for new challenges, and to help make society resilient, as AI advances.

This work is just beginning. Over the next year, as we quickly ramp up, the Foundation expects to invest at least $1 billion across life sciences and curing diseases, jobs and economic impact, AI resilience, and community programs. This includes early investments toward our previously announced $25 billion commitment to curing diseases and AI resilience.

About The Team

The OpenAI Foundation advances the mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. The Finance team supports that mission through responsible stewardship of charitable resources, accurate financial reporting, and reliable financial operations.

We are building the accounting systems and processes that support the Foundation as it grows. Our work requires attention to detail, practical judgment, and close partnership across finance, grant operations, legal, and program teams.

About The Role

We are looking for an Accountant or Senior Accountant to support the Foundation’s nonprofit accounting, financial reporting, annual audit, and Form 990 preparation. You will contribute to the monthly close, maintain accurate financial records, and prepare the schedules and documentation that support transparent reporting and accountability.

This is a hands-on individual contributor role, reporting to the Global Corporate Controller, for someone who understands nonprofit accounting and enjoys connecting day-to-day transactions to the organization’s broader financial picture. You will help strengthen processes for tracking charitable activity, accounting for grants and contributions, and maintaining organized, well-supported records.

We are open to candidates at the Accountant or Senior Accountant level. Accountants support assigned close and reporting activities. Senior Accountants independently own assigned close areas, handle more complex accounting work, coordinate audit activities, and lead process improvements.

In this role, you will

• Support an accurate and timely close. Prepare journal entries, balance sheet reconciliations, and supporting schedules for cash, investments, prepaid expenses, accruals, fixed assets, and other assigned accounts.
• Maintain nonprofit accounting records. Support accounting for contributions, donor restrictions, releases from restrictions, and net asset classifications, with clear documentation of relevant agreements and accounting conclusions.
• Support grant accounting. Partner with grant operations to maintain grant expense and payable schedules, reconcile grant records and payments to the general ledger, and identify changes or exceptions requiring accounting review.
• Track expenses by function and program. Maintain consistent coding across program services, management and general, and fundraising, as applicable; prepare and document expense allocations under established policies.
• Support the annual financial statement audit. Prepare and reconcile audit schedules, organize requested documentation, maintain the audit request tracker, and coordinate timely responses with internal partners and external auditors. Assist with transaction testing, process walkthroughs, and follow-up on audit findings.
• Support annual Form 990 preparation. Prepare and reconcile financial schedules and supporting information for external tax preparers, including revenue, functional expenses, grants, and other requested disclosures. Help gather information from grant operations, legal, people operations, and finance leadership, track open requests, and review draft financial information for consistency with the books and audited financial statements.
• Prepare financial reporting and analysis. Support nonprofit financial statements, program-level reporting, and variance analyses that help leadership understand financial activity and resource use.
• Strengthen processes and controls. Document procedures, maintain organized supporting records, and improve accounting workflows and systems, including thoughtful use of automation with appropriate review and protection of sensitive information.

We’d love to hear from you if you

• Bring 3+ years of relevant accounting or audit experience for the Accountant level, including nonprofit accounting, auditing nonprofit organizations, or a combination of the two.
• Bring 6+ years of relevant accounting or audit experience for the Senior Accountant level, with demonstrated success independently owning close areas, preparing nonprofit financial statements, coordinating significant portions of an annual audit or Form 990 preparation process, and researching accounting questions for review by finance leadership.
• Have a working knowledge of U.S. GAAP for nonprofit organizations, including contributions, donor restrictions, and functional expense reporting.
• Have experience preparing journal entries, account reconciliations, and close schedules with clear supporting documentation.
• Can organize detailed financial information, investigate discrepancies, and explain findings clearly.
• Manage recurring deadlines reliably and coordinate effectively with colleagues and external advisers.
• Exercise sound judgment and discretion with confidential financial, donor, grantee, and employee information.
• Are motivated by the Foundation’s mission and comfortable helping build processes in an evolving organization.

It would be great if you also have

• Experience at a foundation, public charity, or other grantmaking organization.
• Direct experience supporting annual financial statement audits and Form 990 preparation.
• Experience with grantmaking, restricted contributions, investment accounting, or expense allocation methodologies.
• A CPA qualification or progress toward one.
• Experience implementing accounting systems or improving nonprofit reporting and close processes.

Compensation

The annual base salary range for this role is $110,000 to $190,000 USD.

This range reflects our good‑faith estimate of the base salary we reasonably expect to pay for this position upon hire. Actual base salary will be determined based on job‑related factors, including the candidate’s relevant experience, skills, expertise, the scope of the role, and work location, as applicable.

This salary range does not include benefits or any other compensation for which the role may be eligible.

Equal Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.