Accounting Manager

ICA Fund; Oakland (CA); Hybrid; USD 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

13 paid holidays

3 weeks annual paid vacation

10 days annual paid sick leave

Mental health days

Employer-paid health, dental, vision

Job summary

ICA Fund, located in Oakland, CA, seeks an Accounting Manager to lead day-to-day finance operations, month-end close, and financial reporting under the CFO. You will manage grant accounting, portfolio finance support, and internal controls to ensure accuracy for leadership, funders, lenders and the Board.

This full-time hybrid role requires 7+ years in nonprofit finance, strong technical skills, and proven leadership to strengthen processes in a small finance team. In-office Tuesdays & Thursdays.

Qualifications

• 7+ years progressive accounting or finance experience, including nonprofit accounting.
• Experience leading accounting staff and managing close processes.
• Strong technical accounting skills and audit support experience.
• Ability to translate financial data into clear insights for CFO and leadership.
• Experience with grant compliance and fund accounting.
• Familiarity with Single Audit requirements is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day finance operations and close processes.
• Review GL activity, journal entries, reconciliations, and close schedules.
• Strengthen procedures and internal controls.
• Prepare monthly/quarterly reporting packages for CFO and leadership.
• Support grant budgets, funder reporting, and covenant tracking.
• Coordinate audit schedules and Single Audit readiness.
• Leverage AI tools to improve finance efficiency while ensuring accuracy.

Skills

Nonprofit accounting

Grant accounting

Month-end close

Financial reporting

Internal controls

Team leadership

Communication

Tools

QuickBooks

Ramp

Rippling

Job description

Location: Oakland, CA (hybrid, in-office Tuesdays & Thursdays)

Position: Full-time, reporting to the CFO

About ICA Fund—Not Business as Usual

ICA accelerates great businesses through mentorship and mission-aligned investments to catalyze value in missed markets to transform communities. With a deep commitment to identifying, supporting and helping to grow small businesses run by underrepresented entrepreneurs, ICA is innovating ways to leverage coaching, capital and connections to amplify our impact.

By offering targeted acceleration workshops and operating tools, alongside hands‑on advising from a network of highly experienced business operators, ICA is democratizing access to resources that catalyze value and growth in small businesses.

The Role

The Accounting Manager reports directly to the CFO and is a key leader on ICA’s finance team. They are responsible for managing day-to-day accounting operations, month‑end close, financial reporting, grant accounting, portfolio/investment finance support, PRI/debt covenant tracking, audit readiness, Single Audit support, and internal controls.

This role requires a proactive self‑starter with strong technical skills, keen attention to detail and excellent organizational abilities. The ideal candidate works well independently with minimal supervision and possesses high critical thinking ability to review accounting work, identify issues early, strengthen finance processes, and ensure financial information is accurate and ready for CFO approval.

Success in this role means replacing the CFO as the first line of review for routine accounting work including, but not limited to, reconciliations, schedules, reporting and audit support, and portfolio and covenant tracking. The Accounting Manager is also responsible for ensuring that ICA’s financial records are accurate, well-supported, timely, and ready to meet the needs of leadership, funders, lenders, auditors, and the Board.

This is a hybrid role, with in‑office days on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Core Responsibilities

Finance Team Leadership & Review

• Lead day‑to‑day finance operations, close coordination, reporting preparation, review processes, and follow‑up on accounting issues.
• Provide direction, review, and accountability for the Senior Staff Accountant’s work.
• Establish clear priorities, deadlines, and expectations for accounting, reporting, documentation, and compliance work.
• Serve as the first level of review before routine accounting, reporting, audit, portfolio, and covenant matters are elevated to the CFO.

Accounting Operations, Close & Controls

• Own the month‑end close process and ensure close is timely, accurate, complete, and well‑documented.
• Review general ledger activity, journal entries, balance sheet reconciliations, and close schedules.
• Ensure accounts are properly classified, supported, and reconciled.
• Strengthen close procedures, documentation standards, accounting workflows, and internal controls.
• Prepare and review monthly and quarterly financial reporting packages for CFO review.
• Prepare budget‑to‑actual reporting, variance explanations, dashboards, and financial analysis.
• Identify trends, risks, unusual activity, and reporting implications and communicate them clearly.
• Support leadership, Finance Committee, Audit Committee, and Board reporting needs as directed by the CFO.

Grant, Compliance & Funder Support

• Own or review restricted net asset tracking, grant revenue, releases from restriction, multi‑year grant balances, and spend‑down schedules.
• Review grant‑related staff time, expense allocations, and supporting documentation.
• Partner with Development on grant budgets, proposal budgets, funder reporting, and external financial reporting support.
• Strengthen processes for grant tracking, expense tracking, documentation, and Single Audit readiness.
• Partner with the CFO and Portfolio Operations team to track ICA’s investments made to companies, including loans, notes, equity investments, repayments, and related activity.
• Review portfolio‑related support schedules and ensure activity ties to accounting records.
• Identify discrepancies, delayed repayments, missing information, unusual activity, or accounting treatment questions.
• Prepare and review support for loan loss reserves and equity investment impairments.

PRI/Debt Covenant, Audit & External Reporting Support

• Own or review covenant tracking schedules related to ICA’s PRI loans, EQ2, debt, and other capital received.
• Maintain reporting calendars, covenant calculations, supporting schedules, and documentation.
• Lead preparation of audit schedules and support annual audit and Single Audit requests.
• Escalate potential covenant issues, audit concerns, documentation gaps, or matters requiring CFO judgment.

Systems, Process Improvement & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain and strengthen finance systems, schedules, documentation, and recurring workflows.
• Identify recurring errors, process gaps, or inefficiencies and recommend improvements.
• Develop and document repeatable finance procedures that reduce reliance on CFO‑level detailed review.
• Use AI and other approved tools, where appropriate, to improve efficiency while maintaining strong verification and accuracy standards.

Success in this Role

A key measure of success for this role is ensuring that ICA's records are accurate, reconciliations and schedules are completed on time, financial reports require less CFO-level correction, audit and compliance support is well‑organized, and key issues are identified early. By elevating standard reviews, documentation protocols, and financial reporting precision, the Accounting Manager will foster greater trust and day‑to‑day rigor across the finance function .

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive accounting or finance experience, including at least 4 years in nonprofit accounting, grant accounting, or similarly complex accounting environment, with hands‑on responsibility for month‑end close, reconciliations, financial reporting, audit support, and internal controls.
• Experience overseeing accounting work, managing close processes, and providing day‑to‑day direction and technical guidance to accounting staff.
• Strong technical accounting skills, including journal entries, balance sheet reconciliations, financial statement preparation, and audit support.
• Experience preparing, analyzing, and verifying financial reporting packages, budget‑to‑actual reports, dashboards, and variance explanations.
• Demonstrated knowledge of restricted net assets, releases from restriction, grant compliance, fund accounting, and other complex nonprofit accounting areas.
• Demonstrated ability to identify errors, investigate variances, resolve discrepancies, strengthen support documentation, and improve recurring accounting processes.
• Strong judgment and ability to evaluate how accounting issues affect audit, funders, lenders, portfolio reporting, covenant compliance, and leadership decisions.
• Ability to lead finance workflows, set priorities, manage deadlines, and ensure the quality, accuracy, and completeness of work performed by accounting staff.
• Ability to interpret financial information, communicate issues clearly, escalation concerns appropriately, and provide concise, well‑supported recommendations to the CFO.
• Comfort operating in a small, evolving finance function with increasing complexity and competing deadlines.

Preferred

• Experience with CDFIs, nonprofit lenders, impact investing organizations, community development financial institutions, or organizations managing loan and equity portfolios.
• Experience with Single Audit requirements, federal award compliance and tracking, or similarly high‑scrutiny audit and compliance environments.
• Experience with loan accounting, portfolio tracking, loan loss reserves, equity impairments, covenant reporting, or lender compliance reporting.
• Experience preparing or supporting Form 990 preparation, CDFI certification, lender reporting, or funder compliance reporting.
• Experience managing financial reporting and compliance requirements across multiple grants, lenders, funding sources, or legal entities.
• Experience using QuickBooks, Ramp, Rippling, or similar finance systems.
• Interest in using technology and AI‑assisted workflows to improve finance processes while maintaining appropriate controls, professional judgement, and verification procedures.
• Salary: The annual base salary range for this full time position is $125,000 – $150,000, dependent upon background and experience. Compensation also includes a discretionary bonus paid annually based on organization and individual performance.
• Benefits: ICA’s full benefits package includes: 13 paid holidays per year; 3 weeks of annual paid vacation; 10 days of annual paid sick leave; at least 3 employer‑identified mental health days; employer‑paid health, dental, vision, life insurance and disability benefits; 50% employer‑paid dependent health, dental, vision; employer‑paid mental health counseling; 24‑hour online virtual healthcare; 401(k) plan with matching; and mobile phone / Internet reimbursement.
• Equal Opportunity Employer: ICA Fund evaluates qualified candidates without regard to protected characteristics and is fully committed to fostering equity and inclusion.