Accounting & Payroll Manager

Vaco by Highspring; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Job summary

Vaco by Highspring seeks a Payroll & Accounting Manager to lead global payroll and compensation accounting for a growing enterprise. You will own end-to-end payroll operations across multiple jurisdictions, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timely reporting.

You will partner with HR, Finance, external providers, and auditors to maintain accounting integrity while optimizing systems and processes. This role requires 7–10+ years in payroll/compensation accounting, strong US GAAP knowledge, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field.
• 7–10+ years of progressive payroll/compensation accounting experience in a multi-state and global setting.
• Solid US GAAP/general accounting knowledge including accruals, journal entries, reconciliations, and financial reporting.
• Hands-on experience with enterprise payroll platforms, HRIS software, and advanced Excel.
• Deep understanding of US multi-state and international payroll regulations, tax filings, and wage/hour laws.
• In-office 3 days/week in Seattle, NYC, or Fort Lauderdale; ability to support global payroll cycles outside standard hours.

Responsibilities

• Oversee multi-state US and international payroll processing for global entities, ensuring compliance, timeliness, and accuracy.
• Manage relationships with external payroll providers and software vendors; act as escalation point for issues and optimization.
• Prepare compensation-related journal entries, accruals, and ledger reconciliations; maintain salary adjustments, bonuses, and long-term incentive calculations.
• Develop budgets and forecasts for compensation expenditures; support internal and external audit requests with accurate workpapers.
• Collaborate with HR, Finance, auditors to ensure 100% compliance and accounting integrity across jurisdictions.
• Lead payroll systems implementations and optimize processes to design scalable internal controls.

Skills

Payroll leadership

US GAAP knowledge

Excel

HRIS proficiency

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance/Business

Tools

Payroll platforms

HRIS

Advanced Excel

Job description

Compensation: $110,000 - $140,000 base + bonus

Location: New York, NY (Hybrid, 3 days/week in-office)

The Opportunity

We are seeking a Payroll & Accounting Manager to lead the administration, oversight, and continuous improvement of global payroll and compensation accounting processes for a growing international enterprise.

Serving as the in-house subject matter expert, this role owns end-to-end multi-state US and international payroll operations, compensation-related general ledger accounting, reconciliations, and vendor relationships. You will partner closely with HR, Finance, external global payroll providers, and auditors to maintain 100% compliance and accounting integrity across multiple jurisdictions.

Key Responsibilities

• Global & Multi-State Payroll Leadership: Oversee and execute multi-state US and international payroll processing, ensuring compliance, timeliness, and precision across global entities (including France, UK, UAE, Australia, Japan, and others).
• Vendor & Software Management: Manage relationships with external payroll service providers and software vendors, serving as the escalation point for issue resolution and system optimizations.
• Compensation Accounting & GL Reconciliations: Prepare compensation-related journal entries, accruals, and ledger account reconciliations. Maintain underlying calculations for salary adjustments, bonuses, and long-term incentive programs.
• Financial Planning & Audit Support: Build budgets and forecasts for all compensation-related expenditures. Lead internal and external audit requests, delivering accurate workpapers and technical explanations.
• Tax Compliance & Controls: Partner with US and international payroll vendors to ensure accurate state, federal, and local tax filings, wage/hour compliance, and statutory reporting.
• Systems & Process Optimization: Lead payroll and HRIS software implementations, evaluate workflows, analyze root causes for discrepancies, and design scalable internal controls.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Professional Experience: 7-10+ years of progressive experience in payroll, compensation accounting, or related financial operations within a complex, multi-state (and ideally global) organization.
• Technical Accounting Foundation: Strong knowledge of US GAAP/general accounting principles, including accruals, GL entries, account reconciliations, and financial reporting.
• Systems Proficiency: Hands-on expertise with enterprise payroll platforms, HRIS software, and advanced Excel functions.
• Regulatory Depth: In-depth understanding of US multi-state and international payroll regulations, tax filings, and wage/hour laws.
• Work Arrangement: Ability to work in-office 3 days/week in Seattle, NYC, or Fort Lauderdale, with flexibility for non-standard hours to support global payroll cycles as needed.

Equal Opportunity Notice

Highspring LLC (d/b/a Vaco by Highspring) and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries ("we," "our," or "Vaco by Highspring") are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race (including but not limited to traits historically associated with race such as hair texture and hair style), color, sex (includes pregnancy or related conditions), religion or creed, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, status as a veteran, union membership, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, or any other protected characteristics as required by applicable law. The company is also committed to ensuring that persons who need them are provided with reasonable accommodations; if an accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact [e-mail].

Vaco by Highspring also wants all applicants to know their rights that workplace discrimination is illegal.

Representation Notice

By submitting to this position, you agree that you will be giving Vaco by Highspring the exclusive right to present your as a candidate for the foregoing employment opportunity. Additionally, you agree to be included in our talent pool for future hiring for similarly qualified positions. You further agree that you have represented information about yourself accurately and have not affirmatively misrepresented your qualifications. Lastly, you agree to maintain as confidential, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any information you learn from Vaco by Highspring about the position and you will limit disclosure of information about the position only to the extent necessary to perform any obligations in furtherance of your application. In exchange, Vaco by Highspring agrees to exercise reasonable efforts to represent you through all solicitation, job screening and resume dispersal.

Privacy Notice

Vaco by Highspring respects your privacy and are committed to providing transparent notice of our policies.

• California residents may access Vaco by Highspring HR Notice at Collection for California Applicants and Employees here.
• Virginia residents may access our state specific policies here.
• Residents of all other states may access our policies here.
• Canadian residents may access our policies in English here and in French here.
• Residents of countries governed by GDPR and UK GDPR may access our policies here.

Pay Transparency Notice

Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco by Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to:

the individual's skill sets, experience and training;

licensure and certification requirements;

office location and other geographic considerations; and

other business and organizational needs.

With that said, as required by local law, Vaco by Highspring believes that the following salary range referenced above reasonably estimates the base compensation for an individual hired into this position in geographies that require salary range disclosure. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses and/or participation in medical, dental, and vision benefits as well as the company's retirement plan (or similar retirement benefits).