Client-Facing Forward Deployed Accountant

Cranston AI; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Cranston AI in San Francisco is seeking a Forward Deployed Accountant to own the customer journey from contract to daily use. You will configure Cranston around firm workflows, train staff, and collaborate with product and engineering on edge cases in tax software.

The role blends implementation, accounting judgment, and product work, with opportunities to lead onboarding for large CPA firms and to create scalable playbooks and training materials.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in public accounting, firm operations, client accounting services, tax, audit, or a closely related role.
• Understand how accounting firms operate and speak credibly with a partner, a preparer, and an operations lead.
• Can teach. You explain a new workflow plainly, notice when someone is lost, and adjust without making them feel behind.
• Comfortable getting into the details of a return, close, reconciliation, document request, or review process.
• Keep projects moving. Customers trust your follow-through, and teammates know you will surface a problem early.
• Experience with accounting software like CCH Axcess, Drake, Lacerte, QuickBooks is useful.

Responsibilities

• Own onboarding for new accounting-firm customers, from discovery and configuration through launch and adoption.
• Map each firm's tax, bookkeeping, document, review, and client-service workflows in enough detail to make Cranston useful in real work.
• Lead live training for partners, managers, preparers, bookkeepers, and administrative staff.
• Set clear rollout plans, define success measures, and keep customers moving when schedules get busy.
• Work inside the product with customers. Diagnose issues, find practical workarounds, and stay on the problem until the workflow is reliable.
• Turn repeatable lessons into implementation playbooks, training materials, product changes, and better defaults.
• Represent the accounting user's point of view in product decisions. Be specific about what firms need, what creates risk, and what saves time.
• Build trusted relationships that lead to deeper adoption, renewals, referrals, and expansion.
• Travel to customer offices and accounting-industry events when being in the room will make the work better.

Skills

Public accounting knowledge

Communication

Training & teaching

Process improvement

Software enthusiasm

Education

CPA license or in progress

Tools

CCH Axcess

Drake

Lacerte

QuickBooks

Job description

Cranston AI in San Francisco is seeking a Forward Deployed Accountant to own the customer journey from contract to daily use. You will configure Cranston around firm workflows, train staff, and collaborate with product and engineering on edge cases in tax software.

The role blends implementation, accounting judgment, and product work, with opportunities to lead onboarding for large CPA firms and to create scalable playbooks and training materials.