Compass Accounting & Finance Consultant - San Francisco

Ports North; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Korn Ferry’s Compass Rotational Consulting Program is designed for Big 4 and public accounting professionals who want broader experience and faster career growth. Over 2–3 years, you will complete high-impact projects across public, private, PE-backed, VC-backed, and founder-led organizations.

You’ll build skills beyond audit or tax, strengthening technical accounting, reporting, and project management capabilities, becoming a uniquely valuable candidate with both public accounting and industry

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in accounting or related field (advanced degree preferred)
• 2+ years of public accounting experience
• CPA is preferred
• A self-starter mindset with curiosity, adaptability, and a drive to learn
• Excellent communication, client service, and relationship-building skills
• Flexibility and desire to explore different pathways before committing to a long-term direction

Responsibilities

• Work on controllership and financial reporting projects across diverse clients
• Gain exposure to SEC, regulatory and management reporting
• Develop expertise in technical accounting and corporate accounting
• Support budgeting, forecasting, and financial modeling activities
• Assist in finance/IT liaison and project management tasks
• Contribute to ERP implementations and system analyses
• Participate in due diligence and acquisition integrations
• Engage with CFOs and senior finance leaders early in your career

Skills

Communication

Client service

Relationship-building

Self-starter mindset

Curiosity

Adaptability

Drive to learn

Flexibility

Education

Bachelor's degree in accounting or related field

CPA (preferred)

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

Are you ready to leave public accounting but unsure which direction to take - controllership, technical accounting, corporate finance, financial reporting or something entirely new? Korn Ferry's Compass Rotational Consulting Program is built specifically for Big 4 and public accounting professionals who want to broaden their experience, accelerate their careers, and explore multiple career paths before choosing their next long?term role in industry.

In this 2-3 year program, you'll complete a series of high?impact projects across a wide range of clients - public, private, PE?backed, VC?backed, and founder?led organizations. You'll build skills beyond audit or tax, strengthening your technical accounting, reporting, operational finance, and project management capabilities. By the end of the program, you'll become a uniquely valuable candidate with both public accounting and industry experience - significantly increasing your market value and long?term opportunities.

As a Compass Consultant at Korn Ferry, you could experience career-building projects, such as:

• Controllership
• SEC, regulatory and management reporting
• Technical accounting
• Corporate accounting
• Budgeting and forecasting
• Financial modeling and analysis
• Finance / Information Technology Liaison
• Project management
• Business systems analysis
• Internal audit / risk management
• Treasury
• ERP Implementation assistance
• Due diligence
• Acquisition integration

Who Thrives in This Program?

We're looking for public accounting professionals who want to grow faster, gain broad exposure to different industries and functional areas, and better understand the type of role and organization that fits them long-term

Education and Work Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in accounting or related field (advanced degree preferred)
• 2+ years of public accounting experience
• CPA is preferred
• A self?starter mindset with curiosity, adaptability, and a drive to learn
• Excellent communication, client service, and relationship?building skills
• Flexibility and desire to explore different pathways before committing to a long?term direction

Why Big 4 & Public Accounting Professionals Choose Compass:

• You gain first-hand experience in a variety of roles within industry without committing to a single role too soon
• You develop broader skillsets beyond audit/tax, making you more competitive
• You get exposure to CFOs, Controllers, and executive?level finance teams early in your career
• You explore multiple accounting and finance career paths while maintaining structured learning, mentorship, and coaching

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry unleashes potential in people, teams, and organizations. We work with our clients to design optimal organization structures, roles, and responsibilities. We help them hire the right people and advise them on how to reward and motivate their workforce while developing professionals as they navigate and advance their careers. To learn more, please visit Korn Ferry at www.Kornferry.com