Senior Audit Associate

Distinct | North America; Oakbrook Terrace (IL); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

30+ days PTO

Wellness leave

CPA support

Paid overtime bonus opportunities

Job summary

Distinct | North America in Oakbrook Terrace, IL is seeking a seasoned audit professional to join our independent firm. You’ll work on external audits with nonprofits and employee benefit plans, plus a mix of for-profit clients, with a focus on developing client relationships early.

With 3+ years of public accounting experience, you’ll be part of a lean, partner-led team. Expect a busy season of 55–60 hours and strong opportunities for advancement and CPA support along the way.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years of external audit experience in public accounting.
• Experience with nonprofits and employee benefit plans.
• Exposure to a mix of for-profit clients.
• Ability to build client relationships early in the career.

Responsibilities

• Perform external audits for nonprofit, employee benefit plans and for-profit clients.
• Engage with clients early to foster relationships.
• Participate in leadership development and succession planning.

Skills

External audit

Job description

The accounting world seems to be getting bigger every year.

For some people, that's exciting.

For others, there's something quite appealing about knowing who actually owns the firm you work for, and knowing they intend to keep owning it.

This firm has been independent for more than 50 years. They have no plans to sell, and they're putting their energy into developing the people already there to become the next generation of leaders.

They're around 35 people with six Partners, so you're not trying to build a career somewhere with twelve layers between you and the people making the decisions.

And there are decisions coming.

One of the Partners is expected to retire over the next few years, which means succession isn't some vague conversation for ten years' time. They've promoted Managers into Partnership before and they're actively thinking about who the firm's future leaders will be.

They're now looking for someone with at least three years of external audit experience in public accounting.

The audit work leans towards nonprofits and employee benefit plans, alongside a mix of for profit businesses, so you'll get variety without constantly being moved between completely unrelated teams.

They also believe people should get in front of clients early.

You don't have to wait until Manager before somebody decides you're allowed to have a conversation. Junior team members are encouraged to build client relationships alongside their technical experience, which becomes increasingly valuable the further you get into your career.

Busy season generally sits around 55 to 60 hours, with half day Fridays during the summer when things calm down.

There's also 30+ days of PTO and wellness leave, alongside paid overtime bonus opportunities. If you're working towards your CPA, there's support for that too.

Perhaps more importantly, people tend to stay.

Low turnover isn't particularly flashy, but it's usually quite a useful clue about what a firm is actually like once you've worked there for six months.

If you're already fairly happy where you are, this probably isn't about finding another Audit job.

It's about whether you'd rather build your career somewhere that intends to look roughly the same in five years, except perhaps with your name a little further up the org chart.

If this position isn't quite right, it's highly likely I'll be working on another Public Accounting opportunity that is.