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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Compliance Accountant

💰 $60,000 - $95,000

AccountingFinanceComplianceRiskAudit

🎯 Role Definition

The Compliance Accountant ensures that the finance and accounting functions comply with internal policies, external regulatory requirements (e.g., SOX, SEC, FINRA, AML/KYC), and accepted accounting principles (GAAP/IFRS). This role supports month-end close, prepares and validates regulatory and management reporting, designs and tests internal controls, coordinates audit activities, and drives remediation and process improvements to mitigate financial and compliance risk.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Staff Accountant with exposure to internal controls and reconciliations
  • Financial Analyst supporting month-end close and reporting
  • Junior Internal Auditor or Risk Analyst with accounting fundamentals

Advancement To:

  • Senior Compliance Accountant / SOX Manager
  • Internal Controls Manager
  • Accounting Manager or Assistant Controller

Lateral Moves:

  • Internal Audit
  • Financial Reporting / SEC Reporting
  • Risk & Compliance Analyst

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead the design, documentation and testing of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) controls across finance processes; prepare control narratives, flowcharts, control matrices (RACM), and test plans, and manage remediation activities to close control deficiencies.
  • Execute month-end and quarter-end close accounting tasks related to compliance accounts including preparation and review of journal entries, account reconciliations, variance analysis, and ensuring entries conform to GAAP/IFRS and company policy.
  • Prepare, review and deliver recurring regulatory and compliance reports (e.g., regulatory filings, management compliance dashboards, AML/KYC reporting) on time and with high accuracy for internal and external stakeholders.
  • Serve as primary business partner to internal audit and external auditors—coordinate requests, provide supporting schedules, walk-throughs of processes and controls, and drive remediation plans to resolution.
  • Develop, implement and continuously improve internal control frameworks and policies to strengthen financial controls, reduce risk of misstatement and ensure compliance with evolving regulations.
  • Conduct periodic risk assessments of accounting and operational processes to identify compliance gaps, quantify risk exposure, and recommend prioritized remediation and process improvements.
  • Perform complex account analyses (intercompany, accruals, reserves, tax-related accounts) and reconcile discrepancies; prepare detailed working papers and explanations for management and auditors.
  • Monitor regulatory and accounting standard updates (SEC guidance, GAAP/IFRS updates, AML rules, industry-specific regulations) and translate impacts into actionable policy or process changes.
  • Lead or support Sarbanes-Oxley testing cycles, including producing objective evidence, executing walkthroughs and control tests, documenting results in compliance tools (e.g., Workiva, TeamMate), and presenting findings to controllers or audit committees.
  • Design and run continuous monitoring and data analytics procedures (e.g., exception reports, transaction testing, trend analysis) to proactively detect compliance issues, anomalies, or policy breaches.
  • Drive remediation projects end-to-end for identified control deficiencies, including root-cause analysis, action plan development, stakeholder coordination, timelines, and tracking completion to reduce audit findings recurrence.
  • Review new contracts, client onboarding documentation, and vendor relationships to identify accounting and compliance implications, escalating potential risks and coordinating mitigation steps with Legal and Procurement.
  • Oversee compliance-related general ledger activity, ensuring chart of accounts alignment, appropriate account codings, and consistent application of accounting policies across business units and jurisdictions.
  • Support tax and statutory reporting teams by providing reconciliations, schedules and explanations necessary for regulatory filings, audits and tax provision preparation.
  • Maintain and update compliance documentation libraries, policies, SOPs and training materials for finance and business teams to ensure consistent control execution and knowledge sharing.
  • Provide subject-matter expertise on segregation of duties, access controls and system-level controls within ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite) and work with IT to remediate access-related control deficiencies.
  • Partner with Legal, Compliance and Risk teams on AML/KYC and sanctions screening escalations; analyze flagged cases for accounting implications and prepare supporting documentation for investigations.
  • Support system upgrades, ERP implementations, and finance transformation projects by validating control design, documenting process changes, and testing post-implementation controls to ensure no regression in compliance.
  • Maintain and run vendor due diligence and third-party risk assessments for finance-critical suppliers, ensuring contractual and compliance requirements are met and documented.
  • Prepare and present monthly/quarterly compliance metrics and executive summaries for Finance leadership and Audit Committees—summarize control effectiveness, open remediation items, and key risk indicators.
  • Facilitate internal compliance training for accounting staff on control execution, documentation standards, and regulatory changes to improve consistency and reduce control exceptions.
  • Respond to ad hoc regulatory inquiries and special projects, including fraud investigations, whistleblower escalations, and compliance-related litigation support.
  • Maintain accurate and auditable records of all compliance testing, remediation actions and communications to support internal reviews and external regulatory exams.

Secondary Functions

  • Support continuous improvement initiatives to streamline reconciliations, automate manual processes (Excel-to-ERP automation, use of RPA), and implement analytics to reduce time spent on manual testing.
  • Assist in cross-functional projects impacting finance and compliance (M&A integration, divestitures, product launches) to ensure compliance considerations are incorporated from the outset.
  • Provide back-up support for transactional accounting activities during peak periods to maintain accurate financial reporting and control coverage.
  • Participate in vendor selection and configuration for compliance tools (SOX management, GRC platforms) and contribute to user acceptance testing and documentation.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Solid knowledge of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance: control design, testing, remediation and documentation in SOX/GRC tools (e.g., Workiva, TeamMate, MetricStream).
  • Strong accounting fundamentals in GAAP and/or IFRS, with demonstrated ability to apply standards to complex transactions and prepare supporting disclosures.
  • Experience with month-end close processes, account reconciliations, journal entries, accruals and variance analysis.
  • Expertise in internal controls frameworks and risk assessment methodologies; ability to build control matrices and perform gap analyses.
  • Proficiency in ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics) including GL configuration, access controls and financial module reconciliations.
  • Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, Power Query, macros) and experience with data analytics tools (Power BI, Tableau, SQL) for transaction testing and monitoring.
  • Familiarity with AML/KYC processes, sanctions screening and regulatory reporting requirements; ability to support investigations and compliance escalations.
  • Experience supporting external and internal audits, including producing schedules, responding to audit requests and addressing findings through remediation plans.
  • Knowledge of tax compliance interfaces and statutory reporting processes to support reconciliations and provision workflows.
  • Experience with reconciliation and continuous monitoring tools (BlackLine, Trintech) and process automation (RPA) to improve control efficiency.
  • Ability to prepare clear, audit-ready documentation, policies and standard operating procedures that stand up to regulatory and audit scrutiny.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy—ability to find root causes and articulate findings clearly.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; comfortable working with large data sets to identify trends and exceptions.
  • Effective verbal and written communication skills for cross-functional stakeholder engagement and presenting to senior leadership.
  • Project management skills with the ability to prioritize, manage multiple deadlines and drive remediation projects to closure.
  • High ethical standards, sound judgment and the ability to handle confidential information with discretion.
  • Collaborative team-player who can influence without authority and build relationships across Finance, Legal, IT and Compliance.
  • Adaptability and continuous-learning mindset to stay current with evolving regulatory and accounting standards.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Accounting/Finance plus CPA, CIA or relevant certification (e.g., CISA, CAMS).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Business Administration
  • Risk Management
  • Information Systems (for ERP/control focus)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3–7 years of progressive accounting experience with demonstrable exposure to internal controls, SOX, audit support and regulatory compliance.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years in compliance accounting, SOX testing, internal audit, or public accounting supporting regulated entities; experience with ERP implementations, GRC tools and AML/KYC programs is highly desirable.
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