Tax & Accounting Practice Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Tax & Accounting Practice Manager

Optimize Accounting Solutions — A full-service CPA firm leading with proactive tax planning & advisory

Location: Bay Area, CA — in-person / local presence (this is an in-office role, not remote)

Job Type: Full-Time; additional hours expected during tax and extension season (January–April) and tax planning implementation season (September–December)

Reports To: Pam Brar, CPA, CTS (Founder & CEO)

Direct Reports: Tax Planning & Advisory Lead; Accounting & Compliance Lead (each leading their own delivery team)

Compensation: $95,000–$140,000 base (based on experience and credentials) + performance bonus

About Optimize Accounting Solutions

Optimize Accounting Solutions is a women-led tax planning and advisory firm founded and led by Parmjit (Pam) Brar, CPA, CTS, based in the Bay Area, California. Pam brings more than 20 years of individual experience in tax strategy and planning, and founded OAS in 2014 to bring that level of expertise to a dedicated, proactive advisory firm. Over more than a decade, OAS has built a strong foundation of client trust and results, and we are now in an active growth phase, expanding our team and capacity to serve even more clients at the same high standard. We specialize in serving small- to mid-size businesses in the healthcare and technology sectors, as well as high-income professionals such as physicians, dentists, and executives, across the Bay Area, California, and other states. Our services include Tax Planning and Advisory, Tax Preparation, Fractional CFO Services, Monthly Bookkeeping, Payroll Processing and Compliance, Government Notice Resolution, and Business Compliance for clients locally and nationwide.

We hold ourselves to a white-glove standard: every client interaction is proactive, every deliverable is on time, and every client feels like they are our only client.

Our Core Values: We Deliver Excellence: Verified, Every Time. We Put Our Clients' Future First, Always. We Always Raise the Bar. We Invest in People. We Build Leaders.

The Role

OAS is looking for a Tax & Accounting Practice Manager to be the single point of ownership for client relationships across both delivery departments: Tax Planning & Advisory (which includes tax preparation) and Accounting & Compliance. This is primarily a leadership and quality-oversight role, with hands-on responsibility to step in and support either team lead when the work requires it. Day-to-day, you are not the one preparing returns or managing the books, but you are expected to be technically capable of jumping in when the team needs it. Instead, you sit above two team leads, one for each department, and own the quality, timeliness, and client-facing communication of everything they deliver.

Each department is led by its own team lead, responsible for day-to-day delivery. Your job is to review that output before it reaches the client, hold each lead accountable for quality and timeliness, run the client relationship (including a monthly touchpoint with every account), and identify growth opportunities within existing accounts. This role frees firm leadership to focus on strategy, planning, and growth rather than day-to-day delivery oversight.

Key Responsibilities

Client Relationship Ownership: Serve as the primary point of contact for delivery across both departments. Meet with every client monthly to review scope and confirm needs are being met. Translate technical tax and accounting output into clear, business-relevant conversations for clients without a finance background.

Quality Oversight & Accountability: Review the output of both the Tax Planning & Advisory Lead and the Accounting & Compliance Lead before it reaches a client. Hold team leads accountable for errors, inconsistencies, or missed deadlines.

Team Leadership: Oversee the Tax Planning & Advisory Lead and Accounting & Compliance Lead, each of whom manages their own delivery team directly. Build and maintain a reporting cadence covering both pipelines. Coach and develop the two team leads directly.

Business Development: Identify upsell and expansion opportunities within existing client relationships and flag them to firm leadership.

Documentation & Systems: Maintain SOPs for the client-communication and quality-review layer of both departments. Maintain strict confidentiality of sensitive client data.

Qualifications

Must Have: Active CPA license or EA, required. Whoever reviews the team's output and speaks for the firm on technical matters needs the credentials and standing to back it up. 5-7 years of experience in a CPA firm setting, ideally mid-sized, with direct experience managing multiple client engagements. Prior experience managing or directly overseeing other preparers, accountants, or bookkeepers. Working technical fluency in both tax (planning and preparation) and accounting/compliance, sufficient to review others' work and speak credibly to clients on either side. Demonstrated ability to explain technical concepts to clients without a finance background. Based in the Bay Area and able to work in-person/locally. Must be authorized to work in the United States.

Strong Plus: Experience overseeing both a tax function and an accounting/bookkeeping function simultaneously. Experience with clients in healthcare or technology. Experience with TaxDome or similar practice management software.

Compensation & Benefits

Base Salary: $95,000–$140,000, based on experience and credentials. Performance Bonus tied to client retention, delivery quality across both departments, and on-time resolution of client-facing issues, not attendance. Yearly salary review. Medical insurance (company-sponsored). Retirement plan with employer match. 80 hours paid vacation annually. 40 hours paid sick time annually. 10 company-paid holidays annually.

Growth Path

We promote on performance, not tenure. Tax & Accounting Practice Manager is the starting title. Promotion to Director of Tax & Accounting requires both team leads operating independently with client satisfaction consistently 8+ out of 10 and zero missed critical deadlines for 3 consecutive quarters, plus demonstrated ability to manage cross-department delivery at scale as the firm expands — full P&L visibility into delivery, owns firm-wide delivery strategy across tax and accounting, mentors additional managers. Beyond that, a partner-track path exists for candidates who demonstrate sustained leadership, client development, and firm-building contribution over multiple years.

How to Apply

We review every application personally. To be considered, please submit: your resume, with specific client-management, team-oversight, and CPA-firm experience listed; a brief cover letter answering three questions — (1) Describe a time you held someone else's work accountable for quality without doing the work yourself. (2) Tell us about a time you had to translate a technical tax or accounting issue into terms a client without a finance background could act on. (3) This role oversees two departments at once through two team leads rather than doing the work directly — describe your comfort level managing through others rather than being the technical producer; and your CPA/EA status and any relevant certifications, if applicable.

Strong candidates will be invited to a phone screen, followed by an in-depth interview with our leadership team, including a scenario walkthrough using one of our actual client planning worksheets to assess client-facing communication style. We move quickly for the right person.

Optimize Accounting Solutions is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse, high-performing team.

Optimize Accounting Solutions is a women-led tax planning and advisory firm founded and led by Parmjit (Pam) Brar, CPA, CTS, based in the Bay Area, California. Pam brings more than 20 years of individual experience in tax strategy and planning, and founded OAS in 2014 to bring that level of expertise to a dedicated, proactive advisory firm. Over more than a decade, OAS has built a strong foundation of client trust and results, and we are now in an active growth phase, expanding our team and capacity to serve even more clients at the same high standard. We specialize in serving small- to mid-size businesses in the healthcare and technology sectors, as well as high-income professionals such as physicians, dentists, and executives, across the Bay Area, California, and other states. Our services include Tax Planning and Advisory, Tax Preparation, Fractional CFO Services, Monthly Bookkeeping, Payroll Processing and Compliance, Government Notice Resolution, and Business Compliance for clients locally and nationwide.

We hold ourselves to a white-glove standard: every client interaction is proactive, every deliverable is on time, and every client feels like they are our only client. We help business owners and professionals avoid overpaying in taxes and maximize their financial outcomes, all while operating with the highest moral and ethical standards.

We invest in our team the same way we invest in our clients. At OAS, you will find a firm where A-players own outcomes, performance drives growth, and the work you do directly impacts the clients and communities we serve. We offer a meaningful career, real ownership of your work, and a clear path to leadership for those who earn it. Everything we do is grounded in four core values.

Company Description

Optimize Accounting Solutions is a women-led tax planning and advisory firm founded and led by Parmjit (Pam) Brar, CPA, CTS, based in the Bay Area, California. Pam brings more than 20 years of individual experience in tax strategy and planning, and founded OAS in 2014 to bring that level of expertise to a dedicated, proactive advisory firm. Over more than a decade, OAS has built a strong foundation of client trust and results, and we are now in an active growth phase, expanding our team and capacity to serve even more clients at the same high standard. We specialize in serving small- to mid-size businesses in the healthcare and technology sectors, as well as high-income professionals such as physicians, dentists, and executives, across the Bay Area, California, and other states. Our services include Tax Planning and Advisory, Tax Preparation, Fractional CFO Services, Monthly Bookkeeping, Payroll Processing and Compliance, Government Notice Resolution, and Business Compliance for clients locally and nationwide.\n\nWe hold ourselves to a white-glove standard: every client interaction is proactive, every deliverable is on time, and every client feels like they are our only client. We help business owners and professionals avoid overpaying in taxes and maximize their financial outcomes, all while operating with the highest moral and ethical standards.\n\nWe invest in our team the same way we invest in our clients. At OAS, you will find a firm where A-players own outcomes, performance drives growth, and the work you do directly impacts the clients and communities we serve. We offer a meaningful career, real ownership of your work, and a clear path to leadership for those who earn it. Everything we do is grounded in four core values.