Technical Accounting & Audit Specialist

Role Description

Our private equity clients are required to deliver lender- and investor-facing audited financial statements at the investment level. This role exists to prepare those audited financials with genuine technical judgment, not by rolling forward the prior year, but by understanding the underlying transactions and knowing what belongs in the statements and disclosures and why.

A recent example illustrates the bar: a client acquired two luxury hotels this year and now requires audits from the acquisition date through fiscal year-end, including purchase accounting for the acquisitions. The right person can look at a set of financials and immediately see what a new event, such as an acquisition or refinancing, changes about the required accounting and disclosures, and can defend those positions to an external auditor.

Key Responsibilities

• Audited Financial Statement Preparation
  • Prepare complete sets of U.S. GAAP financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, cash flows, and equity) for hotel investment entities.
  • Draft full footnote disclosures that are lender- and investor-ready and compliant with reporting requirements.
  • Review prior-year financials and identify the adjustments and new disclosures required by current-year events.
• Technical Accounting & Judgment
  • Apply U.S. GAAP to complex transactions, including business combinations and purchase accounting (ASC 805) and asset acquisitions.
  • Address fixed assets and depreciation, debt and financing arrangements, and lease accounting (ASC 842).
  • Determine which disclosures are required versus optional, rather than replicating the prior year by default.
• Audit Coordination & Support
  • Serve as the primary preparer supporting external audits from acquisition date through fiscal year-end.
  • Build and maintain audit-ready workpapers and manage prepared-by-client (PBC) schedules.
  • Respond to auditor requests clearly and keep audit timelines on track.
• Process & Collaboration
  • Partner with the Business Transformation Advisor and finance leadership on methodology and technical positions.
  • Document approaches and help standardize the audited-financials process across the client portfolio.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of public accounting audit experience at a Big Four or national/regional firm (e.g., RSM, BDO, Grant Thornton).
• Demonstrated experience preparing or auditing full sets of U.S. GAAP financial statements with footnote disclosures.
• Strong technical U.S. GAAP knowledge, including business combinations and purchase accounting (ASC 805).
• CA(SA), CPA, ACCA, or equivalent professional qualification.
• Experience building audit workpapers and managing PBC processes.
• Excellent written English; disclosures must be clear and client-ready.
• Full overlap with U.S. Eastern business hours.
• Typing proficiency of at least 45 WPM at 95%+ accuracy.

Preferred Qualifications

• Real estate, hospitality, or private equity fund / portfolio audit experience.
• Experience with multi-entity or consolidated financial reporting.
• CA(SA) designation, given the strong depth of U.S. GAAP-experienced talent in South Africa.

Ideal Candidate Profile

You are: a technically confident accountant who can look at a set of financials and know what belongs, what is missing, and why. You do not simply copy last year; you understand the underlying transactions and can defend your disclosures to an auditor. You work independently, write clearly, and take full ownership of a deliverable from acquisition date through final audited statements. You are comfortable being the technical backbone behind a sophisticated, credentialed finance team.