Senior Accountant

Senior Accountant

The Senior Accountant serves as the driving force behind the month-end close process, owning journal entries, account reconciliations, balance sheet integrity, expense review, and credit card oversight to ensure the business is consistently review-ready at close. This highly visible role partners closely with Accounting, Operations, Accounts Payable, Finance leadership, and FP&A to deliver accurate, timely financial information that supports forecasting, variance analysis, and management reporting. The position also provides critical support for fixed asset and capital accounting, budget-to-actual reporting, and ongoing process improvements that strengthen financial controls and reporting quality.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and post monthly journal entries, including accruals, prepaids, payroll-related entries, and other recurring and non-recurring items.
• Own assigned components of the month-end close checklist, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of all tasks.
• Ensure the general ledger is materially complete and review-ready prior to Controller and corporate-level review.
• Own assigned balance sheet accounts and perform related reconciliations, including cash, prepaids, accruals, fixed assets, and clearing accounts.
• Maintain cash account reconciliations and support daily and weekly cash visibility for the organization.
• Investigate reconciling items proactively, resolve issues with appropriate urgency, and escalate open items with clear context, root cause, and recommended resolution.
• Maintain reconciliation support and documentation consistent with internal controls, audit requirements, and lender expectations.
• Own fixed asset accounting, including additions, disposals, depreciation, and related balance sheet reconciliations.
• Partner with Operations to ensure appropriate capitalization of expenditures, accurate placement of assets in service, and sound useful life assumptions.
• Maintain fixed asset schedules and supporting documentation suitable for audit and lender review.
• Review expenses as they are incurred, with particular focus on facility consolidation activities and department-level spending.
• Maintain monthly budget versus actual reporting by department, including identification of variances and preparation of clear commentary.
• Distribute monthly department-level spend reports to budget owners and respond to follow-up questions regarding variances and trends.
• Partner cross-functionally to identify and properly capture non-recurring or one-time costs and ensure accurate classification.
• Ensure costs associated with exited or consolidated facilities do not continue to be charged and are properly removed or reclassified.
• Confirm appropriate classification for restructuring items, add-backs, and non-operating costs in the financial statements.
• Escalate material or recurring variances to Finance leadership with clear explanations and practical recommendations.
• Review credit card transactions for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with internal policies.
• Ensure timely coding, documentation, and reconciliation of credit card activity.
• Partner with Accounts Payable and Finance leadership to streamline the credit card process, strengthen controls, and reduce friction for users.
• Exercise strong judgment in determining which issues can be resolved independently and which require escalation.
• Proactively flag unusual trends, unexpected balances, or recurring issues ahead of formal reviews.
• Present issues with root cause analysis and proposed solutions rather than deferring or obscuring them.
• Work closely with Operations, Accounts Payable, and Finance leadership to resolve issues efficiently and accurately.
• Support improvements that enhance close execution, reconciliation quality, and documentation standards.
• Assist with audit, lender, and internal review requests by providing timely, accurate schedules and supporting documentation.
• Track department spending versus budget and provide this information to Finance leadership each month.
• Provide timely, accurate close data and explanations to support forecasting, variance analysis, and management reporting.
• Enable FP&A by ensuring historical financial data is clean, well-supported, and clearly explained for analytical use.

Essential Skills

• Associate's degree in accounting or business.
• At least 4 years of progressive US GAAP accounting experience, preferably in a manufacturing, distribution, or private equity–backed environment.
• Hands-on experience managing the month-end close process and owning balance sheet accounts.
• Practical experience supporting fixed assets and capital accounting, including depreciation and asset reconciliations.
• Proficiency with general ledger accounting and balance sheet reconciliations.
• Strong month-end close skills, including preparation of accruals, prepaids, payroll-related entries, and other recurring and non-recurring journal entries.
• Experience working with an ERP system such as SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, JD Edwards, Workday, Microsoft Dynamics, or a similar platform.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including the ability to create pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, and basic formulas from scratch.
• Ability to investigate and resolve reconciling items with urgency and attention to detail.
• Strong judgment in issue resolution and escalation, with the ability to provide clear root cause analysis and solutions.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience in a manufacturing, distribution, or private equity–backed organization is preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to partner effectively with Operations, Accounts Payable, Finance leadership, and FP&A.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment with evolving processes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to explain variances, trends, and complex accounting matters to non-accounting stakeholders.
• Proactive mindset with a focus on continuous improvement in close execution, reconciliations, and documentation.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities while meeting tight month-end and reporting deadlines.
• High level of integrity and commitment to maintaining accurate, audit-ready financial records.
• Interest in professional growth within the accounting function, with opportunities for development and internal promotion.

Work Environment

The Senior Accountant works as part of a collaborative accounting team of approximately four or more professionals within a growing, well-invested organization that supports microscopy and general laboratory research through a broad range of high-quality products. The environment emphasizes accuracy, accountability, and continuous improvement in financial processes, with regular interaction across Accounting, Operations, Accounts Payable, Finance leadership, and FP&A. The role uses modern ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, JD Edwards, Workday, Microsoft Dynamics, or similar platforms, along with extensive use of Microsoft Excel for analysis and reporting. The company culture values internal development and promotion, offering clear opportunities for progression within the accounting team. After initial training and ramp-up, the position offers flexibility to work remotely 2–3 days per week, supporting a balanced and professional work setting focused on collaboration, learning, and long-term growth.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Morgantown, PA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $35.00 - $40.00/hr. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: • Medical, dental & vision • Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital • 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available • Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) • Short and long-term disability • Health Spending Account (HSA) • Transportation benefits • Employee Assistance Program • Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in Morgantown, PA.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Jul 8, 2026.

About Aston Carter

Aston Carter provides world-class corporate talent solutions to thousands of clients across the globe. Specialized in accounting, finance, human resources, talent acquisition, procurement, supply chain and select administrative professions, we extend the capabilities of industry-leading companies. We draw on our deep recruiting expertise and expansive network to meet the evolving needs of our clients and talent community with agility and excellence. With offices across the U.S., Canada, Asia Pacific and Europe, Aston Carter serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® Platinum Award winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation