Customer Success Manager (Kirkland, WA Hybrid)

Formations is a Seattle-based startup reimagining financial management for self-employed professionals. We handle everything — taxes, accounting, payroll, S Corporation management, and financial planning — so our customers can focus on the work they love, not the paperwork.
Our customers are business owners betting their livelihoods on themselves. We take that seriously. The people who work with us do too.

About the Role
As a Customer Success Manager at Formations, you own your book of business. A portfolio of self-employed professionals will rely on you as their primary point of contact and trusted advisor — the person who knows their situation, anticipates their needs, and shows up before something goes wrong.
This is a proactive role. You're not just fielding tickets. You're working your accounts like a portfolio: knowing who's at risk before they ask, spotting the members ready for the next step, and staying ahead of the calendar. Your customers are navigating the real complexity of running an S Corporation — payroll, estimated taxes, bookkeeping, compliance — and you're the person who makes that feel manageable.
The ideal candidate has hands-on experience in tax, accounting, payroll, or financial operations and brings the consultative instincts to turn that expertise into customer outcomes. You're operationally sharp, relationship-driven, and comfortable holding both customer advocacy and business objectives in the same hand.

What You'll Do
Manage and Grow Your Book of Business
•       Own a portfolio of customers throughout their lifecycle with a focus on retention, health, long-term success, and expansion
•       Serve as the primary point of contact and trusted advisor after onboarding completion
•       Identify at-risk customers proactively and work toward resolution before it becomes a problem
•       Spot and pursue upsell and cross-sell opportunities rooted in customer need, not quota

Advise Customers on Tax and Business Operations
•       Help customers navigate payroll requirements, estimated taxes, bookkeeping responsibilities, and S Corporation compliance
•       Conduct quarterly business reviews, renewal conversations, and value-driven account check-ins
•       Educate customers on how Formations works end-to-end and why it matters to their financial health

Deliver Exceptional Customer Experience
•       Build strong relationships through proactive communication and strategic guidance — not just reactive support
•       Respond to customer inquiries within established service-level expectations
•       Gather customer feedback and advocate for their needs cross-functionally

Stay Organized and Collaborate Cross-Functionally
•       Partner with tax, payroll, bookkeeping, and operations teams to support customer outcomes
•       Utilize HubSpot to manage engagement, follow-up, account health, and expansion tracking
•       Maintain accurate documentation and complete workflows in a timely, organized manner

What You'll Bring
Required Experience
•       2+ years in one or more of the following: tax preparation or tax operations, payroll administration or payroll compliance, bookkeeping or accounting operations, financial operations supporting small businesses or self-employed individuals
•       2+ years in Customer Success, Account Management, Customer Experience, Project Management, or a comparable customer-facing role
•       Experience working directly with customers in an advisory or consultative capacity
•       Comfortable using technology platforms and learning new systems quickly

Skills and Traits
•       Strong understanding of S Corporations, small business tax strategy, and ongoing client relationship management
•       Consultative problem-solver who can simplify complex financial concepts into clear next steps
•       Proactive and organized — you manage a large book without letting anything fall through the cracks
•       Strong written and verbal communication; equally effective in email, phone, and video
•       Customer advocate who can also hold the line on business objectives
•       Naturally curious, resourceful, and adaptable in a fast-moving environment
•       CRM experience preferred — HubSpot familiarity is a plus
•       Familiarity with tools like Xero, QBO, Gusto, or similar platforms is a bonus
•       Experience in a startup, fintech, accounting, payroll, or financial services environment is a plus

Why Formations
You'll be working with customers who are genuinely building something — solo entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals who have put their livelihood on the line. The difference you make in their year, financially and operationally, is real. This role puts you at the center of that.
We're a fast-moving team that values people who take ownership, communicate directly, and care about the quality of their work. If you want to be a named resource your customers actually rely on — not a ticket number in a queue — this is that role.

 

Compensation $68-75k OTE

About Formations Corp

Founded in 2019, Formations Corp is a FinTech startup based in Kirkland, WA. We're on a mission to help self-employed individuals maximize their financial and personal well-being.

Self-employed owners start their businesses to focus on their clients and their impact, not to spend half their days pouring over their books and stressing about taxes. Formations wants to give our customers the time and peace of mind to do what they do best – and to help them earn the most for it. This means we do all the back-of-the-house financial work to maximize our customers’ business health and compliance, tax savings, retirement benefits, and peace of mind.

This full-time position offers a competitive base salary and and full benefits package:

• We go above and beyond in our commitment to our staff's health, well-being, and happiness by also offering flexible paid time away from work
• Full Medical, dental vision
• Generous parental leave
• Life insurance
• 401K plan including employer matching. Plan matches 100% of an employee's contributions up to 4% of their annual base salary, with immediate vesting for matched contributions.
• Equity- Formations offer every EE to be an owner. As such we grant every new hire an equity package our very generous equity plan is vested over standard 4 years
• Formations encourages employees to give back with paid volunteer time of up to 16 hours a year.
• Adopting a flexible-hybrid approach means that there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution but rather a highly adjustable and personal model that can take various shapes and forms
• Positive and collaborative culture
• Opportunity to influence the shape of the company

Formations Corp is an equal opportunity employer.