Senior Financial Accountant

Position Summary The Senior Accountant is a hands-on role responsible for all accounting and finance operations across the Shorewood platform. This is not a department-building role—it is an execution-focused position for someone who thrives as a doer, leveraging technology to deliver timely, accurate financial reporting and scalable processes. The Senior Accountant has oversight over the accounts payable process, financial controls, and accounting operations, including the authority to hold payments that do not comply with established procedures. This role owns the books for Shorewood’s individual real estate entities. The Senior Accountant records journal entries in Yardi Voyager, closes each entity every month, and creates a monthly Excel workbook supporting the financials (i.e. bank reconciliation, balance sheet reconciliations, etc.). Because a number of entities carry historical balances that have not been fully reconciled, the role also includes a cleanup effort that requires close collaboration with ownership and the tax team. The Senior Accountant will also oversee certain real estate investments and handle all matters related to them, including lender reporting and correspondence, property tax payments, the tax appeal process, and coordination with the tax team. The ideal candidate is someone who has been trained at a real estate focused firm, understands what professional-grade processes look like, and is now ready to help scale the accounting function at a high-growth developer where they can build systems and see the direct impact of their work. First 90 Days: What Success Looks Like Days 1–30: Begin working on bringing monthly financial reporting current and take full ownership of Yardi Voyager environment. Establish working relationship with the accounting team, tax team, and third parties specific to each individual real estate investment. Inventory all active entities and identify accounts with unreconciled or unsupported historical balances. Days 31–60: Begin reviewing and documenting (where applicable) accounts payable policies and procedures. Build the standard monthly reconciliation workbook template and begin historical cleanup on priority entities in coordination with ownership and the tax team. Take over lender reporting, property tax, and tax appeal calendars for assigned investments. Days 61–90: Deliver first monthly financial package, including a reconciliation workbook to leadership. Present recommendations for process improvements and Yardi module optimization. Demonstrate the ability to operate independently with high-quality output. Essential Duties and ResponsibilitiesEntity-Level Accounting & Monthly Reconciliations • Own the day-to-day accounting for each individual real estate entity, recording all journal entries in Yardi Voyager (accruals, prepaids, depreciation and amortization, loan activity, capital contributions and distributions, preferred return calculations, intercompany activity, and other adjustments) with clear descriptions and supporting documentation. • Prepare an Excel close workbook for each entity every month that includes a reconciliation for every balance sheet account, tied to the Yardi trial balance, with supporting schedules and explanations for all reconciling items. • Investigate and resolve reconciling differences promptly, posting correcting entries in Yardi so the general ledger and the workbook agree at each month-end. • Maintain the monthly workbooks as each entity’s permanent close record, organized so ownership, the tax team, lenders, and outside CPAs can rely on them without rework. Historical Cleanup & Reconciliation • Review prior-period balances across entities to identify unreconciled accounts, unsupported balances, misclassifications, and intercompany differences. • Rebuild historical account reconciliations and record cleanup entries in Yardi, documenting the basis for each adjustment. • Work closely with the owners to confirm the intent and history of past transactions, and with the tax team to align book balances with filed returns, capital accounts, and tax basis. • Prioritize the cleanup by entity and account, track progress, and keep ownership informed of findings, open items, and any impact on prior financial statements or tax filings. Investment Oversight • Serve as the primary point person for assigned real estate investments, overseeing all accounting, reporting, and administrative matters for each property and its entity. • Prepare and submit all required lender reporting (financial statements, rent rolls, covenant calculations, and compliance certificates) on time, and manage lender correspondence, including escrow and reserve requests, draw and payoff requests, and lender inquiries. • Track property tax bills and pay them on time, whether paid directly or through lender escrow, and keep property tax accounts reconciled. • Manage the property tax appeal process: monitor assessments, coordinate with appeal counsel and consultants, gather supporting information, and track filing deadlines and outcomes. • Act as the liaison with the tax team, providing entity-level financial information, workpapers, and answers needed for return preparation, K-1s, and tax planning. • Keep ownership informed of key dates, open issues, and decisions needed for each assigned investment. Accounts Payable & Financial Controls • Own the full invoice-to-payment cycle: receipt, coding, approval, posting, payment execution, and vendor remittance. • Manage and direct the virtual accountant responsible for invoice scanning, coding, and data entry. • Design and enforce a purchase order (PO) process with three-way match (PO → Receipt → Invoice) to ensure all spend is committed against approved budgets before payment. • Maintain A/P aging reports and ensure no invoice remains unpaid for more than 14 days without documented justification and an assigned owner. • Coordinate and approve wire transfers for non-recurring transactions; review ACH processing through Agora. • Enforce budget controls: hold payments that lack proper PO authorization or exceed approved budget line items, escalating exceptions to CAO. NNN Lease & Tenant Accounting • Manage tenant receivables and collections; ensure timely billing and follow-up on delinquencies. • Own annual CAM reconciliation process end-to-end, including preparation, review, and distribution to tenants. • Prepare and review new billing estimates in conjunction with annual budget preparation. • Maintain security deposit ledgers and current rent rolls in Yardi. Real Estate Asset Cycle • Support acquisition and disposition transactions: review purchase and sale agreements, purchase price prorations, and closing statements; coordinate final wire transactions. • Manage construction draw budgets and reconciliation to entity capital structure for development projects; participate in monthly draw reviews. • Coordinate cost segregation studies with external accounting firms for development properties placed into service. • Review loan agreements; monitor maturity dates, debt covenant requirements, and reporting obligations using Yardi’s debt management module. • Oversee setup, maintenance, and closure of bank accounts across entities. Investor Relations • Prepare waterfall distribution calculations in accordance with LLC operating agreements. • Maintain investor capital accounts and basis schedules in the general ledger and Agora investor portal. • Ensure timely distribution of financial information and K-1 schedules to investors. • Review LLC agreements for compliance with allocation provisions and IRS tax basis reporting requirements. Technology & Process Improvement • Evaluate and implement Yardi modules including PAYscan (AP automation), purchase order management, debt management, and construction draw tracking. • Maintain proficiency across the company’s technology ecosystem: Yardi Voyager (core), Agora (investment management/ACH), and Procore (construction management). • Document all accounting policies, procedures, and workflows to enable scalable operations and efficient onboarding of future team members. • Continuously identify opportunities to automate manual processes and improve reporting speed and accuracy. Finance Operations • Monitor cash positions on across all entities and projects. • Assist leadership with Internal Rate of Return (IRR) analysis and pro forma modeling for new development opportunities. • Collaborate with leadership on prospective budgets, cost-effectiveness analysis, and strategic financial planning for new business opportunities. • Establish banking and lending relationships. Compensation & Work Environment • Competitive base salary commensurate with experience, plus discretionary performance-based bonus. • Health insurance: Blue Cross Blue Shield plan with 80% employer-paid coverage. • 15 days PTO annually. • In-office position at Shorewood’s Buffalo Grove, Illinois headquarters with flexibility for occasional remote work. • Standard business hours (~9:00 AM – 5:00 PM); typical work week is approximately 45 hours. Flexible environment—results matter more than rigid hours. What Sets This Role Apart This is not a maintenance role. You are joining a company with strong assets—national credit tenants, trusted investors, a talented team—that needs someone to build the financial infrastructure to match its ambitions. You will have real authority, direct access to the partners, and the autonomy to design and implement processes that will scale with the business. If you are the type of person who delivers results before asking for resources, who sees technology as leverage rather than overhead, and who takes ownership of outcomes rather than activities—this role was built for you.