Senior accountant

About Watershed

Watershed is the enterprise sustainability platform. Companies like Airbnb, Carlyle Group, FedEx, Visa, and Dr. Martens use Watershed to manage climate and ESG data, produce audit-ready metrics for voluntary and regulatory reporting including CSRD, and drive real decarbonization. We are looking for team members who love product-building, want to work hard at a mission-oriented startup, and will collaborate with us in shaping the culture of a growing team.

We have offices in San Francisco, New York, Denver, London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Mexico City, and remote team members across the US and Europe. We hope that you'll be interested in joining us!

The role

We are looking for a hands-on, tech-forward Senior Accountant to own key pillars of our Corporate General Ledger, month-end financial close, and financial reporting engine.

This is a US GAAP-based role supporting our global, consolidated reporting; knowledge of Mexican statutory/monthly reporting requirements or UK GAAP is a plus, not a requirement.

In this role, you will take ownership of critical areas of our balance sheet and P&L. Beyond standard corporate accounting, you will own the complex accounting for our carbon credits offerings to ensure audit-ready accuracy and tracking.

This is a build-and-scale role for someone who thrives in complexity and cares deeply about accuracy. You will partner cross-functionally with FP&A, Sales, Accounting Systems, and Payroll to turn evolving business needs into scalable, audit-ready accounting frameworks.

We are heavily focused on close acceleration and modernizing our accounting operations. You will partner with our team to help evaluate, test, and implement AI tools, data automation, and modern workflows to transition manual close mechanics into automated subledgers while maintaining an audit-ready standard.

What You’ll Do

Core GL Close, Financial Reporting & Flux Analysis

• Own the GL close for core balance sheet accounts, including Cash, Prepaids, Fixed Assets, Leases, Accruals, Payroll Liabilities, and short/long-term account classifications.

• Record monthly Stock-based Compensation (“SBC”) journal entries, track early exercise activity, and reconcile equity-related balance sheet accounts.

• Assist in building monthly US GAAP Financial Statements while maintaining period-end cutoff discipline.

• Perform monthly flux analysis to explain business drivers, spot trends or anomalies, and ensure financial accuracy.

• Identify close bottlenecks and implement process improvements that reduce cycle time without sacrificing precision or control quality.

Carbon Credits and Treasury

• Own the end-to-end accounting for our carbon credit offerings, adjustments, and monthly reconciliations.

• Manage cash reconciliations and accounting for marketable securities, interest income, and investment gains/losses.

Global Intercompany, Tax & Statutory Compliance

• Support and maintain the group-level intercompany framework, including elimination logic and transaction-flow documentation.

• Support sales tax and VAT filings and compliance across various domestic and international jurisdictions in partnership with tax advisors.

• Serve as a key point of contact for your owned accounts, preparing audit schedules and supporting workpapers.

Process Building, Systems & AI Automation

• Document and standardize workflows for owned accounts.

• Help build, test, and deploy AI tooling, data automation, and modern workflows to streamline rules-based tasks, accelerate reconciliations, and improve exception management.

• Partnering with finance systems leads to contributing accounting requirements for ERP upgrades, subledger configurations, and tool integrations.

You Might Thrive in This Role If You Have:

• 5+ years of progressive accounting experience spanning Big 4 or national public accounting and high-growth SaaS environments.

• Strong command of US GAAP across core GL areas, including inventory, payroll, fixed assets, prepaids, leases, investments, and intercompany consolidations.

• Hands-on experience owning a portfolio of accounts through month-end close, reconciliations, and journal entries, ideally within a multi-entity or global accounting environment.

• Working knowledge of ERP systems (e.g. NetSuite, Workday, Rillet), and advanced Excel/Google Sheets experience. Excited by the opportunity to help evaluate, test, and implement AI tools and data automation.

• Exceptional ability to work independently, thrive in ambiguity, and manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

• Excellent written and verbal communication with the ability to solve complex accounting questions without obvious answers and translate financial results into plain language for non-accounting stakeholders.

• Knowledge of Mexican statutory accounting (SAT compliance) and/or UK GAAP is a plus.

• Fluency in English is required.

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field, plus CPA, CPC (Contador Público Certificado), or an international equivalent preferred.

Must be willing to work from an office 4 days per week (except for remote roles)

Watershed has hub offices in San Francisco, New York, London, and Mexico City and satellite offices in Denver, Sydney, Paris, and Berlin. Where we have offices, employees are expected to be in office for 4 days per week. Certain jobs are open to being remote and will be specifically noted on the jobs page and in the job description if so.

What’s the interview process like?

It starts the same for every candidate: getting to know the team members through 1 to 2 conversations about Watershed, your experience, and your interests. Next steps can vary by role, but usual next steps are a skill or experience interview (e.g. a coding interview for an engineer, a portfolio review for a designer, deeper experience call for other roles) which leads to a virtual or in person interview panel. We prioritize transparency and lack of surprise throughout the process.

What if I need accommodations for my interview?

At Watershed, we are dedicated to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process. We provide reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities, long-term conditions, mental health needs, religious observances, neurodivergence, or pregnancy-related support requirements. If you need assistance during your process, please contact your recruiter.