HYBRID: Senior Accountant – Incentive Compensation (Manager Track)

Employbridge•Johns Creek, GA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Accountant – Incentive Compensation (Manager Track) is responsible for owning incentive compensation accounting, governance, and system administration in a private company environment. This role serves as the lead for incentive compensation and Varicent, with accountability for accurate calculation, accrual, payout support, and financial reporting. The position also plays a critical role in designing scalable processes, mentoring junior team members, and evolving incentive controls as the business grows.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance
5+ years of progressive accounting experience, with a minimum of 2 years of direct, hands-on ownership of incentive compensation or sales commissions accounting. This is a critical requirement and is not substitutable with general accounting experience.
Demonstrated Varicent experience in both administrator and end-user capacities, including plan configuration, rule and calculation logic development, data integration, and payee setup, as well as day-to-day execution of calculation cycles, statement generation, payee inquiry support, and reporting
Advanced Excel proficiency with proven ability to build financial models — not simply analyze data — to support annual commission plan revisions, new plan design, payout scenario modeling, and what-if analysis for business decisions
Strong working knowledge of accrual accounting and U.S. GAAP
Proven ability to lead processes and influence cross-functional stakeholders across Sales Operations, HR, Payroll, and Finance leadership

Nice To Haves

Experience in a private, high-growth, or PE-backed company
Prior exposure to manager-track responsibilities (reviewing work, mentoring, project leadership)
Hands-on experience with Lawson (or comparable cloud ERP), Workday Adaptive Planning, and Salesforce, with a strong understanding of how these systems integrate as upstream inputs into Varicent
Working familiarity with Snowflake as an enterprise data source, and read-level SQL fluency sufficient to query, validate, and troubleshoot data flowing into Varicent without dependency on the data team
Comfort operating in a connected revenue and finance ecosystem where data integrity across multiple source systems directly drives commission accuracy

Responsibilities

Serve as the finance owner and subject matter expert for the Varicent incentive compensation system
Lead incentive plan configuration, rule development, validation, and testing within Varicent
Oversee monthly and quarterly incentive calculations, ensuring alignment with approved compensation plans
Act as escalation point for complex incentive issues, disputes, and exceptions
Partner with leadership on incentive plan design feasibility and system implementation
Own monthly incentive compensation accruals, true-ups, and related journal entries
Ensure accurate expense recognition in accordance with U.S. GAAP in a private-company environment
Perform balance sheet reconciliations related to commissions, bonuses, and variable compensation
Prepare management-level reporting and analysis for leadership related to incentive costs
Own the company's technical accounting position for incentive compensation under ASC 606 and ASC 340-40, including the analysis and documentation supporting the current practical expedient election (amortization period of one year or less), and reassess the conclusion as plan design, contract terms, or business strategy evolve
Partner with revenue accounting and FP&A to evaluate ASC 340-40 implications of any proposed incentive plan changes prior to finalization, ensuring accounting impact is fully understood before plans are launched
Provide functional guidance and review work for junior accountants or analysts supporting incentives
Lead training and knowledge transfer related to incentive processes and Varicent usage
Develop and document scalable processes, controls, and standard operating procedures
Demonstrate readiness for people management through ownership, coaching, and cross-functional leadership
Design, maintain, and enhance internal controls over incentive compensation and Varicent access
Support audit and diligence requests common in private-company environments (e.g., lenders, investors, potential transactions)
Ensure compliance with internal compensation governance and approval frameworks
Proactively identify and mitigate financial and operational risk related to incentive compensation
Partner with Sales Operations, HR, Payroll, and IT for incentive-related matters
Oversee payroll file preparation and approval for incentive payouts
Lead automation and efficiency initiatives to support business growth and system scalability
Drive continuous improvement in data accuracy, reporting, and cycle times