Senior Accounting Manager

ZERO IMPACT ENERGY•Santa Ana, CA

6d•$100,000 - $120,000•Onsite

About The Position

Zero Impact Energy is seeking an experienced accounting leader to take ownership of and improve its accounting function across a group of affiliated renewable-energy operating companies. The business sells, finances, designs, engineers, builds, owns and maintains EV charging, fleet electrification, solar microgrid, battery energy storage, hydroponic farming and water-reuse systems. Its accounting involves multiple entities, construction project and job-cost accounting, manufacturing, incentive-program compliance and owned operating assets. The Senior Accounting Manager will stabilize and strengthen accounting processes, address backlogs, improve reconciliations, document procedures and establish clear team roles and expectations. The role owns monthly, quarterly and year-end close, consolidated reporting, internal controls, job-cost accounting, project margins, cash forecasting, audit preparation and compliance. It also leads a team of three accounting staff, partners across departments, and improves accounting systems and automation. The position is in-person at the Costa Mesa, California office, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with additional hours as needed around month-end close, audit and year-end. It is full-time, salaried and exempt, with a stated salary range of $100,000–$120,000. The role may grow into a Controller- or Director-level position as the company scales.

Requirements

At least 8 years of progressive accounting experience, including at least 3 years managing an accounting team, including hiring, developing and evaluating staff.
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance.
Deep US GAAP knowledge, including ASC 606, ASC 842, fixed assets and capitalization, accruals, intercompany accounting and consolidation.
Hands-on experience with intercompany transactions, cost allocations and consolidated reporting across related companies.
Expert Excel skills, including pivots, lookups, modeling and data clean-up.
Experience with a mid-market ERP or construction accounting system and AP-automation tools.
Working knowledge of California contractor sales and use tax, payroll tax, 1099 reporting, lien-law basics and documentation standards for public incentive programs.
Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain financial and accounting matters to project managers, bankers and leadership.
Organized, deadline-driven work style and discretion with confidential information.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, in-office, small-company environment.
Ability to work Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with additional hours as needed around month-end close, audit and year-end.
Must reliably commute to the Costa Mesa, California office or plan to relocate before starting work.
Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer; ability to stand, walk, sit, talk, hear, type and write; use standard office equipment; and occasionally lift and move files up to approximately 15 pounds.

Nice To Haves

Construction or contractor accounting experience, including job costing, WIP, over-time revenue recognition, progress billing, retainage and certified payroll.
Manufacturing, renewable energy or other project- and incentive-driven industry experience.
Active CPA; CMA considered. A public-accounting foundation is a plus.
Demonstrated experience rebuilding processes, controls and close procedures in a disorganized or fast-growing environment.
Experience with CALeVIP, utility make-ready programs, LCFS credit accounting, federal energy tax credits or grant accounting.
Experience with owned-and-operated asset portfolios, including site-level P&L, revenue share, depreciation and tax-credit basis tracking.
Led an ERP or accounting-system implementation or AP-automation rollout.
Experience using AI tools such as Excel Copilot, ChatGPT or Claude to accelerate reconciliations, analysis and documentation.
Familiarity with Salesforce, QuickBooks, Smartsheet or Procore and how their data should flow into accounting.

Responsibilities

Lead, develop and hold accountable a team of three accounting staff; define roles, responsibilities and performance standards.
Assess the accounting function’s books, team, systems and controls; create and execute a prioritized stabilization and improvement plan.
Document procedures, create close checklists, cross-train the team, coach staff, provide performance feedback, and hire or restructure as needed.
Run a weekly team operating cadence and communicate progress, risks and issues to the Director of Finance and company leadership.
Build working relationships with construction, sales, procurement and operations teams.
Own accurate and timely monthly, quarterly and year-end close across all entities; establish and enforce a close calendar and checklist.
Ensure balance sheet accounts are reconciled monthly with documented support and resolve historical reconciling items.
Produce monthly entity and consolidated financial reporting, including P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, project margins, KPIs and variance commentary.
Design and implement internal controls, including approval, segregation-of-duties, vendor-onboarding, credit-card, expense and journal-entry review processes.
Improve the chart of accounts, reporting dimensions and general-ledger structure.
Lead accounting-system selection or optimization and automation efforts, including ERP, AP automation, expense management and integrations with business and project tools.
Advise staff on technical and non-routine accounting matters; research and document accounting positions.
Own construction job-cost accounting, including budgets, committed costs, change orders, progress billing, retainage and monthly WIP schedules under ASC 606 over-time revenue recognition.
Conduct monthly project-margin reviews with construction project managers and flag margin fade, unbilled work and cost overruns.
Manage preliminary notices, lien releases, subcontractor and vendor compliance, and certified-payroll and prevailing-wage records for publicly funded projects.
Account for owned and operated charging assets, including capitalization, depreciation, site-level P&L, revenue-share calculations and payments, and utility cost pass-through.
Account for ChargeTronix manufacturing activity, including inventory, COGS, standard costs and warranty reserves.
Manage intercompany transactions, shared-cost allocations and eliminations; prepare consolidated results across affiliated entities.
Own the 13-week cash forecast and manage AP prioritization, AR collections, retainage receivable and customer deposits.
Track incentive-program receivables and compliance by program and site, maintaining documentation for audits.
Support bank and lender compliance reporting, investor reporting and partner reporting.
Lead the annual audit or review, coordinate PBC schedules and auditor communication, and clear findings.
Oversee sales and use tax, 1099s, business licenses and property-tax filings; coordinate income tax with the outside CPA.
Support budgeting and forecasting; perform other duties as assigned.