Role Overview

Scholars of Finance is seeking a hands-on remote accounting and finance professional to maintain accurate QuickBooks records, support a reliable monthly close, and turn financial information into practical reporting for leadership.

This role supports a U.S.-based nonprofit with no foreign operations. The work is focused on U.S. nonprofit accounting, QuickBooks, U.S. GAAP accrual accounting, restricted-fund tracking, monthly close, budget-to-actual reporting, cash-flow visibility, audit support, and practical financial analysis.

The role is approximately half accounting/bookkeeping and half financial analysis, although the mix will flex with the calendar. Month-end and audit periods will be heavier on accounting and close support; budgeting, board reporting, and planning cycles will be heavier on analysis and forecasting.

This role does not involve Mexican, Colombian, Brazilian, or other non-U.S. statutory accounting or tax compliance.

About Scholars of Finance

Scholars of Finance is a rapidly growing organization on a mission to inspire character and integrity in the finance leaders of tomorrow. We seek to solve the world’s largest problems by investing in undergraduate students through leadership development, mentorship, and the active support of purpose-driven finance executives and investors.

Our members go on to join top firms, funds, and a lifelong support community that empowers them to spend their careers serving the greater good using one of the most powerful levers in the world: finance. Since hiring our first staff in 2019, we’ve raised millions of dollars, partnered with hundreds of finance leaders, and impacted thousands of students across top universities—and we’re just getting started.

We are a close-knit, high-performing, mission-driven team with an ambitious vision: a future where all finance leaders steward the world’s capital to serve the greater good.

What You’ll Do

Accounting, Bookkeeping & Monthly Close

• Maintain timely bookkeeping in QuickBooks Online, including transaction coding, general ledger activity, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and recurring entries.
• Record journal entries, including accruals, prepayments, deferrals, and amortization.
• Complete monthly bank and credit-card reconciliations and maintain clear reconciliation support.
• Support a timely, accurate monthly close and prepare monthly financial statements for review.
• Apply U.S. GAAP accrual accounting and nonprofit fund-accounting concepts, including restricted and unrestricted funds.
• Maintain clear monthly close files, reconciliation workpapers, and audit-ready schedules so the COO, external CPA, auditor, or fractional controller can review work efficiently.
• Document recurring accounting processes and help strengthen practical internal controls as the organization grows.

Financial Analysis, Budgeting & Reporting

• Build, maintain, and update the annual operating budget and budget scenarios for an approximately $2.5 million and growing organization.
• Prepare monthly budget-to-actual variance reporting, identify the drivers behind cost and expense movements, and explain them clearly.
• Maintain rolling forecasts and cash-flow projections so leadership has a forward-looking view of runway and spending.
• Prepare grant and program budgets and related financial reporting, as needed.
• Model the financial impact of new programs, hires, and initiatives; partner with budget owners to keep spending on plan.
• Deliver clear reporting and dashboards for leadership and board use.
• Surface cost and expense risks and opportunities before they become surprises, with practical recommendations for action.
External CPA, Audit & Form 990 Support
• Coordinate with SOF’s external U.S. CPA, auditor, or tax preparer by providing schedules, reconciliations, documentation, and explanations as needed.
• Support the annual audit and Form 990 process by preparing requested schedules and maintaining organized supporting documentation.
• Help ensure that books, workpapers, and reporting are reviewable, explainable, and audit-ready.

Impact You’ll Help Create

• Give leadership a clear, trustworthy, forward-looking view of finances and cash flow.
• Build scalable accounting and reporting processes that can support SOF as it grows beyond its current approximately $2.5 million budget.
• Turn accurate books into timely analyses that inform real decisions.
• Improve the quality, consistency, and reviewability of financial information.

Must-Have Qualifications

• QuickBooks Online: Significant hands-on experience maintaining books, coding transactions, recording entries, and supporting monthly close.
• Monthly close and reconciliations: Demonstrated experience completing bank and credit-card reconciliations and preparing financial statement support.
• U.S. GAAP accrual accounting: Strong working knowledge of accruals, prepayments, deferrals, amortization, and the matching principle.
• Nonprofit accounting orientation: Experience with U.S. nonprofit accounting is strongly preferred; at minimum, the candidate must be able and willing to work with restricted and unrestricted fund tracking and grant reporting concepts.
• Budget-to-actual reporting: Ability to prepare variance analysis and translate financial data into clear explanations for non-financial leaders.
• Spreadsheet capability: Advanced Google Sheets or Excel skills, including pivots, lookups, and budget models.
  English fluency: Full professional written and spoken English fluency.
• Remote execution: Experience working independently across time zones with strong ownership, follow-through, and communication discipline.

Helpful Experience

• Experience supporting a U.S.-based nonprofit organization.
• Experience with restricted-fund accounting, grant tracking, and grant reporting.
• Experience supporting an external audit and preparing Form 990 schedules.
• Experience preparing board-level financial reporting or dashboards.
• CPA, CMA, CPC, Contador Público, or equivalent certification or progress toward certification.
• Experience with mission-driven organizations, startups, finance, investing, or professional services environments.
• Comfort using AI tools such as Claude to improve efficiency, while maintaining accuracy, confidentiality, and professional judgment.

Mentality for Success

• Deep alignment with Scholars of Finance’s mission and values.
• Pride in accuracy, analytical rigor, and follow-through.
• Willingness to both analyze the numbers and keep the books; no task is beneath the role when accuracy and stewardship are required.
• Discretion with sensitive financial information.
• Clear, concise communication and a willingness to surface issues early.
• A practical process-improvement mindset: improve what matters, document what repeats, and keep the finance function scalable without overcomplicating it.