Finance

Hire a Remote Accountant

An accountant closes your books each month, prepares your financial statements, and keeps your business compliant with its reporting and tax obligations.

Key takeaways
An accountant owns your month-end close, financial statements, and the accuracy of the numbers your business reports.
The role covers compliance work, including preparing for tax filings and audits and making sure your treatment of transactions holds up.
Where a bookkeeper records daily activity, an accountant turns that activity into statements that leadership, lenders, and investors can rely on.
Most companies see their close get faster within two or three months, once the process is documented rather than improvised.

What the role does

An accountant turns your records into reliable financial statements. They run the month-end close, post accruals and adjustments, produce your profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow, and check that everything is treated correctly. They also prepare the documentation your tax adviser or auditor needs, and answer the questions leadership asks about what the numbers mean.

When a company needs one

Most companies bring in an accountant when the month-end close has become a scramble, or when the numbers going to the board are being assembled by whoever has time. It is also the right hire when you are raising money, taking on debt, or approaching a size where financial reporting has to be defensible.

Month-end close takes weeks and never lands on the same date
The numbers change depending on who prepared them
You are raising funding and your reporting has to stand up to scrutiny
Your tax adviser bills heavily for work your team could prepare
Nobody can explain the difference between profit and cash this month

What Growthbuddy looks for

We look for people who are rigorous and unafraid to raise something that looks wrong. They should be confident running a close, comfortable with accruals and adjustments, and able to explain a financial statement to someone without a finance background. The strongest candidates have taken a chaotic close and made it routine. We only shortlist people we would be happy to have representing our own business.

3+ years
Typical experience level
of specialists we place

Core skills

Month-end closeFinancial statementsAccruals and adjustmentsGeneral ledger managementTax and compliance preparationAudit supportAccounting softwareFinancial reporting

Our vetting approach

1

Screening call

A 30 minute conversation covering the closes they have run, their qualifications, and how clearly they explain a treatment decision.

2

Technical assessment

A three hour exercise on a real close and reporting scenario, so we see their accuracy and their judgment on adjustments.

3

Technical interview

A 60 to 90 minute deep dive into reporting and compliance, with communication and culture fit assessed throughout.

Example responsibilities

Run the month-end and year-end close on a predictable timetable
Prepare profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow statements
Post accruals, prepayments, and adjusting entries
Maintain the general ledger and chart of accounts
Prepare documentation for tax filings and audits
Explain the numbers to leadership and answer their questions

The working model

You get a dedicated remote accountant working inside your accounting systems with the access you grant, on your close timetable and reporting cycle. Growthbuddy handles the search, the vetting, the employment, and the ongoing coaching.

Why hire remote talent

Accounting work happens in cloud systems and shared documents, so a remote accountant operates exactly as an in-house one would. Hiring beyond your own city gives you qualified people at well below the cost of a local hire or a mid-sized firm.

What it costs

You pay a simple monthly rate for a dedicated accountant, which typically costs less than the equivalent time from an accounting practice. There is no recruitment fee and no long contract, and our pricing page has the detail.

See full pricing →

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Salary ranges for the role you needHow it works, end to endWhether remote hiring fits you
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Frequently asked questions

How quickly can I have an accountant working with my team?
We usually introduce you to two or three vetted candidates within three weeks of our first call. After that, timing depends on how quickly you can interview and how much notice your chosen person needs to give.
How do you vet accountants?
Every candidate goes through a 30 minute screening call, a three hour technical assessment on a real close and reporting scenario, and a technical interview of 60 to 90 minutes. We check qualifications directly and assess communication and culture fit throughout. You only meet the two or three people who come through all of it.
Do we need someone with a professional qualification?
It depends on what you need them to sign off and where you report. Tell us at the first call and we will screen for the qualification you need, since we can filter for it as part of the brief.
Can they handle our local tax filings?
Most clients keep filing with a local tax adviser and use their accountant to prepare everything that adviser needs, which usually reduces the adviser's fee considerably. Tell us how your filings currently work and we will match accordingly.
How is this different from hiring a bookkeeper?
A bookkeeper keeps the daily records accurate. An accountant closes the period, produces the statements, and handles the technical treatment and compliance. If your records are already clean and your close is the problem, this is the role you want.
What access will they need to our systems?
Access is entirely in your hands. Most clients grant access to their accounting platform and read access to banking, which is enough for close and reporting. You decide the permissions and can change them at any time.
What happens if the person turns out to be the wrong fit?
We replace them, and you stop paying in the meantime. Because reporting cycles are involved, we time any transition around your close so nothing lands mid-period.

Final thoughts

Financial statements are only as good as the process behind them. An accountant who owns the close means the numbers arrive on time and hold up when someone examines them. Want help finding one? Talk to us

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Hire your next Accountant now

Tell us what you need. We'll hand-pick the shortlist, and stay with you after the hire.

No upfront feePay only while they stayReplacement guaranteed