Senior Accountant – Vacation Rental Focus

About the role

Howard Financial is seeking a Senior Accountant to manage the month‑end close and financial reporting for vacation‑rental clients. The role sits between day‑to‑day bookkeeping and the Controller, providing independent oversight of accounting processes and serving as the escalation point for complex accounting judgments.

Key responsibilities

• Own full‑cycle month‑end close for one or more vacation‑rental accounts, including journal entries, accruals and reconciliations.
• Reconcile owner statements, trust/escrow accounts and property‑level revenue against data from PMS platforms such as Guesty, Streamline, Track or Hostaway.
• Review and mentor junior bookkeepers/accountants, ensuring accuracy before finalization.
• Prepare and analyse property and portfolio financial statements (P&L, balance sheet) for internal and client review.
• Manage AP/AR cycles, coordinating vendor and owner payments using tools like Ramp or Bill.com.
• Identify and resolve discrepancies in booking, occupancy and revenue data flowing into the general ledger.
• Support budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis for client portfolios.
• Maintain and improve documentation of accounting procedures specific to the vacation‑rental revenue cycle.
• Collaborate directly with the Controller/Sr. Controller and communicate proactively with client stakeholders.

Required profile

• 3–5+ years of progressive accounting experience, including at least 1–2 years at a Senior Accountant level.
• Hands‑on experience in vacation‑rental, short‑term rental or property‑management accounting; trust accounting exposure preferred.
• Solid working knowledge of US GAAP and ownership of full month‑end close processes.
• Experience reconciling high‑volume, multi‑property transaction data.
• Professional written and spoken English for daily client‑facing communication.

Required skills

• US GAAP
• Advanced Excel / Google Sheets (pivot tables, lookups, reconciliation workbooks)
• Guesty, Streamline, Track, Hostaway (vacation‑rental PMS platforms)
• Ramp, Bill.com, QuickBooks