Accounting and Onboarding Manager, Client Accounting & Advisory Services (Restaurant, Franchise, & Hospitality)

Work with a Top 20 CPA and advisory firm that Accounts for Anything.  Aprio has 40 U.S. office locations, as well as international office locations and more than 3,200 team members that speak 60+ languages across the globe.  By bringing together proven expertise, deep understanding, and strategic foresight for fast-growing industries, Aprio ensures clients are prepared for wherever life or business may take them. Discover a top-rated culture, vast growth opportunities and your next big career move with Aprio. Job Summary Aprio is seeking a Manager, Client Accounting Advisory Services – Restaurant, Franchise & Hospitality (CAAS RFH) to lead new client onboarding and own ongoing accounting delivery for assigned clients across the restaurant, franchise, and hospitality industries. In this role, you will guide clients from signed engagement through stabilization and into a well-run, recurring accounting relationship — creating structure around timelines, systems, responsibilities, and communication at every stage. You will coach and develop a team of accounting professionals while serving as the primary trusted advisor for your client portfolio, connecting financial results to operational insight and driving continuous improvement across engagements. This is an opportunity to combine technical accounting expertise, project leadership, and people development in a role that shapes both the client experience and the team behind it. What You'll Gain/ Impact

• New clients will move through onboarding with clear expectations, visible ownership, timely decisions, and fewer avoidable surprises
  
• Clients will receive accurate, complete, and timely financial reporting they can rely on to run their businesses
  
• The recurring accounting team will receive complete, documented, and operationally ready engagements, including established workpapers, reconciled opening balances, and clearly identified cleanup items
  
• Your advisory insights will help clients understand what is driving results and make stronger, more informed decisions
  
• Your team will have clear priorities, meaningful coaching, and the support needed to grow and deliver consistently
  
• Onboarding, implementation, and recurring delivery practices will become more consistent, scalable, and effective through thoughtful process improvement and technology adoption
  

Key Responsibilities New Client Onboarding

Own each onboarding from internal handoff and client kickoff through stabilization and transition to the recurring accounting team

Build and manage project plans with clear scope, milestones, owners, dependencies, decisions, and target dates

Manage onboarding and client initiatives in accordance with the signed scope of services, while promptly identifying, documenting, and elevating potential add-on services or out-of-scope work for approval and separate billing before work proceeds

Lead kickoff, status, and transition meetings; keep clients and internal stakeholders aligned on progress, responsibilities, risks, and outstanding items

Identify delays, missing information, cleanup needs, scope gaps, and other risks early; develop recovery plans and escalate when needed

Client Accounting & Financial Reporting

Own accounting and financial reporting for assigned clients, including agreed-upon deliverables, deadlines, responsibilities, and scope

Lead month-end and year-end close, using technology and automation where appropriate to improve consistency, identify exceptions, and accelerate routine work

Prepare and review complete, accurate, and well-supported workpapers that clearly document account activity, reconciliations, conclusions, and the audit trail supporting financial reporting

Establish consistent workpaper preparation standards and ensure supporting schedules are organized, current, and ready for efficient review

Apply accounting expertise and professional judgment to surface trends, investigate anomalies, and recommend practical solutions

Client Leadership & Advisory

Serve as the primary accounting contact and trusted advisor for assigned clients

Lead financial reviews that connect operational context and financial data, making results and key performance drivers clear and actionable

Help clients improve reporting, forecasting, and workflows so they gain better visibility into their businesses and make stronger decisions

Client Projects & Technology Enablement

Lead client initiatives such as system conversions, integrations, workflow redesign, reporting implementations, and process standardization

Translate goals into actionable plans with defined deliverables, success criteria, resources, budget considerations, and governance

Coordinate work across accounting, Technology, Accounts Payable, Cash Management, Tax, Operations, and third-party providers, proactively managing dependencies and handoffs to deliver a seamless client experience

Coordinate system setup, data access, chart-of-accounts and reporting design, workflow documentation, training, and knowledge transfer

Establish initial accounting workpapers, reconciliations, close schedules, and supporting documentation needed for an accurate and repeatable financial reporting process

Assess historical accounting records and coordinate targeted cleanup, catch-up, or corrective activity as needed to ensure opening balances, reconciliations, and financial statements are complete and accurate

Create reusable templates, playbooks, dashboards, and status reporting that improve execution across the portfolio

Team Leadership & Review

Coach engagement teams, building their technical, advisory, and leadership capabilities

Provide timely review and feedback while reinforcing firm standards and sound accounting practices

Set priorities, balance workloads, and foster accountability, collaboration, continuous learning, and thoughtful technology adoption

Take on increasing leadership responsibility across client relationships, team development, and engagement performance

Quality, Process & Engagement Management

Maintain strong quality, data privacy, documentation, and internal control standards across engagements

Identify and lead practical process improvements, including appropriate uses of automation and AI, that enhance accuracy, efficiency, analysis, and the client experience

Monitor scope, efficiency, and profitability and help scale successful workflows across engagements

Candidate Qualifications Required:

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, Project Management, or a related field

Five or more years of progressive accounting experience, including hands-on workpaper preparation, account reconciliations, month-end close, and financial statement preparation or review

Working knowledge of financial reporting, reconciliations, accounting systems, and related workflow dependencies

Experience leading multiple client-facing projects with competing priorities, cross-functional teams, and deadline-driven deliverables

Strong knowledge of GAAP, core accounting processes, and the professional judgment to evaluate information critically

Experience guiding, supervising, or reviewing the work of other accounting professionals

Ability to connect financial results to business operations and explain data-driven insights clearly to non-accounting leaders

Strong judgment, organization, facilitation, and communication skills, with the ability to distinguish project issues from accounting matters

Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, comfort with Microsoft 365, project-management platforms, accounting systems, workflow technology, and automation

Preferred:

CPA or equivalent certification

Experience supporting restaurant, franchise, hospitality, multi-entity, or multi-location businesses

Background in outsourced accounting, CAS, public accounting, implementation consulting, or another multi-client environment

Experience with accounting-platform conversions, integrations, data migrations, workflow redesign, or reporting implementations

Project-management certification or formal change-management training

Leadership Skills

Building Relationships

Driving Execution

Team Development

Client FocusAdaptability

Communication

Continuous Improvement

Coaching & Feedback

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Project Leadership

Technical Skills

Client Accounting & Advisory Services (CAAS)

Client Onboarding & Implementation

Financial Close & Reporting

Workpaper Preparation & Review

GAAP & Accounting Standards

Restaurant & Franchise Accounting

Process Design & Automation

Accounting Systems & Workflow Technology

Why work for Aprio: Whether you are just starting out, looking to advance into management or searching for your next leadership role, Aprio offers an opportunity to grow with a future-focused, innovative firm.     Perks/Benefits we offer for full-time team members: - Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance on the first day of employment - Flexible Spending Account and Dependent Care Account - 401k with Profit Sharing - 9+ holidays and discretionary time off structure - Parental Leave – coverage for both primary and secondary caregivers - Tuition Assistance Program and CPA support program with cash incentive upon completion - Discretionary incentive compensation based on firm, group and individual performance - Incentive compensation related to origination of new client sales - Top rated wellness program - Flexible working environment including remote and hybrid options     What’s in it for you: - Working with an industry leader: Be part of a high-growth firm that is passionate for what’s next. - An awesome culture: Thirty-one fundamental behaviors guide our culture every day ensuring we always deliver an exceptional team-member and client experience.  We call it the Aprio Way.  This shared mindset creates lasting relationships between team members and with clients. - A great team: Work with a high-energy, passionate, caring and ambitious team of professionals in a collaborative culture. - Entrepreneurship: Have the freedom to innovate and bring your ideas to help us grow to become the CPA firm of choice nationally. - Growth opportunities: Grow professionally in an environment that fosters continuous learning and advancement. - Competitive compensation: You will be rewarded with competitive compensation, industry-leading benefits and a flexible work environment to enjoy work/life balance.     EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Aprio is an Equal Opportunity Employer encouraging diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; religion; national origin; sex; pregnancy; sexual orientation; gender identity and/or expression; age; disability; genetic information, citizenship status; military service obligations or any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.   Aprio, LLP and Aprio Advisory Group, LLC, operate in an alternative business structure, with Aprio Advisory Group, LLC providing non-attest tax and consulting services, and Aprio, LLP providing CPA firm services.