Job Description

Position: Senior Bookkeeper

Salary: Php 75,000 to Php 85,000

Working Hours: Aligned with AU Business Hours

Work Type: Independent Contractor

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

The company is a small, founder-led Australian accounting practice dedicated to supporting small businesses. Our core mission is straightforward: get client books current, fix underlying systemic issues, and maintain their accounts in pristine condition. We take pride in being direct with clients, resolving problems properly rather than applying temporary fixes, and leveraging modern AI workflows to work efficiently and smartly.

ROLE OVERVIEW:

We are seeking a detail-driven, solutions-oriented Senior Bookkeeper who can seamlessly bridge the gap between advanced bookkeeping and junior-accounting functions. In this role, your primary focus will be day-to-day bookkeeping, structured month-end reconciliations, comprehensive client-file cleanups, and the preparation of high-quality supporting workpapers for onshore review.

Client communication, final review, and sign-off remain with our onshore Australian team, giving you the focus to dive deep into the numbers, untangle complex ledgers, and establish clean, reliable accounts. Strong, hands-on bookkeeping mastery and investigative capability matter more than a strictly theoretical accounting background.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Day-to-Day Bookkeeping

• Perform bank and credit card reconciliations, daily transaction coding, accounts payable (AP), and accounts receivable (AR).
• Process payroll end-to-end, including Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting and superannuation compliance.
• Investigate unreconciled items, transaction discrepancies, and lingering exceptions to ensure ledgers remain clean and current.

Month-End Processing & Reporting

• Reconcile clearing accounts, systematically identifying and resolving hanging balances.
• Reconcile payroll, superannuation, GST, and PAYG withholding (PAYGW) accounts against statutory records.
• Reconcile commercial loans, hire purchases, and chattel mortgages against lender statements and amortization schedules.
• Prepare month-end accruals, prepayments, and supporting schedules.
• Assemble complete, audit-ready, and well-documented workpaper files ready for final onshore accountant review.

Client File Cleanups & Diagnostic Remediation

• Take ownership of messy, historical, or neglected Xero files and bring them up to date.
• Trace opening-balance discrepancies, catch-up reconciliations, missing fixed assets, and unrecorded financing arrangements.
• Restructure and standardize chart of accounts, reclassifying miscoded transactions.
• Design, build, and optimize automated bank rules and live feeds to prevent recurring issues.
• Critically evaluate historical accounting treatments, correcting legacy errors rather than perpetuating prior mistakes.

BAS, IAS & Junior-Accountant Support

• Prepare Business Activity Statements (BAS) and Instalment Activity Statements (IAS) calculations with fully reconciled workpapers for senior review.
• Reconcile Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Integrated Client Accounts (ICA) and resolve variances.
• Assemble End-of-Financial-Year (EOFY) workpapers covering cash, debtors, creditors, fixed asset registers, payroll, GST, and debt facilities.
• Progressively adopt the firm’s integrated bookkeeping-to-tax workflow, taking on higher-level accounting preparation as your mastery grows.

Requirements

• Australian Practice Experience: Approximately 2–4 years of direct, hands-on experience supporting Australian small businesses or working within an Australian bookkeeping/accounting practice.
• Xero Fluency: Advanced operational proficiency in Xero, particularly with navigating unmanaged files, setting up rules, and performing historical reconciliations.
• Australian Compliance Knowledge: Solid working command of Australian bookkeeping tax mechanics: GST treatment, BAS/IAS preparation, PAYG withholding, STP, and superannuation guarantee obligations.
• Problem-Solving & Forensic Mindset: Strong critical thinking skills with an ability to dig beneath surface-level figures, trace imbalances to their source, and propose practical corrections.
• Autonomous Execution: High level of self-direction and time management, capable of prioritizing deliverables across multiple client files without requiring constant supervision.
• Communication & Professionalism: Excellent written English skills and high attention to detail when compiling notes, queries, and documentation for onshore accountants.

PREFERRED:

• Practical experience with workflow and document tools such as Xero Workpapers, Xero Practice Manager (XPM), FYI Docs, Hubdoc, or Dext.
• Direct exposure to ATO portal navigation and ATO statement reconciliations.
• Familiarity with entity structures (Companies, Trusts, Partnerships), including division 7A loan awareness, trust distributions, and asset finance schedules.
• Formal tertiary qualification in Accountancy, Philippine CPA licensure, or active Xero Advisor/Payroll certifications.

What You’ll Bring:

• Constructive Skepticism: You don't take numbers at face value; you verify against source documents and challenge improper legacy setups.
• Ownership Mentality: You take pride in transforming chaotic ledgers into accurate, fully documented files ready for sign-off.
• Calibration & Judgment: You know how to resolve routine roadblocks independently, while knowing exactly when an issue warrants escalation to the onshore senior team.
• Continuous Improvement: A proactive attitude toward adopting new technologies, including AI tools and modern practice management software, to work smarter every day.