Finance Associate

Summary

Sherman Research is a mission-driven financial strategies company that directs a portion of its profits to organizations advancing the Gospel. The Finance Associate will own day-to-day finance operations, reconciliations, accounts payable and receivable, recurring reporting, and the month-end accounting close while improving finance workflows and data reliability.

Responsibilities

• Process routine transactions using cash basis accounting in QuickBooks, with accurate accounts, dates, payees, classifications, and supporting documentation
• Track, collect, match, name, and file receipts and other financial records
• Review transactions for missing support, incorrect coding, duplicates, and unusual activity
• Maintain an open-question list for judgment items and follow through to resolution
• Process assigned activity for company bank and cash accounts
• Reconcile assigned bank and credit-card accounts
• Reconcile material balance-sheet accounts as applicable
• Prepare reconciliation schedules and complete reconciliation packages with supporting documentation and unresolved-item tracking
• Investigate differences, deposits, transfers, outstanding checks, stale items, and unsupported balances
• Administer cardholder setup and closure, approved limits, spend categories, receipts, and coding
• Follow up on missing documentation and review activity against company policy
• Flag duplicate, unusual, personal, or out-of-policy transactions
• Prepare corporate card and expense data for bookkeeping and month-end close
• Receive and organize vendor bills and maintain vendor records and the AP tracker
• Verify bill details, coding, support, approvals, terms, and due dates
• Prepare payment batches and payment forecasts
• Execute approved payments within delegated authority
• Track recurring bills and vendor obligations
• Independently validate vendor setup and banking changes
• Prepare and send customer invoices and maintain the AR tracker and aging report
• Record incoming payments and reconcile them to invoices
• Track failed customer payments and maintain a current follow-up list
• Contact existing customers regarding failed payments and overdue invoices, documenting outreach, responses, and resolution status
• Coordinate payment retries or updated payment methods in accordance with company procedures
• Escalate unresolved failed payments and delinquent, disputed, or material balances to the Head of Finance
• Prepare recurring cash-flow reporting, including cash movement, significant drivers, and expected near-term inflows and outflows
• Calculate and report accounts receivable days and accounts payable days using agreed company definitions
• Prepare burn-rate, runway, revenue, expense, net-profit, and other operating finance reports
• Compare current results with prior periods, budget, or forecast when requested, and flag meaningful variances
• Review finance dashboard data, trace metrics to source systems, and investigate discrepancies before reporting is relied upon
• Maintain documentation for metric definitions, data sources, reporting periods, and refresh timing
• Own the month-end close calendar, checklist, dependencies, and deadlines
• Ensure transactions are entered through month-end and supported by appropriate documentation
• Complete all balance-sheet liability account reconciliations
• Review uncategorized transactions and correct coding issues
• Identify unusual or judgment-based adjustments and present them for review
• Prepare initial month-end financial statements and operating reports
• Deliver a complete close package for final review and sign-off
• Track post-close corrections and incorporate process improvements into the next close
• Support 1099 preparation and CPA, audit, tax, banking, insurance, and diligence requests
• Track subscriptions and recurring vendor commitments, including renewal dates and potential duplicates or unused services
• Maintain finance procedures, checklists, deadlines, and backup instructions
• Improve and automate routine finance workflows

Skills

• Demonstrated ability to own a month-end close, prepare journal entries, reconcile material balance-sheet accounts, investigate discrepancies, and produce review-ready financial statements
• Practical experience with cash basis accounting, including transaction processing, reconciliations, and month-end close
• Strong QuickBooks, corporate card, spreadsheet, and document-management skills
• Loves systems and is passionate about improving them through cleaner workflows, better documentation, and more reliable recurring processes
• High accuracy, organization, follow-through, and comfort working to deadlines
• Sound judgment and healthy skepticism when reviewing financial activity
• Ability to identify unusual activity, distinguish routine work from judgment items, and escalate appropriately
• Clear written and verbal communication with employees, vendors, customers, and finance partners
• Discretion and reliability when handling confidential financial information

Qualifications

Must Haves

• Demonstrated ability to own a month-end close, prepare journal entries, reconcile material balance-sheet accounts, investigate discrepancies, and produce review-ready financial statements
• Practical experience with cash basis accounting, including transaction processing, reconciliations, and month-end close
• Strong QuickBooks, corporate card, spreadsheet, and document-management skills
• Loves systems and is passionate about improving them through cleaner workflows, better documentation, and more reliable recurring processes
• High accuracy, organization, follow-through, and comfort working to deadlines
• Sound judgment and healthy skepticism when reviewing financial activity
• Ability to identify unusual activity, distinguish routine work from judgment items, and escalate appropriately
• Clear written and verbal communication with employees, vendors, customers, and finance partners
• Discretion and reliability when handling confidential financial information

Benefits

• 100% employer-paid benefit premiums for employees and their dependents
• 4% employer 401(k) contribution
• Two weeks of paid time off
• Five paid holidays
• Paid company time off from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day
• A fully remote, flexible work environment
• Monday–Thursday workweek
• Company-paid employee vacation benefit: after 5 years, choice of Mexico, Canada, or anywhere in the continental U.S.; after 10 years, choice of any 5-year destination, plus Alaska or Hawaii; after 15 years or more, choice of any previous destination, plus Europe