Senior Bookkeeper - Monthly Services Lead

Who We Are

Chickadee Nonprofit Solutions (www.chickadeenonprofit.ca)is a small-but-mighty bookkeeping and consulting firm founded in 2020 by Nat Marshik, CPB, CNAP. That last acronym stands for Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional, and yes, we love nonprofits! We work with arts, environment and social services organizations across British Columbia and Canada. Our goal is to empower nonprofit teams with high-quality reports and make finance friendly.

Chickadee was recognized in 2024 as the New Firm of the Year by our national bookkeeping association, CPB Canada, for our innovative approach to nonprofit and charity services.

How We Work

Our close-knit team of ten works mostly virtually and asynchronously, but we see each other in online team meetings and nerdy lunch ‘n learns multiple times each month. Our shared office is “in the cloud” using our ClickUp task management app, where we store an enormous library of standard operating procedures and checklists to ensure quality control and consistency across the team. The virtual environment allows us to support each other’s daily work with helpful comments, emojis, 🐦 and bird-related puns.

Our Mission, Vision and Values

⭐ Our mission at Chickadee Nonprofit Solutions is to build smart, scalable financial systems to empower nonprofit teams with reports, education, and insight. We use modern technology to solvebottlenecks in operations, while we connect nonprofit leaders to expertise and inspiration.

⭐ Our vision is to disrupt outdated processes and mindsets in the nonprofit sector, and to become the “go-to” place for opportunities, knowledge, and community as we serve small to mid-sized nonprofits in Canada with passion and integrity.

⭐ Our values include: nerdiness, empathy, solidarity, abundance, and impact. 🥳

Learn more about what our mission, vision, and values mean to us by clicking here!

The Role

The CPB Monthly Services Lead is responsible for delivering all primary bookkeeping and reporting services to not-for-profit clients after their first year of project work. This role ensures the quality of all monthly service deliveries and provides guidance to technician bookkeepers. The File Lead also handles internal task management for assigned files and serves as the primary contact for client finance reviews and queries.

Who You Are

This role is perfect if you're passionate about supporting nonprofit leaders through approachable, empowering financial consulting.

You’ve been seeking a role that is the perfect blend of nerdiness and impact. You can get into a flow state in technical work, love systems, SOPS, and improving processes, but also excel at making these complexities accessible to clients and colleagues.

You communicate with a thoughtful, friendly, professional tone and adapt easily to different personalities. Whether introverted or extroverted, you listen well, empathize naturally, and create seamless experiences.

You’ve got extensive nonprofit management experience as well as high proficiency in bookkeeping/accounting practices. However, we don't expect both in equal measure and will provide extensive training for the right candidate. You might be an experienced bookkeeper ready to serve nonprofits in a different capacity, or a nonprofit operations manager ready to deepen your bookkeeping skills.

Apply even if you’re not a perfect match on paper. We offer comprehensive training and role flexibility for the right candidate.

If you're energized by supporting mission-driven work as the dependable, capable, presence that nonprofit leaders rely on, let's talk!

Please note that we are not a CPA firm and this is not a CPA-track role; you will be expected to achieve Certified Professional Bookkeeper (CPB) Certification by the end of the third month.

Key Responsibilities: Monthly Services Lead

The Monthly Services Lead takes a leadership role in the delivery of our core monthly bookkeeping, reporting, and compliance services.

Full-Cycle Bookkeeping Services

Reporting to the controller, responsible for technical deliverables for all monthly and recurring work for regular clients after their first year, including:

• Month-end reporting: Maintain the quality of all monthly service deliveries, including data entry, reconciliation, reporting, and client queries.
• Year-end preparation (cleanup clients): Prepare prior year accounting files for CPA/Treasurer and communicate regarding timelines and accounting queries.
• Report to and be supported by the controller for guidance on advanced bookkeeping methods and year-end close.
• Directly support and oversee technician bookkeepers working on assigned files.
• Handle project management for assigned files, including monthly planning for technician bookkeepers, logging delivered services, and communicating services for invoicing.
• Monitor commitments and deliverables for core bookkeeping, advanced bookkeeping, and Controller 1 & 2 level services.
• Accurately distinguish between service types (Controller 1, 2, 3) and provide guidance to technician bookkeepers on time classification.

Compliance Filings and Payroll

• Lead the preparation and submission of client compliance filings, such as GST Rebate returns, nonprofit information returns, T3010 Charity Returns, Worksafe filings, and more
• Lead and/or delegate the payroll admin processing for clients, as needed

Client Communication

This role is expected to provide expert “Controller 1 & 2” level advisory support to clients, in keeping with our brand of clear, friendly, and empowering financial education for nonprofits.

• Responsible for all monthly-services related responses to client questions, including delegation of responses to technician bookkeepers where appropriate.
• Hosts finance review calls, technical calls, and grant review calls with clients monthly or as needed.
• Communicates directly with a client’s CPA during the year-end, and in select circumstances, with a client’s funders, vendors, or employees.
• With support from client success/CEO as needed, communicates to clients about scope-of-work boundaries in relation to services requests.

Cross-trained on Project Services

Over the first year, achieve a minimum competency in our most common project workflows and standards, to temporarily fill in for Projects Lead and/or to deliver add-on projects for existing monthly clients as needed.

In these cases, project management responsibilities for the related work are more limited than in your regular portfolio. The controller steps in to support you & help clarify & simplify scope of work.

• Cross-trained to: Carry out specific add-on projects for monthly clients, such as budget or forecast development or accounting (re-)design.
• Cross-trained to: Support other Leads in specific technical aspects of project work for new clients, such as a GST compliance catch-up.

SOP and Project Management

• Oversee the maintenance and improvement of all client spreadsheets, SOPs, templates, and core bookkeeping standards.
• Conduct file reviews with technician bookkeepers to ensure quality, consistency and on-going skill development
• Draft accurate meeting recaps for client finance review calls

Team Structure

• Report to and be supported by the controller for guidance on advanced bookkeeping methods, project deliverables, and year-end close.
• Manage resourcing of technician bookkeepers and efficiently delegate their tasks on a monthly basis while communicating potential scope/volume issues to the management team
• Actively collaborate and participate in the “Leads Team” to champion Chickadee’s values, debrief challenging situations, and innovate new services, approaches, or employee experiences.

Certifications Required

• Certified Professional Bookkeeper (CPB) with CPB Canada (achieved by month 3).
• Maintain CPB certification and QBO Advanced ProAdvisor certification annually.
• Hold an official certificate or diploma from a bookkeeping program.

Skills Required

1. Technical Skills:
   • Advanced Excel and Google Sheets user, including proficiency with formulas such as SUMIFS, INDEX MATCH, data validation, and pivot tables.
   • Advanced Google Drive knowledge, including managing permissions, using shared drives, and navigating Google Suite applications.
2. Bookkeeping Expertise:
   • Demonstrate fluency in Chickadee’s core bookkeeping procedures within the first three months.
   • Master all primary advanced methods by the end of the first year, including admin allocations, pooled fund models, multiple business unit tracking, and advanced payroll allocations.
   • Independently review and correct errors in the balance sheet, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, bounced cheques, and vendor credits.
3. Training and Mentorship:
   • Ability to teach basic bookkeeping skills to technician bookkeepers.
   • Ability to lead 1:1 check-ins with technician bookkeepers following established processes for employee satisfaction, performance and professional development.
   • Ability to collaborate effectively with the other Leads (CPB File Lead, Client Success Lead) in regular planning and debriefing meetings.
4. Financial Advisory expertise:
   • Independently provide expert Controller 1 & 2 level advisory support to clients, in keeping with our brand of clear, friendly, and empowering financial education for nonprofits.
   • With coaching and support, provide Controller 3 level advisory services, as an opportunity for professional development.

Position Details

• Employment Type: Permanent full-time employee position
• Compensation & Hours: $61,000 to $63,000 per year full-time, 35 hours per week. Starts at$33.66/hour ($61K FTE).
• Start Date: November 30th, 2025 or as negotiated
• Work Location: This is a fully remote position (home office). Must be eligible to be employed and be based in (tax resident of) Canada. Working out-of-country for specific periods is negotiable.
• Computer Hardware: A computer & double monitor is required for the role; a stipend is provided (see: technical specifications Appendix B)
• Office Hours: Must be available to attend regular meetings Monday to Friday between 9:00am and 4:30pm Pacific Time
  • Exception: for employees on Eastern Time, it’s ok to have your window for meetings reduced to Mon-Thurs 8am - 2pm PST only, as long as you are open to some exceptions (e.g. may need to be available as late as 3:30 pm PST, approx 2-3 days per month)

How to Apply

We are accepting applications on a rolling basis, with an anticipated initial start date of November 30th, 2025. Applications will be reviewed starting October 15th and interviews will begin the second half of October.

1. Create a cover letter: What appeals to you about this position? Which of our company values most resonates with you?
2. Create your resume/CV in PDF format. Include the following:
   • Relevant work or volunteer experience in the nonprofit sector
   • Certifications or work experience in bookkeeping or accounting
   • Software you are competent or skilled at
   • Languages spoken
   • Email address and phone number
   • Name your file in this format: LASTNAME_Firstname_CV_2025
3. Take this typing speed test. Download your certificate as a PDF and ensure the typing speed, accuracy, and net speed section is visible.
4. Take our Nonprofit Bookkeeper Skills Assessment here
   {Full link: https://form.jotform.com/ChickadeeNonprofit/nonprofitskills}
   • The assessment will take about 30-60 minutes depending on proficiency level. Click “Submit” once finished.
   • Ensure your name and email matches your CV

You have the choice of uploading your cover letter, CV, and typing test certificate at the end of the assessment or you can send them by email to careers@chickadeenonprofit.ca.

We thank all applicants for their interest. However, we will only be reviewing complete applicationson a rolling basis until the position is filled and only those invited for an interview will be contacted.