Accounting Manager

Accounting Manager — Multi-Entity

Location: Northville, Michigan — on-site
Reports to: Director of Finance
Type: Full-time, exempt
Pay: Salary + benefits

About us

We operate 36 Goldfish Swim School locations across 10 states, teaching kids water safety and confidence. Each location is its own LLC, supported by a central management company, property entities, and several locations with minority partners. We are growing, lender-financed, and serious about accurate, on-time financials.

The role

You will own the monthly close and consolidation across roughly 40 legal entities, keep intercompany accounts clean, and run the compliance calendar that keeps every entity in good standing. You will be the Director of Finance's right hand on lender reporting, the annual audit, and tax coordination with our outside CPA firm.

What you'll do

Close and consolidation

• Run a monthly close calendar across all entities and deliver consolidated and by-location financials on a fixed schedule.
• Prepare consolidations, intercompany eliminations, and noncontrolling (minority) interest calculations.
• Reconcile all bank, credit card, payroll clearing, and balance sheet accounts monthly.
• Manage intercompany due-to/due-from balances, management fee charges, and cash movements between entities.
• Account for deferred revenue from prepaid lessons, ASC 842 leases, fixed assets, and construction-in-progress for new locations.
• Reconcile franchise royalty and marketing fund fees to reported revenue.

Lender, audit, and tax support

• Prepare the monthly and quarterly financial packages that support lender compliance reporting.
• Maintain debt schedules and reconcile them to loan agent notices each quarter.
• Serve as primary contact for the annual audit and prepare the PBC (provided-by-client) list.
• Coordinate tax deliverables, estimates, and owner/partner distribution records with our CPA firm.

Compliance

• Own vendor onboarding: collect W-9s before first payment, run TIN matching, and apply backup withholding when required.
• Prepare and file Forms 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC for all entities.
• Manage workers' compensation premium audits in every state, plus general liability and other insurance premium audits.
• Maintain certificates of insurance from subcontractors.
• Track state and local obligations: annual reports, business licenses, personal property tax returns, sales and use tax, and unclaimed property (including unused lesson credits and gift cards).
• Support registrations when we open a location in a new state.

Process and systems

• Improve our QuickBooks Online setup: chart of accounts, class tracking, and close checklists.
• Reconcile payroll (Paychex) and scheduling/enrollment systems to the general ledger.
• Document procedures so the close does not depend on any one person.

What you bring

Required

• Bachelor's degree in accounting.
• 5+ years in accounting, including hands-on close work for 10 or more related entities.
• Consolidations with intercompany eliminations and minority interest.
• Ownership of 1099 reporting and at least one workers' comp or insurance premium audit.
• Advanced Excel.
• Lives within commuting distance of Northville, Michigan.

Preferred

• CPA or CPA-eligible.
• Public accounting experience followed by industry experience.
• QuickBooks Online at multi-entity scale.
• Franchise, multi-unit retail, restaurant, fitness, or childcare background.
• Experience supporting lender covenant reporting.

How you work

You close on time and flag problems early, even when the news is unwelcome. You treat owner, partner, and lender information with discretion. You would rather fix a process than repeat a manual workaround.