Senior US Accountant

Laya is a modern accounting, tax, and advisory firm for businesses that want predictable monthly closes, decision-ready reporting, and a clear path from accounting to tax and advisory. We pair licensed experts with technology we build ourselves, and we run industry-specific playbooks — from startups and agencies to restaurants, retail, and professional services — so our clients' books reflect how their business actually works. We are a distributed team, working across the US, India, Latin America, and the Philippines.

Our product is financial truth, so we hire and retain against four values. They are ordered from least trainable to most trainable, and when two of them collide, the higher one wins.

• Integrity. Always doing the right thing and owning your actions — not situational, and not dependent on whether anyone is watching. The numbers are what the numbers are. Mistakes surface immediately and travel upward, and we own our decisions in writing.
• Talent. The raw ability to reason through a problem you have never seen before and to take on new domains quickly. We hold a high bar and would rather leave a seat open than fill it below that bar — and we owe real development to everyone who clears it.
• Grit. Doing whatever it takes to deliver an outcome you have claimed as yours. Setbacks produce a next step, not an explanation, and the unglamorous work gets the same commitment as the interesting work.
• Expertise. The judgment that comes from having seen the work — many clients, many edge cases, many closes. It ranks last only because it is the one thing we can build here; the first three you bring with you.

How we work follows from that. We define the outcome before the work starts — what "done" means, by when, and who owns it. We turn everything we do repeatedly into written process, because a process that lives in one person's head is a liability, not an asset. And we delight clients through the absence of surprise: reliability, proactivity, and clarity, always inside scope.

Everyone here is measured on the same three dimensions they were hired against — Reasoning, Process, and Communication.

You’ll operate as a hands-on accountant embedded in Laya's US practice, managing a portfolio of small business clients end-to-end. Your work spans all three service lines: monthly accounting close, individual and business tax preparation, and advisory. You report to Laya’s US-based leadership and collaborate daily with both the US team and clients.

This role requires someone who can context-switch between a restaurant owner asking about sales tax and a real estate investor reviewing depreciation schedules — often on the same day. You’ll be expected to work independently, communicate clearly with US-based clients over email, video, and chat, and stay current with US tax regulations and accounting standards.

Success in the first year means owning a full client book with clean monthly closes delivered on time, zero missed filing deadlines, and client relationships where business owners trust you as their go-to for financial questions.

• Manage monthly accounting close for an assigned portfolio of US small business clients — bookkeeping, bank reconciliations, financial statement preparation, and GL maintenance.
• Prepare and file federal and state tax returns for individuals, partnerships, S-corps, and C-corps using Thomson Reuters and Intuit tax software.
• Communicate directly with clients to gather documents, answer questions, provide financial updates, and explain tax positions in plain language.
• Maintain organized, audit-ready workpapers and documentation in Google Workspace and Notion for every client engagement.
• Monitor US tax law changes, IRS updates, and state-level regulatory shifts that affect client filings and advisory conversations.
• Collaborate with Laya’s US-based team on complex returns, advisory engagements, and process improvements using available softwares.
• Leverage AI tools and automation to improve accuracy, reduce turnaround times, and identify efficiencies in recurring workflows.

• 3+ years of hands-on experience in accounting, tax preparation, or public practice — ideally with exposure to US GAAP, US tax code (individual and business), or US-facing client work.
• Proficiency with modern accounting and tax tools: Thomson Reuters (UltraTax, Practice CS), Intuit suite (QuickBooks, ProConnect, Lacerte), or equivalent US platforms.
• Working knowledge of Google Workspace (Sheets, Docs, Drive, Gmail) as a primary collaboration environment.
• English communication at C2 proficiency level (CEFR) — written and verbal. You will communicate directly with US business owners; this is non-negotiable.
• Willingness to work a shifted schedule with a minimum 4-hour daily overlap with US Eastern Time (typically an afternoon/evening IST shift).
• Familiarity with project management tools (Notion, Trello) and comfort adopting to new software quickly.
• Experience using AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or similar) to support accounting and tax workflows.

$1450 to $1650 per month