What You'll Do:
We are seeking a Senior Director of Financial Reporting and Technical Accounting to lead external reporting, disclosure, and technical accounting activities in a dynamic, high-growth SaaS and AI company. This role will oversee all aspects of SEC reporting, U.S. GAAP compliance, and technical accounting, serving as a key leader in ensuring the integrity, accuracy, and transparency of the company’s financial disclosures.
This individual will drive excellence in quarterly and annual SEC filings, manage disclosure controls and procedures, partner on the S-1/IPO process, and provide technical accounting leadership for complex and emerging issues typical in the SaaS and AI ecosystem.
What Your Responsibilities Will Be:
Key Responsibilities
External Reporting & Disclosure Management
- Lead the end-to-end process for the preparation, review, and filing of SEC reports, including Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, S-1, and other required filings.
- Oversee and ensure quality, consistency, and accuracy in financial statement footnotes, MD&A, and non-GAAP disclosures, ensuring alignment with SEC and FASB standards.
- Manage the XBRL tagging process, ensuring completeness, accuracy, and consistency with financial statements and disclosures.
- Partner cross-functionally with Legal, Investor Relations, and FP&A to coordinate earnings release materials, including scripts, presentations, and Q&A documentation.
- Maintain and enhance the company’s disclosure committee process, ensuring timely identification and review of new or evolving disclosure items.
- Support executive management and the audit committee in interpreting SEC comment letters, disclosure trends, and peer benchmarking.
Technical Accounting & Policy Development
- Provide authoritative guidance on complex accounting transactions, including:
- Revenue recognition (ASC 606) for SaaS and usage-based models
- Capitalized software and development costs
- Equity instruments and stock-based compensation (ASC 718)
- Business combinations (ASC 805)
- Leases (ASC 842)
- AI-related cost structures and data licensing arrangements
- New product and partnership agreements
- Research and document positions on new accounting standards and emerging issues.
- Maintain a robust library of accounting policies, memos, and technical interpretations, ensuring accessibility and audit readiness.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to management and cross-functional teams, providing proactive accounting insights during product launches, partnerships, or strategic transactions.
SEC Compliance, Controls & Audit Support
- Oversee the company’s SOX 404 compliance for financial reporting, working closely with internal controls and external auditors.
- Maintain and continuously enhance disclosure controls and procedures (DC&P) and internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) to support public company requirements.
- Lead quarterly audit review and year-end audit processes, managing requests, audit schedules, and technical position documentation.
- Ensure compliance with SEC, FASB, PCAOB, and NASDAQ rules and evolving guidance.
- Establish and monitor timeline management for all filings, certifications, and related deliverables to ensure timely submissions.
Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Build, mentor, and develop a high-performing financial reporting and technical accounting team.
- Foster collaboration between Accounting, FP&A, Legal, Investor Relations, and Treasury.
- Provide executive-level insights into accounting and reporting impacts of strategic decisions.
- Serve as a key liaison with external auditors, legal counsel, and financial advisors.
What You'll Need to be Successful:
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance; Master’s degree preferred.
- CPA license (active) preferred.
- 15+ years of progressive accounting experience, with a blend of Big 4 public accounting and public company reporting.
- In-depth knowledge of U.S. GAAP, SEC reporting requirements, XBRL tagging, and the1/IPO process.
- Strong understanding of software and SaaS industry accounting, including recurring revenue, deferred revenue, and contract modifications.
- Proven ability to lead complex reporting projects under tight deadlines in a high-growth environment.
- Experience with AI-related accounting considerations, including data monetization, R&D capitalization, and AI infrastructure arrangements.
- Familiarity with Workiva, NetSuite, FloQast, or comparable SEC reporting and close management platforms.
- Prior leadership role in a public SaaS company with SEC filings ownership.
- Experience coordinating with Disclosure Committees and managing XBRL vendor relationships.
Competencies
- Exceptional attention to detail with the ability to translate complex accounting guidance into clear, actionable insights.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft and edit financial disclosures.
- Highly organized with demonstrated project management and multitasking skills.
- Strategic thinker with operational discipline and accountability.
- Collaborative leadership style with a commitment to mentoring and developing team talent.
Avalara is an AI-first Company:
AI is embedded in our workflows, decision-making, and products. Success here requires embracing AI as an essential capability.
You’ll bring experience using AI and AI-related technologies, ready to thrive here.
You’ll apply AI every day to business challenges - improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers.
You’ll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too.
How We'll Take Care of You:
Total Rewards
In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses.
Health & Wellness
Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance.
Inclusive culture and diversity
Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture. We also have a total of 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and exec sponsorship.
What You Need To Know About Avalara:
We’re defining the relationship between tax and tech.
We’ve already built an industry-leading cloud compliance platform, processing over 54 billion customer API calls and over 6.6 million tax returns a year. Our growth is real - we're a billion dollar business - and we’re not slowing down until we’ve achieved our mission - to be part of every transaction in the world.
We’re bright, innovative, and disruptive, like the orange we love to wear. It captures our quirky spirit and optimistic mindset. It shows off the culture we’ve designed, that empowers our people to win. We’ve been different from day one. Join us, and your career will be too.
We’re An Equal Opportunity Employer
Supporting diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of our company — we don’t want people to fit into our culture, but to enrich it. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, national orientation, disability, sexual orientation, US Veteran status, or any other factor protected by law. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.
