Financial Management Accountant

Financial Accountant — Private Family Enterprise Group (Confidential Search)

Sydney (hybrid) | Junior to Intermediate | Recruited by Emerald Family Enterprise Group on behalf of a valued client

Some of the most interesting finance roles in Australia are ones you'll never see advertised under the company's name.

Emerald Family Enterprise Group is a boutique family enterprise advisory firm working alongside private and family-owned enterprises across Australia and Asia. We are recruiting on behalf of one of our valued clients — a private, multi-entity family group at a significant inflection point: professionalising its finance function and preparing for the next chapter of the family enterprise.

This is not an agency search. We are this family's long-term advisors. We know their business, their people, and their culture deeply and we're helping them find someone who genuinely fits.

The role

You'll join the group's finance function as a hands-on Financial Accountant, working at the centre of a major professionalisation program, including:

• Supporting the design and implementation of a group-wide chart of accounts across five operating entities in Xero with reporting dimensions built for KPI tracking, valuation readiness and future acquisition integration

• Preparing account mappings, coordinating sign-off with bookkeepers and general managers, and supporting pilot testing and staged rollout

• Supporting month-end, management reporting packs, cash flow monitoring and reconciliation quality across entities

• Helping embed AP/AR discipline, internal controls and a reliable reporting rhythm

You'll work directly with the group's CFO and internal or external bookkeepers and alongside the family's external advisory team, giving you unusually early exposure to CFO-level thinking inside a sophisticated family enterprise.

Who we're looking for

In a family business, every conversation carries relational weight — so how you work matters as much as what you deliver. We're looking for someone who is:

• A genuine team player — collaborative by instinct and motivated by the success of the engagement, not individual credit

• A strong, clear communicator — able to explain accounting matters in plain language to non-financial family members, and to speak up early when something doesn't look right

• Warm and client-aware — comfortable building rapport at every level, from founders to junior bookkeepers

• Calm under deadline pressure — steady when working to hard cut-offs, prioritising sensibly rather than going quiet

• Curious and coachable — asks good questions and seeks the 'why' behind CFO-level decisions

• Discreet and trustworthy — instinctively careful with sensitive family and financial information

What you'll need

• Minimum 2 years in a financial accounts role within a private group (multi-entity preferred) or an accounting firm servicing family business clients

• Strong working knowledge of Xero — chart of accounts structure, tracking categories, bank feeds and reconciliation, payroll and STP (certification highly regarded)

• Sound double-entry foundations, trial balances, intercompany considerations and management reporting; confident Excel skills

• Demonstrated experience liaising directly with clients or business stakeholders

• CA/CPA commenced or intended (desirable)

• A genuine interest in family business dynamics and succession (highly regarded)

What's on offer

• A rare inside seat in a sophisticated, multi-entity family group not a compliance treadmill

• Day-to-day mentoring from senior practitioners with deep management consulting and family office experience

• Exposure across CFO advisory, transaction support, valuation and succession financial planning

• A clear pathway toward financial controller and, over time, Virtual CFO-level work

About confidentiality

Our client's identity will be shared with shortlisted candidates under confidentiality. What we can tell you now: a well-established, privately held Australian family group with multiple operating entities, strong values, and a genuine commitment to doing succession well.

How to apply

Send your CV and a short cover note to Sign in to view email with the subject line: Financial Accountant — Confidential Search — [Your Name]. All enquiries handled in strict confidence. Applications reviewed on a rolling basis.

Emerald Family Enterprise Group · emeraldfeg.com.au

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