Generalist Accounting Expert - Remote Contract
Listing checked September 22, 2026 · pay as published by AfterQuery
Overview
AfterQuery needs a licensed CPA to build accounting work products that teach AI systems how financial reporting actually works. You will spend roughly 10 hours a week in Excel and PowerPoint, recreating the schedules, statements and memos that show up in corporate close cycles, audits and disclosures. Expect ASC 606 revenue schedules, ASC 842 lease rollforwards, ASC 718 stock comp models and deferred tax tie-outs, all built to hold up under audit scrutiny. The engagement runs on a contract basis with async, project-based delivery, so you choose when the work happens.
What You'll Do6
- 1Construct Excel schedules that follow GAAP for revenue recognition, leases, stock compensation, deferred tax rollforwards and consolidation eliminations.
- 2Write PowerPoint decks that explain how a transaction hits the financial statements, along with technical accounting memos and policy notes.
- 3Recreate monthly and quarterly close packets, audit workpapers, tie-outs, flux analyses and draft footnote disclosures.
- 4Check the internal logic of each model, tie subledgers to journals to the trial balance to the statements, and resolve any break in the flow.
- 5Flag control gaps and document the accounting reasoning behind each judgment call so reviewers can trace it.
- 6Keep deliverables consistent with the standards a real audit team would test before signing off.
Requirements9
- 1Active CPA license in any U.S. state.
- 2Working command of U.S. GAAP plus standard close, audit and reporting cycles.
- 3Hands-on experience preparing or reviewing financial statements, footnotes and the workpapers behind them.
- 4Advanced Excel skills for modeling accounting mechanics from subledger through journal entries, trial balance and final statements.
- 5QuickBooks proficiency.
- 6Genuine interest in sharpening how AI reasons about accounting and financial reporting.
- 7Preferred: 2 to 10 years in public accounting at a Big 4 or large regional firm, or in corporate reporting.
- 8Preferred: background in technical accounting, complex transactions or SOX compliance.
- 9Preferred: accounting degree from a top 50 undergraduate program or a top 20 master's program.
Who Should Apply
The person who fits this role holds an active CPA license and can move between a subledger and a set of financial statements without losing the thread. Public accounting veterans with two to ten years at a Big 4 or large regional firm, or corporate reporting specialists who have owned technical accounting questions, will find the work familiar. Candidates who only know one narrow area, such as tax return prep or basic bookkeeping, tend to score low because the projects span revenue, leases, stock comp and consolidation. Reviewers also reject applicants whose Excel work cannot be traced from journal entry to trial balance, since audit-defensible logic is the whole point. If you dislike writing memos or documenting your reasoning, this seat will feel like a poor match.
Salary Insight
Pay lands between $80 and $150 per hour on a contract basis, with about 10 hours of work per week while a project is active. That range sits well above typical staff and senior accountant hourly rates, which reflects the CPA license requirement and the depth of technical accounting work involved. Candidates with Big 4 tenure or SOX and complex-transaction experience typically land near the top of the band.
Pay and demand for Accounting & Auditing roles
AggregatedTypical pay
$82/hour
This role
$80–$150/hr
Most Accounting & Auditing roles pay $68–$112 per hour. This role's pay sits above that range.
Based on 40 similar roles that publish pay · 4 publish only a top rate; those count at the rate they gave
Rates shown per hour. Yearly and monthly pay converted; one-time fees and non-USD pay are not included.
- Live similar roles
- 45
- Listed in last 30 days
- 26
- Remote
- 93%
Hiring most right now: micro1 (12) · Mercor (12) · AfterQuery (11)
Most requested skills · share of roles
- cpa38%
- accounting36%
- financial reporting27%
- ifrs24%
Figures from Accounting & Auditing roles live on NearSkill when this page loaded. A role can close before you apply, so check the listing itself.
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Compensation
$80–150/hr
Required Skills
Application Tip
You will be asked whether you hold a U.S. CPA license, so have your license number, issuing state and current status ready before you apply. Pair that with one or two workpaper samples or project descriptions that name specific standards, such as an ASC 606 revenue schedule or an ASC 842 lease rollforward you built from scratch.
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