In-House Bookkeeper / Tax Preparer — Vancouver, WA

Position Title

In-House Bookkeeper / Tax Preparer

Location

Vancouver, WA — In Office Position

This is an in-house position. This is not a remote role. Candidate must be able to work from our Vancouver, WA office on a regular schedule.

Type of Work

Part-time to full-time, depending on experience, workload, and season.

Compensation

$20–$30 per hour, depending on experience

Higher compensation may be considered for candidates with strong tax preparation experience, cleanup bookkeeping experience, advanced QuickBooks skills, Enrolled Agent status, or the ability to independently prepare individual and small-business tax returns.

Schedule

Year-round position with seasonal variation.

Typical schedule may include:

Off-season: approximately 20–30 hours per week
Tax season: approximately 32–40 hours per week, with possible additional hours depending on workload

Final schedule will be discussed during the interview process.

Employment Status

Hourly, non-exempt employee position.

Benefits / Other Compensation

Benefits may include paid sick leave, paid training, continuing education support, professional development opportunities, and potential tax-season performance bonus. Additional benefits will depend on final schedule and employment classification.

Job Overview

We are a bookkeeping, tax preparation, and tax planning firm located in Vancouver, WA. We are looking for a reliable, detail-oriented, and experienced in-house Bookkeeper / Tax Preparer to support client bookkeeping, monthly financial reporting, cleanup projects, and tax preparation work.

This is not just a data-entry job. We need someone who understands that bookkeeping and tax preparation require judgment, accuracy, confidentiality, and common sense. The right person should be able to look at a set of books or a tax file and ask, “Does this make sense?” before moving forward.

This role is ideal for someone who has experience working with small-business clients, QuickBooks Online, bank reconciliations, financial statements, and individual or small-business tax returns.

We are especially interested in candidates who have experience with real estate agents, rental properties, real estate investors, service businesses, and professional firms.

Key Responsibilities

The Bookkeeper / Tax Preparer will assist with:

Bookkeeping Responsibilities

Reviewing client books for accuracy and completeness
Performing bank and credit card reconciliations
Reviewing bank feeds and transaction coding
Identifying duplicate transactions, missing transactions, incorrect categorizations, unreconciled accounts, negative balances, and unusual activity
Reviewing chart of accounts for proper setup and consistency
Supporting monthly bookkeeping close procedures
Preparing monthly financial reports
Assisting with cleanup and catch-up bookkeeping projects
Preparing bookkeeping diagnostic reports
Reviewing Profit and Loss Statements and Balance Sheets for reasonableness
Preparing or supporting preparation of Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable reports
Preparing transaction review reports and reconciliation summaries
Maintaining organized client files and workpapers
Following firm checklists, procedures, and deadlines

Tax Preparation Responsibilities

Assisting with individual tax return preparation
Preparing or assisting with Form 1040 returns
Preparing or assisting with Schedule C, Schedule E, rental property, and small-business tax workpapers
Organizing client tax documents
Reviewing tax organizers and identifying missing information
Communicating missing document requests clearly and professionally
Assisting with basic business tax returns, depending on experience
Supporting tax planning work by gathering data and preparing clean workpapers
Entering tax information accurately into tax preparation software
Reviewing tax returns for completeness before final review
Maintaining strict confidentiality of all taxpayer information

Anyone preparing or assisting in preparing federal tax returns for compensation must have a valid PTIN before preparing returns.

Required Qualifications

Qualified candidates should have:

At least 2 years of bookkeeping experience
Experience with U.S.-based small-business bookkeeping
Experience with QuickBooks Online
Strong understanding of bank and credit card reconciliations
Ability to review books, not just enter transactions
Experience preparing or assisting with monthly financial reports
Experience with individual tax preparation or tax preparation support
Strong attention to detail
Good written and verbal communication skills
Ability to follow firm procedures, checklists, and deadlines
Ability to work in office in Vancouver, WA
Professional attitude with clients and team members
Comfort handling confidential financial and tax information
Willingness to sign a confidentiality agreement
Valid PTIN or willingness to obtain one before preparing tax returns (PTIN may be covered by firm)

Preferred Qualifications

The strongest candidates may also have experience with:

QuickBooks Desktop
Excel or Google Sheets
Tax preparation software
TaxDome, Karbon, Canopy, Drake, ProSeries, Lacerte, UltraTax, or similar systems
Payroll reports and payroll journal entries
Sales tax filings
1099 preparation
Cleanup and catch-up bookkeeping
Monthly close procedures
Financial statement review
Rental property bookkeeping
Real estate agent bookkeeping
Real estate investor bookkeeping
Short-term rental or long-term rental clients
Schedule C and Schedule E tax preparation
Partnership or S corporation tax return support
Enrolled Agent credential or active progress toward EA status

Confidentiality and Security Requirements

This position involves access to confidential client financial records and tax information. The selected candidate must uphold the highest level of professionalism and confidentiality.

The employee must agree to:

Use only approved firm systems and communication channels
Access client information only for authorized work purposes
Not download, copy, photograph, screenshot, print, or share client information unless specifically authorized
Keep all client records strictly confidential
Follow all firm data-security policies
Keep work areas organized and secure
Sign a confidentiality agreement before beginning work

Any breach of confidentiality or data security may result in immediate termination.

Required Application Materials

To apply, please submit:

Resume or work history
Brief cover letter explaining your bookkeeping and tax preparation experience
List of software you have used
Description of the types of clients or industries you have worked with
Optional: redacted or sample bookkeeping diagnostic report
Optional: sample monthly financial report package using fictional or demo data
Optional: sample tax workpaper or sample tax return prepared using fictional data

Do not submit real client tax returns, real client financial statements, Social Security numbers, EINs, bank account numbers, client names, business names, addresses, or any confidential information.

If you are not permitted to share prior work, you may create a sample using fictional company data.

Incomplete applications may not be reviewed.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is careful, organized, honest, and comfortable working inside a professional tax and bookkeeping office. We are looking for someone who respects deadlines, client confidentiality, and clean workpapers.

You should be the kind of person who notices when the numbers look wrong, asks good questions, and does not simply click “save” just because the software allows it.

Bookkeeping is financial housekeeping. Tax preparation is financial storytelling with receipts. We need someone who respects both.

Please do not apply if you do not have any bookkeeping or tax experiance. Thank you!

Pay: $20.00 - $30.00 per hour

Benefits:

• Paid sick time
• Paid time off
• Paid training

Work Location: In person