Accounting Manager in Detroit, Michigan at Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan

The Accounting Manager is a key member of the Finance team, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day accuracy, integrity, and stewardship of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan’s financial operations. Reporting to the Director of Financial Operations, the Accounting Manager directly supervises two Staff Accountants and an Accounting Associate and provides functional guidance to two Senior Accountants on a dotted-line basis.

This role is central to the timeliness and efficiency of the Foundation’s month-end and year-end close processes, fund accounting operations, compliance reporting, and audit and tax preparation. The Accounting Manager ensures that all transactions are recorded with precision and in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and nonprofit accounting standards, while contributing to continuous improvement of financial processes and internal controls.

The ideal candidate combines deep technical accounting expertise with the interpersonal skills to mentor and develop staff, collaborate cross-functionally, and serve as a trusted resource for the Foundation’s internal and external stakeholders.

About the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM):
The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan was established in 1984 to ensure residents in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, Washtenaw, Livingston and St. Clair counties can thrive. As a permanent community endowment built by gifts from thousands of individuals and organizations, the Community Foundation supports a variety of activities benefiting economic opportunity, health equity, youth and education, arts and culture, and the environment and public spaces. Since its inception, the Community Foundation has grown to be among the top 35 community foundations in the country and has distributed more than $1.4 billion through roughly 91,000 grants to nonprofit organizations. The Community Foundation’s mission is to make southeast Michigan a desirable place to live, work and play for all residents, today and tomorrow. For more information, please visit www.cfsem.org.

Responsibilities:

Fund Accounting & Financial Reporting 

• Manage the Foundation’s core accounting operations, ensuring accurate and timely recording of all financial transactions. 
• Lead the monthly and year-end financial close processes, including preparation and review of journal entries, account reconciliations, and variance analyses; ensure close is completed accurately and on schedule. Continuously evaluate and improve close procedures to enhance efficiency and timeliness of reporting. 
• Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements and supporting schedules for internal leadership, Board committees, and affiliate organizations. 
• Supervise the production and distribution of quarterly and annual statements to fundholders, ensuring accuracy and adherence to fund agreements and Foundation spending policy. 
• Verify, record, and reconcile payroll activity in coordination with Talent & Culture and third-party payroll systems. 

Internal Controls & Compliance 

• Maintain and adhere to the Foundation’s internal financial controls and procedures to safeguard assets and ensure the accuracy and integrity of financial data. 
• Ensure compliance with GAAP, IRS regulations, and relevant nonprofit accounting standards, including ASC 958 guidance applicable to community foundations. 
• Support preparation of the IRS Form 990 and 990-T and other regulatory filings. 

Team Leadership & Staff Development 

• Directly supervise Finance Associate and Staff Accountants, providing day-to-day direction, performance feedback, professional development support, and workload management. 
• Provide functional and operational guidance to Senior Accountants on a dotted-line basis, offering technical direction, reviewing work products, and ensuring consistency in accounting practices across the team. 
• Foster a collaborative, high-performing team culture grounded in accuracy, accountability, and continuous learning. 
• Support onboarding and cross-training across the accounting team to build organizational resilience and depth. 

Systems & Process Improvement 

• Support the transition to a new ERP system, including assistance with data migration, validation and testing to ensure accuracy and continuity of financial information. 

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Support 

• Ensure the accurate and timely import of financial data from donor management and grants systems into the financial records, reconciling discrepancies and maintaining data integrity across platforms. 
• Perform other duties as assigned in support of the Finance team and the Foundation’s mission. 

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a closely related field required.  
• Minimum of 3-5 years of progressive accounting experience, with at least 1-2 years in a supervisory or lead role. 
• Experience in nonprofit or foundation accounting; community foundation experience is a significant advantage. 
• Experience with full-cycle accounting operations including general ledger, accounts payable, payroll, and financial reporting. 
• Prior experience supporting external audits and preparing IRS Form 990 schedules is strongly preferred. 

Technical Skills 

• Proficiency in accounting and ERP systems; experience with non-profit financial management platforms highly desirable. 
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, and data analysis functions. 
• Familiarity with grants management and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems (e.g., Blackbaud, Salesforce) is a plus. 
• Strong working knowledge of GAAP as applied to nonprofit organizations, including ASC 958. 

Competencies & Attributes 

• Exceptional attention to detail and commitment to accuracy and data integrity. 
• Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. 
• Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and evaluate accounting staff, with a coaching mindset. 
• Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and adapt to shifting demands in a dynamic nonprofit environment. 
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; able to build trust and collaborative relationships across departments. 
• Discretion and integrity in handling sensitive financial and donor information. 

Core Competencies

• Customer Focus: Prioritizes understanding and addressing the needs and expectations of our community and stakeholders. Demonstrates active listening, empathy, and responsiveness, with a consistent commitment to delivering exceptional service.
• Plans and Aligns: Invests time in planning, discovery, and reflection. Engages in active mindfulness to identify and adjust mental shortcuts and assumptions. Seeks out diverse perspectives and experiences to test thinking, proactively anticipates reactions and multiple outcomes, and plans for potential issues and industry trends.
• Collaborative: Works effectively with others—within the team and cross-functionally — to achieve individual, departmental, and organizational goals. Values diverse input, shared accountability, and partnership as essential to producing strong outcomes.
• Decision Making & Problem Solving: Simplifies complex challenges using critical thinking and sound judgment. Gathers and evaluates relevant information, incorporates multiple perspectives, identifies root causes, and determines practical, effective solutions. Applies an audience-centric approach by considering the needs of stakeholders when making decisions and implementing solutions.

Leadership Competencies:  

• Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people up, down, across, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport with peers and leaders; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.    
• Leadership Professionalism: Exercises good judgement of what should be said to whom, where, and how.  Maintains confidentiality. Stamps out rumor mills. Contributes to constructive solutions. Encourages peers and staff to deal with challenges and opportunities head-on. Models the behavior we expect. Expresses views in the right rooms with the right people, avoids undermining decisions of others with words, actions, or body language.  
• Managerial Courage: Provides current, direct, complete and actionable feedback to others; Adroitly diagnoses people, process, practice, policy issues, and exercises good judgement in owning and addressing each in the right place and time.   
• Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams where needed, irrespective of reporting lines; creates strong morale and spirit within and across teams; shares wins and successes; creates a feeling of belonging; Presses in to understand the 'why' of decisions, then helps craft and own go-forward plans. 

Benefits & Salary:

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan offers a robust total compensation package The targeted salary for those entering this role is $83,000 - $104,000. In addition to a competitive base salary, benefits include but aren’t limited to 20 days of vacation accrued monthly, 5 personal days, 11 holidays, 9 sick days accrued monthly, paid parental leave, and employer paid short/long - term disability.

The Community Foundation also offers a pension retirement program after 1 year of service which contributes 10% of salary.

Application Instructions:

This position is being recruited on an expedited timeline. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and early submission is strongly encouraged. To apply, visit www.cfsem.org/careers and look for "Current Opportunities". Please submit your application, including your cover letter through the online portal.

To provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals, employment decisions will be based on merit, qualifications and abilities without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, height, weight, political or union affiliation, disability or any factor prohibited by law.