Full Charge Bookkeeper

Full Charge Bookkeeper | Remote | Contract to Hire HWA | North Carolina $25/hour | 35 to 40 hours per week Who We Are HWA is an outsourced accounting and advisory firm based in North Carolina. We handle the back office for a portfolio of small business clients, trade contractors, service businesses, owner-operators, so they can stay focused on what they actually do. Our team is fully remote, 100% US-based, and built around the idea that good accounting is quiet. No drama, no surprises, no disappearing act when things get complicated. We are a growing firm and this is a real position with a real future. We are not looking for someone to fill a seat. We are looking for someone who wants to build something with us. The Role This is a full charge bookkeeper position supporting our small business portfolio, primarily trade and service businesses with straightforward books and owners who need reliable, consistent back office support. You will carry up to 20 clients, work independently between monthly check-ins with your assigned Senior Accountant, and be the person those clients count on to keep things current and accurate. About 80% of the work is steady maintenance bookkeeping. The other 20% is catch-up and cleanup when new clients come on board behind on their records. You do not need to be a cleanup specialist to get this job, but you do need to be comfortable rolling up your sleeves when a new client's books are a mess. What You Will Do Manage full cycle bookkeeping for up to 20 small business clients inside QuickBooks Online Reconcile bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and other balance sheet accounts monthly Record and categorize transactions, manage accounts payable and receivable, and handle payroll entry Maintain a properly detailed fixed asset schedule, including accurate categorization by asset type, acquisition date, cost, and accumulated depreciation. Complete monthly close and prepare financial reports for Senior Accountant review Communicate through Microsoft Teams and Outlook Participate in one structured weekly touchpoint with your Senior Accountant Contribute to catch-up and cleanup projects as clients are onboarded What We Need From You Minimum two years of hands-on QuickBooks Online experience working actual client files Full cycle bookkeeping competency: reconciliations, AP/AR, payroll entry, and monthly close The ability to carry a client load and work independently without frequent check-ins Reliable availability between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern for meetings and client coordination US-based with a dedicated remote work setup Proficiency in Microsoft Teams and Outlook, or a genuine willingness to get there fast Where This Can Go We promote from within because it is better for our clients and better for our team. The Senior Accountant role at HWA is a player-coach position. You are still doing the work, and you are also reviewing junior work, managing client relationships directly, and taking on the more complex projects that require more experience. Multi-year cleanups. Backlog payroll reconstructions. Clients with multiple entities or messier histories. We will not pretend we pay what a Big Four firm pays, because we do not. What we offer is a real path, a manageable workload, and a firm that is growing in a direction that creates opportunity for the people who helped build it. If you are ready to move into a Senior Accountant role in two years, we want to be the place where that happens. How This Works This role begins as an Upwork contract at $25 per hour, 35 to 40 hours per week. No overtime required. You will receive a written 30-60-90 plan with your offer that outlines exactly what we expect from you and when. Candidates who meet those benchmarks at 90 days move to a full-time hired position. The plan is not a gotcha. It is a map. This role requires consistent availability between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern, Monday through Friday. We are a remote team and we run on trust. If you cannot reliably hold those hours for meetings and client coordination, this is not the right fit. In Your Proposal, Please Answer These Five Questions Proposals that do not answer all five will not be considered. Q1. It is the first of the month. Time to close out last month. Walk us through your month-end close process. Be as specific as possible. We want to know what you actually do and in what order, not a description of what month-end close is. Name the accounts. Name the steps. Tell us what you do when something does not tie. Q2. Describe your QuickBooks Online experience. Not how many years, but what you actually do in it. Which features and workflows are you in every day? Which have you had to figure out the hard way? What are QBO's limitations that you have learned to work around? Q3. How many clients are you currently managing or have managed at one time? What industries were they in? Be specific about the number and the types of businesses. Q4. Tell us about a time you inherited a client's books and found them in poor condition. What did you find and what did you do? We are not asking for a horror story. We are asking whether you have done this before and how you think when you walk into a mess. Specifics matter more than polish here. Q5. Walk us through your typical weekday. We are not looking for a perfect 9-to-5 answer. We are looking for an honest one. Do you drop kids at school and need 20 minutes at 8:40? Do you go to the gym at lunch? Do you hard-stop at 3:00 PM but come back after 5:00 for independent work? Say so. To Apply Submit your proposal through Upwork with answers to all five questions above and the words "I am ready to close some books" at the very top. Resumes and cover letters are optional. Just answer the questions honestly and let us take it from there. We are a small team and we hire carefully. If you are the right person, you will know it from this description and we will know it from your answers.