US Payroll & Accounting Specialist - Full-Time

Hi! I'm Rex. I run Cairn Accounting, a US accounting firm. I'm looking for one careful, reliable person to own payroll processing for our clients. We are looking for a long-term person to grow with the position.

WHAT YOU'D BE DOING

Payroll - the core of the role:

• Collect and verify timesheets across multiple clients
• Enter and review hours, rates, deductions, and PTO
• Process payroll runs in Gusto
• Handle new hires, terminations, and status changes
• Track filings and deadlines, and keep a clean log of what's done and what's open
• Quarterly and year-end items - W-2s, 1099s, agency notices

Light accounting support:

• Account reconciliations
• Basic transaction categorization
• General data entry and record maintenance
• Month-end cleanup items

Beyond the routine:

• Building one-off reports and summaries when a client or project needs something no template covers
• Investigating discrepancies between systems that should agree
• Researching and resolving agency notices
• Documenting the processes you run so they stay repeatable

Most weeks follow a steady rhythm, and I want to be upfront about that - this is precise, repeatable work. But it isn't only that. Some requests arrive with no template and no SOP, and I'll need you to work out what's actually being asked, find the data, build it, and check it before it comes back to me.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

• Real US payroll experience. Any platform - Gusto, ADP, Paychex, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll.
• Comfort with US payroll basics: withholdings, multi-state situations, quarterly filings, W-2 and 1099 season.
• Working knowledge of bookkeeping fundamentals - reconciliations, categorization, and how payroll lands in the books.
• Genuinely strong Excel or Google Sheets. Lookups, pivots, and the patience to reconcile two lists that should match and don't.
• Clear written English - enough to ask me a precise question rather than guess.
• Reliable internet and power, with a backup plan. Payroll deadlines don't move.
• Comfort saying "I'm not sure, let me check" instead of filling in a blank.

NICE TO HAVE, NOT REQUIRED

• QuickBooks Online beyond payroll
• Experience across multiple client companies rather than a single employer
• Month-end close experience

THE DETAILS

Type: Full-time, 40 hours per week, salaried.

Rate: $1,000-1,200 USD per month depending on experience, paid semi-monthly.

Hours: Flexible, you set your own schedule. The exception is payroll processing days, when I need you reachable within a few hours so we can fix problems before deadlines. Overlap with US Pacific mornings is a plus, not a requirement.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Health care reimbursement
• 12 paid holidays per year
• Two weeks paid vacation per year

HOW TO APPLY

1. Use exactly 27 Apply Points on your application.

2. Make your subject line exactly:

BLUE CAIRN

3. Answer these four questions, numbered, in this order. Short answers. Attach your resume separately rather than pasting it into the message.

• Which payroll platforms have you worked in, and roughly how many employees or clients were you handling at your busiest?

• Tell me about a payroll error you caught before it went out - or one you caught after. What was it, and how did you find it?

• What's your Excel or Sheets comfort level? Give me one specific thing you've built or fixed, not a rating out of ten.

• A client asks you for a report that doesn't exist in any system, and there's no template. What are your first two steps?

4. At the very end, on its own line, write your expected monthly rate and your earliest start date, like this: $1100 / Sept 1

• Rex