Accounting & Finance Associate

Job Description

Staff Accountant | Aera Therapeutics

The Tone:
This is a Staff Accountant role based in Cambridge, MA. Aera Therapeutics, founded by a world-class team, focuses on unlocking the potential of genetic medicines across various modalities and therapeutic areas. They aim for excellence in delivery platforms, leveraging a leading LNP platform and developing a potentially disruptive antibody oligonucleotide conjugate platform. This role is crucial in providing day-to-day support and administration for essential accounting and finance processes. The Staff Accountant’s work directly contributes to the financial health and operational efficiency, supporting critical functions like accounts payables, purchasing, expense reimbursement, and month/quarterly close activities, thereby expanding real-world experience within the life sciences and biotech industry.

The TL;DR
• Role: Early Career
• Location: In-person, Cambridge, MA
• Pay: $75000–$84000 yearly
• Team: Reports to the Director, Finance and Accounting
• Mission: Support and administer various accounting and finance processes to ensure operational efficiency and financial accuracy.
• Tech Stack: NetSuite (or other ERP)

What You’ll Actually Do
• Payment Management: Oversee the end-to-end payment process, including preparing and reviewing weekly payment reports, and initiating online bank portal submissions for the weekly check run.
• Month-End Accounting: Administer the month-end close for accounts payable, actively assisting with the identification and recording of necessary month-end accruals.
• Financial Reconciliation: Prepare comprehensive bank reconciliations and necessary journal entries to ensure all accounts balance and transactions are properly recorded.
• Audit & Compliance Support: Provide essential support and guidance to independent public accountants during year-end audits, while also retrieving, organizing, and maintaining vendor forms to ensure full compliance with 1099 reporting requirements.
• Expense & Discrepancy Resolution: Review employee expense reimbursements for adherence to company policy, and efficiently reconcile any discrepancies with employees through direct and friendly communication, also actively resolving account discrepancies through investigation of supporting documentation.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration.
• Experience: 1-2 years of industry experience; experience with NetSuite or another Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
• Skills: Strong understanding of accounting principles; ability to translate financial concepts to individuals at all levels, including finance and non-finance managers; commitment to core values (Respect, Integrity, Excellence, Impact).