Principal Accountant

Job Description

Principal Accountant | Workday

The Tone:
This is a full-time hybrid role at Workday, primarily located in Pleasanton, CA, with flexibility for other US locations. Workday is a Fortune 500 company and a leading AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, shaping the future of work. This Principal Accountant role is crucial for ensuring accurate financial reporting, driving operational efficiency, and collaborating across various business functions. The company values integrity, empathy, and shared enthusiasm, fostering a culture of support and growth for its Workmates.

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Full-time
• Location: Hybrid – Pleasanton, CA (with additional US locations)
• Pay: $122400–$217400 yearly
• Team: Professional accountants, reporting to the Director of Accounting.
• Mission: This individual contributor manages core general ledger areas for global consolidation, ensures accurate expense recognition, and drives accounting process improvements.
• Tech Stack: Workday (implied, as it is the company’s product for managing money)

What You’ll Actually Do
• Close Ownership: Own core GL areas in the monthly and quarterly close for global consolidation, including preparing and reviewing journals, account reconciliations, and variance analyses.
• Expense Management: Manage the accounting and reporting for operating expenses, ensuring accurate and timely recognition of expenses in accordance with US GAAP.
• Management Reporting: Prepare and review monthly management reporting and analytics for owned areas, clearly explaining drivers, trends, and risks to Finance and business partners.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Partner with key stakeholders in FP&A, Real Estate, Data Center, Cloud Ops, and other operations teams to ensure contracts are accurately reflected in upstream data and downstream accounting.
• Internal Controls: Maintain and enhance internal controls over financial reporting, including design and execution of controls for new or evolving processes.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Economics, or a related field. This is an individual contributor role with broad ownership.
• Experience: 8+ years of related accounting experience. Demonstrated experience owning multiple areas of the close and improving processes, controls, and reporting quality.
• Skills: Strong knowledge of US GAAP, solid understanding of general ledger accounting and financial statements, advanced Excel skills, excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, strong communication skills.
• Bonus: Master’s degree and/or active CPA license. Experience with a publicly traded company in the technology or SaaS industry.