Staff Accountant

Together We Build – Partnership, Innovation, Excellence, and Safety

At Kelso Industries, 5,000+ employees across 40+ companies work together to deliver exceptional HVAC, mechanical, plumbing, refrigeration, and electrical solutions nationwide. Join us to grow your career, make an impact, and be part of a team where innovation, excellence, and safety come first.

Recruiter Notice: We respectfully ask external recruiters and staffing agencies not to submit candidates. We only accept direct applications.

About the Role

Your core responsibility is delivering an accurate, on-time close every month for assigned operating companies within a division, and continuously improving how that work gets done. You will join a Kelso accounting team that produces accurate, timely, and well-controlled results through a weekly continuous close in one NetSuite OneWorld environment, supported by AI-enabled tools.

As a Staff Accountant, you will own the general ledger for your assigned operating companies: closing on schedule, reconciling every balance sheet account, and preparing the journal entries that keep the ledger accurate. The transactional work you own, including cash application, bank reconciliations, and corporate card activity, feeds that close and is kept current each week so nothing waits until month-end. You will also apply Kelso home office policies, including as newly acquired companies join the team.

Kelso is growing quickly, including through acquisitions, so this role is built for someone who takes ownership and wants to grow with us. We expect you to take initiative rather than wait for direction: anticipate what the close and the business need, question how things are done today, and use NetSuite, FloQast, Ramp, and AI-enabled tools to simplify, automate, and improve the work.

What You'll Own

MONTH-END CLOSE

Close on time, every month

Own the general ledger for your assigned operating companies so the close is complete, accurate, and on time each month

Meet the month-end close calendar for every task assigned to you, and communicate early when a deadline is at risk

Maintain weekly closes so the month-end close is smooth and efficient

Prepare journal entries for accruals, reclasses, and corrections, with support documented to audit standard

Review open AP and recent vendor activity at close, and accrue unrecorded liabilities so expenses land in the right period

Prepare flux analysis for your assigned operating companies, explaining significant balance sheet and income statement variances in business terms, not just accounting terms

Balance sheet reconciliations

Prepare and own month-end close reconciliations for all balance sheet accounts, with every balance tied to the general ledger and to source records

Investigate, document, and clear reconciling items, and escalate aged or unexplained balances with a recommended resolution

Keep account roll-forwards and supporting schedules current and consistent from month to month

Reconcile the AP subledger to the general ledger each month, and investigate aged open bills, debit balances, and duplicate or stale items with AP

FloQast

Use FloQast as the system of record for the close: complete each checklist task, attach support, and sign off as preparer on time

Route every reconciliation and task to an independent reviewer on the distributed team, and resolve review comments before sign-off

Keep FloQast balances tied to NetSuite so the close certification reflects the final general ledger

TRANSACTIONAL ACCOUNTING THAT FEEDS THE CLOSE

Bank reconciliations

Own the reconciliation of all bank accounts, working the exceptions surfaced by automated bank-to-GL matching

Clear reconciling items in the week they appear, and escalate unusual or unauthorized activity the same day

Reconcile intercompany and cash sweep activity between your assigned operating companies and Kelso Corporate

Investigate payments that clear the bank without a matching bill payment in NetSuite, and work with AP and Treasury to resolve them in the week they appear

Cash application and AR

Apply customer payments (checks, ACH, wires, card) against open invoices daily, so cash is current every week, not only at month-end

Resolve unapplied cash, short-pays, and overpayments with the credit team, and fix the root cause of recurring issues

Produce AR aging and unapplied cash reporting that management and credit use to take action

Work with OpCo teams to route receipts through lockbox and remote deposit capture, so payments received at any location are deposited and applied promptly

Identify aged customer credits and unapplied balances for unclaimed property review

Corporate card program (Ramp)

Review transaction coding weekly, confirm receipts are attached, and reconcile Ramp to the general ledger by close

Partner with card program administrators on coding rules, policy exceptions, and cardholder follow-up

POLICIES, CONTROLS, AND AUDIT

Policies and acquisitions

Learn and implement accounting policies from the home office, and apply them consistently across your assigned operating companies

Support newly acquired companies as they learn Kelso policies and are implemented into NetSuite, and capture lessons learned so each integration goes faster than the last

Controls

Run the controls in your areas as designed and retain evidence that holds up to external audit testing

Flag control gaps or manual workarounds you notice, and recommend practical fixes

Audit and compliance

Prepare PBC schedules and support and respond to auditor questions on your accounts

Tools and documentation

Use NetSuite functionality and AI tools to complete your work efficiently and accurately, and keep up with new features and capabilities as they become available

Follow documented team processes and keep your desk procedures current so work can be cross-trained

OPCO PARTNERSHIP

Supporting your assigned operating companies

Serve as the primary accounting contact for your assigned operating companies within a division, partnering with OpCo controllers, project managers, and credit teams

Work requests through the team's intake process and meet agreed service levels, such as applying customer payments within one business day of receipt

Build working relationships with OpCo staff through Teams and scheduled check-ins, and travel occasionally to OpCo locations for onboarding, process walkthroughs, and year-end support

Track recurring issues by operating company so root causes are fixed at the source rather than worked around

Learn how your operating companies operate and make money, so you can connect the numbers to the business and proactively raise trends, risks, and opportunities with OpCo and division leaders

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND GROWTH

Improve how the work gets done

Look for manual, repetitive, or error-prone steps in your work, and propose ways to simplify, standardize, or automate them

Leverage available digital and AI capabilities, such as NetSuite saved searches, workflows, and matching rules, FloQast and Ramp automation, and AI assistants, to reduce manual effort and improve accuracy

Pilot new workflows, tools and capabilities as the team adopts them, share what works, and help teammates get up to speed

Take initiative and grow in the role

Own outcomes, not just tasks: identify what needs to be done, act on it, and keep your manager informed rather than waiting to be told

Build your technical accounting, systems, and business knowledge, and take on broader responsibilities as you are ready, such as supporting acquisitions, training new team members, or leading an improvement project

Contribute to a team culture of accountability, collaboration, and knowledge sharing in a fast-growing environment

What You'll Bring

Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance

2–4 years of general ledger accounting experience, including ownership of balance sheet account reconciliations

Solid understanding of U.S. GAAP and the month-end close

Experience running a month-end close checklist with tasks and reconciliations, including identifying dependencies between tasks

Experience supporting multiple legal entities in a multi-entity ERP (NetSuite OneWorld preferred)

Hands-on NetSuite experience, or another mid-market or enterprise ERP

A control mindset: you document your work, meet deadlines, and speak up early when something looks wrong

An ownership mindset: you take initiative, follow issues through to resolution, and don't wait to be told what to do

A growth mindset: you seek feedback, learn quickly, and want to build your career as the company grows

Comfort working in a fast-growing environment with changing priorities, new systems, and newly acquired companies

A continuous improvement mindset, with examples of improving a process, fixing a recurring issue, or automating a manual step

Strong Excel skills and attention to detail

Comfort with AI and automation tools, and the curiosity to keep learning and applying them to your work

Clear, concise written communication and the ability to manage priorities across multiple stakeholders on a distributed team

NICE TO HAVE

Progress toward a CPA

Public accounting, SOX, or external audit experience

Construction or contractor accounting experience, including job costing

Experience integrating an acquired company or supporting an ERP implementation

Ramp or another corporate card platform; FloQast or another close management platform

Experience on a centralized accounting team supporting multiple operating companies or locations

Why Join Kelso Industries?

Join us and be part of a team dedicated to creating efficient, sustainable, and high-performance environments that make a lasting impact across the industrial, commercial, and institutional sectors.

Here you will experience:

Growth Opportunities: Develop new skills, take on exciting challenges, and advance your career in meaningful ways.

Company Culture: You’ll thrive in an environment that supports your growth, values your contributions, and makes work fulfilling and enjoyable.

Impact: Your work directly contributes to meaningful outcomes, allowing you to see the difference you make and feel a sense of purpose every day.

Competitive Compensation & Benefits: You’ll be rewarded fairly for your contributions while enjoying perks that enhance your financial security, health, and overall well-being.

Kelso Industries celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate in any aspect of employment based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, age, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local employment discrimination laws where Kelso does business