Billings Manager

Who We Are

About Sweeney Conrad

At Sweeney Conrad our foundation of people first begins with our employeesbecause we know the success of our firm stems from the relationships within it. We consider our employees family and foster a positive work culture encouraging a healthy balance between work and life; building a career over having a job; continuing education and skill development; and being actively involved in the Puget Sound community where we live work and play.

Were proud of our employees and our culture and have been recognized by Accounting Todayas one of the Best Accounting Firms to Work For and byPuget Sound Business Journal as one of Washingtons Best more information visit .

About Ascend

Backed by private equity from people-focused Alpine Investors Ascend is building a dynamic platform for regional accounting firms that enables them to stay independent while accessing the resources of a Top 25 firm to help them grow. Ascend provides access to growth capital robust talent acquisition and training leading quality management resourcesbest-of-breed technology AI tools an offshore captive shared back-office services a catalytic leadership system and modernized equity incentives so that firms can surmount todays industry challenges to reach their full potential. For more information visit .

Billing Manager

Were looking for a handson systemssavvy Billing Manager to own Sweeney Conrads endtoend billing and accounts receivable (A/R) operations. You will run a disciplined prebill-to-cash process partner closely with Partners and other partner firm Billing Managers and use CCH Axcess Practice to drive accuracy speed and profitability in our billing cycle. Youll also improve cash flow by tightening our DSO and AR aging modernizing client payment options and elevating visibility with actionable reporting across the firm.

Responsibilities:

Billing Operations & Client Invoicing

• Own the monthly billing calendarcollect prebills lead review meetings with engagement leaders finalize and post invoices on schedule. Use CCH Axcess tools (e.g. Billing Wizard Billing Groups invoice templates/master paragraphs recurring/progress bills) to standardize and accelerate workflow.
• Ensure accurate engagement setup (fee arrangements rates billing addresses tax settings) and maintain clean client/billing data for reporting and profitability analysis in Axcess Practice.

WIP Prebills & Profitability

• Monitor WIP daily; perform WIP enquiries and filters to surface billable items scope creep and budget variances before billing. Recommend writeups/downs with clear rationale; document all adjustments.
• Track realization and margin trends by client engagement partner and service line; educate teams on drivers and alternatives (e.g. value pricing fixed fees) to support profitable growth.

Collections & Cash Applications

• Lead collections with a professional relationshiporiented approach; segment accounts set contact cadences and partner with engagement leaders to resolve disputes quickly.
• ReduceDays Sales Outstanding (DSO)and AR > 90 days through targeted tactics (e.g. earlier billing milestones progress billing clearer terms modern payment methods).

Accounts Payable & Expense Management

• Own paying posting and tracking firm invoices in alignment with our firm budget.
• Support approving and monitoring submitted expense reports that align with our firm budget.
• Prepare and file monthly reports with the Washington State Department of Revenue (WA DOR).
• Conduct annual reconciliation of accounts with the Washington State Department of Revenue.

Systems Data & Process Improvement

• Be our in-house CCH Axcess Practice expertoptimize configurations security roles and dashboards; champion time entry compliance and month end cutoffs to improve data integrity.
• Standardize firmwide billing SOPs (prebill reviews approval thresholds credit memos reversals) and leverage Axcess features for audit trail and efficiency.
• Partner with Operations/IT on integrations (e.g. Portal payments) and continuously improve performance (e.g. large Billing Groups handling historical references).

The successful candidate will have:

• Bachelors degree in accounting Finance or related field.
• 5 years of billing/AR leadership in professional services (public accounting preferred).
• Deep hands-on expertise with CCH Axcess Practice (time & billing WIP prebills invoices adjustments billing groups reporting).
• Proven results improving DSO AR aging and billing cycle time.
• Advanced Excel (pivot tables lookups) strong data hygiene mindset and comfort with payment tech.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; able to navigate partner level conversations with clarity and diplomacy and client AP stakeholders.

While not required the following skills would be considered an asset

• Exposure to pricing models in CPA firms (hourly fixed fee value pricing) and their impact on realization/gross margin.
• Experience with client procurement/e billing portals (POs vendor onboarding) and dispute resolution workflows.
• Familiarity with Axcess training resources (e.g. CCH Axcess PracticeBiller curriculum) and release enhancements.

Benefits

The pay range for this role is $85000 - $100000 per year. This range includes the anticipated low and high end of the pay range for this position. Actual compensation may vary based on various factors including experience education and/or skill level.

For employees working 30 or more hours per week we offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical dental and vision coverage as well as dependent coverage; Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts; and employer-paid life and disability insurance; and a 401(k) plan with employer match. We also provide flexible time off (PTO) and 12 paid holidays.

At Ascend we provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all candidates regardless of race color religion national origin gender pregnancy sexual orientation gender identity/expression age marital status disability or any other legally protected characteristic. Ascend hires and promotes individuals solely based on qualifications for the position to be filled and business needs.