Senior Payroll Accountant

CodePath is the largest educator of college computer science students in the country, having trained over 40,000 students from 1,000+ universities. Partners include Amazon, Google, and other leading technology companies. CodePath recently launched a $150M initiative with Anthropic, building one of the most ambitious AI workforce programs globally.

We are expanding into new markets and scaling our team to match the speed of AI’s transformation of the workforce. This role will help architect the next frontier of our work.

CodePath Finance runs payroll across multiple entities, pay schedules, and states for salaried staff, hourly and seasonal instructors, and fellows in Claude Corps, our program with Anthropic. Claude Corps is growing from roughly 100 to 1,000+ fellows, increasing payroll cycles from six to at least ten per month.

You will own assigned payroll cycles end-to-end, from timecard close through funding and post-payroll reconciliation, and back up our Accounting Manager across all cycles. This role requires deep accounting expertise, including processing payroll, reconciling it to the general ledger, and catching compliance risks before they impact employees.

Key Responsibilities

• Payroll processing: Run assigned cycles for exempt and non-exempt employees, including overtime, regular-rate premiums, bonuses, commissions, and off-cycle/correction runs. Maintain pay rates, worksite assignments, deductions, and direct deposit in the PEO platform (CoAdvantage).
• Employee changes and timekeeping: Process new hires, terminations, and pay changes with HR. Review timecards, drive supervisor approvals, and flag state-specific pay schedule or tax setup requirements.
• Retroactive pay: Verify approvals, confirm hours haven’t been paid, maintain retro pay tracking, and identify root causes of recurring requests.
• Accounting and reconciliation: Prepare payroll journal entries coded to the correct entity, program, and account. Reconcile wages payable, tax withholdings, benefit deductions, accrued PTO, and clearing accounts. Research and resolve payroll-to-GL variances and own payroll accruals for month-end close.
• Compliance: Apply federal, state, and local rules on withholding, taxable wages, pay frequency, and final pay. Support multi-state tax filings, respond to state tax notices, and process wage garnishments and support orders.
• Audit readiness: Maintain traceable documentation from timecard to approval, payment, and journal entry. Prepare reconciliations, schedules, and sample support for financial statement and benefit plan audits.
• Process improvement: Document procedures, update supervisor FAQs, and use AI/automation to reduce manual work and errors.

What Success Looks Like

• 30 days: Independently run at least one full payroll cycle, from timecard close through reconciliation, while learning entities, states, systems, and retro pay processes.
• 60 days: Own all assigned payroll cycles and reconciliations independently, with written procedures for your cycles. Be ready to run the Accounting Manager’s cycles solo during absences and establish a process for timely timecard approvals.
• 90 days: Meet every deadline with fully reconciled cycles, own payroll’s month-end close, absorb new Claude Corps cycles, flag compliance risks, and deliver fixes for recurring issues.
• One year: Be the go-to owner for payroll across all entities and states, lead improvements to scale payroll with Claude Corps without adding headcount, and support clean financial and benefit plan audits.

Qualifications

Required

• A Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 3+ years owning full-cycle payroll processing, including multi-state payroll for exempt and non-exempt employees (overtime, bonuses, commissions, off-cycle payments), wage garnishments, child support orders, and benefit deductions.
• Working knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll tax and wage-and-hour compliance, including withholding, SUI/SDI, state pay-frequency and final-pay rules, and taxable treatment of earnings and deductions.
• First-hand experience with payroll reconciliation (payroll register to GL, payroll liability and clearing accounts, tax withholdings, benefit deductions, and accruals), with a track record of resolving variances and maintaining audit-ready support.
• Foundational GAAP knowledge, including debits and credits, accrual accounting, and preparing payroll journal entries, plus experience with Sage Intacct or a comparable general ledger system (experience beyond QuickBooks is expected).
• Strong spreadsheet skills in Google Sheets or Excel (lookups, pivot tables) for reconciliations and variance analysis.
• Precision under recurring deadlines, adaptability in a fast-scaling environment, and emotional intelligence to handle sensitive pay questions with employees and managers.

Preferred

• Current FPC or CPP certification.
• Hands-on experience across multiple HR and payroll platforms (e.g., ADP, UKG, Paychex, or CoAdvantage).
• Proven experience owning payroll for various worker classifications (salaried exempt, hourly non-exempt, part-time, seasonal, and program fellows).
• Practical experience in multi-entity, fund, or grant-funded accounting, including cost allocation and clearing accounts.
• Direct experience with month-end close for payroll accounts and accruals.
• Demonstrated experience supporting financial statement or benefit plan audits, including sample selections and auditor requests.
• Applied experience using AI or automation tools to streamline recurring payroll workflows.

Full-Time Employee Benefits

This is a fully remote position open anywhere in the U.S. CodePath prioritizes employee well-being with a competitive benefits package.

• Health & Wellness: Medical, dental, and vision insurance (90% employer-covered for employees and dependents), employer-funded healthcare reimbursement, FSAs, and Employee Assistance Program.
• Financial Security: 401(k), employer-paid life & disability insurance, and identity theft protection.
• Work-Life Balance: Generous PTO, paid holidays, 10 weeks of fully paid parental leave, and an annual year-end company closure (Dec 24 – Jan 2).
• Professional Growth: $1,000 annual professional development stipend and home office setup support.
• Student Loan Forgiveness: CodePath is a qualifying employer for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
• Additional Perks: Pet wellness plans, legal services, home/auto insurance discounts, and exclusive marketplace savings.