Senior Bookkeeper

STE Financial is a small Kingscliff practice that pairs accounting, tax, and mortgage broking under one roof. Our partners cover both sides of the picture: Mark Moore is a licensed mortgage broker and Craig Hughes is a CPA, so clients get their Accounting and Loans from the same two people.

We are a team of 5 in an office on Pearl Street, KINGSCLIFF two minutes from the beach. We like good coffee, an honest conversation, and a Friday knock-off that happens on time.

About the role

You own the accuracy and rhythm of our clients' day-to-day books. You run the bookkeeping, payroll, and BAS cycle end to end across a portfolio of clients, keep our Xero files clean and reconciled, and make sure nothing is late or unexplained.

You are also the person clients ring when something in their numbers does not look right.

This is a senior seat in a small team, so it comes with real ownership: your own portfolio, input into how we build our processes, and the chance to mentor junior team members as we grow.

What you will do

• Portfolio bookkeeping. Run the full cycle for your own client files in Xero: coding, bank and credit card reconciliations, accounts payable and receivable, and month-end close.
• Payroll. Process accurate pay cycles including award interpretation, leave accruals, superannuation, and Single Touch Payroll, so every client's team is looked after.
• BAS and compliance. Prepare and lodge BAS and IAS, manage GST and PAYG positions, and keep ATO obligations and lodgement calendars on track with no surprises.
• Client relationships. Be the first point of contact for your clients: answer questions in plain English, chase what you need without friction, and flag issues early.
• Reporting handover. Deliver clean, reviewed files and management reports to the accounting team, with the commentary the partners can advise from.
• Systems and process. Improve and document our workflows, onboard new clients onto our standard Xero setup, review junior work, and be the technical go-to.

What you need

• Five or more years of Australian bookkeeping experience, ideally across multiple clients in a practice or outsourced setting.
• Advanced Xero skills, including payroll, bank rules, tracking categories, and common app integrations.
• Confident with GST, PAYG, superannuation, and STP, and comfortable preparing BAS for review or lodgement.
• Cert IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping, or equivalent experience, with BAS agent registration or eligibility to register.
• Genuinely good with people: clear written and verbal communication, and the patience to explain things without jargon.
• Self-managing and deadline-driven, with the discipline to keep a multi-client workload on schedule without being chased.

Nice to have

• Hubdoc experience
• Job or project costing
• Trades or construction clients
• Hospitality awards
• CRM management
• Mentoring juniors

What success looks like

• First 30 days. You know your portfolio, you have met your clients, and the weekly reconciliation and pay run cycle runs without hand-holding.
• First 90 days. Every file is current and reconciled, one BAS quarter is delivered on time, and you have flagged the clean-ups worth doing.
• Ongoing. Lodgements are on time, reconciliations are clean at month-end, and review notes trend down because the work lands right the first time.
• A better system. Our process is documented, consistent across clients, and a little faster each quarter because you improved it.

What we offer

• A senior seat with real ownership of your portfolio and a direct line to the partners.
• Flexible part-time hours with the option to increase them over time. We do not measure people by hours at a desk.
• A tight-knit Kingscliff team that brings personality to the numbers.
• Supported training, BAS agent registration, and CPE, plus exposure to advisory and lending work as you grow.
• A salary that reflects senior experience, reviewed annually, and a say in how the bookkeeping side of the practice is built.

This is not the right fit if

• You need a single set of books and a fixed routine. This role juggles a portfolio, and priorities move week to week.
• You would rather not talk to clients. Direct, friendly client contact is core to the job, not an occasional extra.
• You are attached to desktop-era software or manual workarounds and resistant to cloud systems and automation.
• Close enough is good enough for you. Our accuracy comes from real review and a genuinely careful eye for detail.
• You need close supervision to stay on track. Seniority here means owning your deadlines and asking for help early.

The work rhythm

• Weekly. Bank feeds reconciled, payables coded, pay runs processed, client queries cleared.
• Monthly. Month-end close, balance sheet reconciliations, management reports to the team.
• Quarterly. BAS preparation and lodgement, super obligations, client check-in calls.
• Yearly. Year-end file handover, payroll finalisation, workflow review and clean-up.