Accounting Lead

Linear Linear · Enterprise · NORTH AMERICA · Operations

This role is for an Accounting Lead at Linear, a SaaS company. The primary focus is on building and owning the accounting infrastructure, including the close process, controls, audit readiness, and policies. The role involves managing financial statements, reconciliations, tax compliance, and eventually leading a small accounting team. While the company mentions AI's impact on software development, this role is purely accounting-focused.

What you'd actually do

  1. Own the monthly, quarterly, and annual close: financial statements, reconciliations, journal entries, and flux analysis
  2. Build our accounting infrastructure from scratch: chart of accounts, close cadence, internal controls, and accounting policies
  3. Lead our annual audit and keep us audit-ready year-round
  4. Manage tax compliance, payroll accounting, and entity-level filings
  5. Partner with Finance, Legal, and People to keep financial operations aligned with how the business is actually running

Skills

Required

  • 8+ years of progressive accounting experience
  • meaningful time at a high-growth SaaS company
  • Strong technical command of US GAAP
  • SaaS revenue recognition (ASC 606)
  • equity-based compensation
  • Experience owning a full-cycle close
  • managing external audits end-to-end
  • Comfortable building from scratch: processes, controls, and policies
  • Experience managing or mentoring accountants
  • Proficiency in ERP platforms
  • Sharp on the details
  • capable of communicating what the numbers mean to people who aren't accountants
  • Sound judgment on what to build first and what can wait

Nice to have

  • CPA preferred
  • experience evaluating or implementing a new ERP is a strong plus
  • clear readiness to do so

What the JD emphasized

  • Build our accounting infrastructure from scratch
  • Comfortable building from scratch: processes, controls, and policies — without a playbook handed to you
  • Sound judgment on what to build first and what can wait — this role requires sequencing, not just execution