Work in Progress Consulting: Associate Finance Consultant

Work in Progress Consulting (WIP) is seeking an Associate Finance Consultant to join their team. 

About Work in Progress Consulting

WIP was started in 2019 with one consultant working to build equitable and accessible HR, finance, and operations systems. In 2020, we grew to three consultants, began to offer strategy and data analysis services, and now we are nine, with a Co-Managing Director Team, and Principal consultants in each line of service we offer. We currently serve about 45 clients per year in the service areas of HR, strategy, finance, and fundraising in the form of short-term and long-term projects, monthly maintenance level accounts in finance and HR, and individual and group coaching.

Read more about our values here, and our compensation philosophy here. 

Time Expectations:

Availability for up to 15-20 hours of work per week across at least three days within the timeframe of 9am-6pm EST Monday-Friday. The days and times chosen to work can be different from week to week, and the consultant will make their own schedule in consideration of clients, who mostly operate in 9-5 positions in all time zones, though EST is our most common. Must be available to work at least 46 weeks per contract year, though this initial contract will run from September, 2024- March 31st, 2025, with an option for renewal pending evaluation, so 25 weeks of availability in that timeframe are required. 

Compensation: 

• $60-$85 p/hour (this rate depends on the type of work you’re doing, not on any of your personal qualifications)
• $10-$20 additional pay per hour for leading group work
• $60 per hour for internal/non-client work that benefits the operations of the firm (like group meetings, participation in social media initiatives, etc)
• Bonuses for referring work to the firm, and a higher pay differential if you fluently speak a second language and utilize it in your work
• Subsidized tax support, discounted tech support
• Paid tools and software (like Zoom, Calendly) to make our work cohesive and consulting relationships easier
• Paid stipend ($600) for onboarding

Upward Movement and Trajectory: 

Contracts at Work in Progress Consulting move from year to year after your first six-month contract. After you have completed 2400 hours of client work at Work in Progress as an Associate Consultant, you are eligible to move up to Senior Consultant after a review, which comes with seniority benefits and a raise of $20-$30 per hour. 

Location: This role is fully remote (within the United States), with the option of attending a team retreat in Cleveland, Ohio, once per year. We currently have team members in the Pacific and Eastern time zones, but the majority of our work and our internal meetings are on Eastern Standard Time. 

Timeline:

• Early July: Job posted
• End July: 30-minute screening interview & skills analysis test for those chosen to move forward on a rolling basis
• Early August: finalists will participate in a multi-team member interview
• Candidate references will also be checked at this step
• August 15th: Offers extended
• paid onboarding begins Tuesday, September 3rd

Workflow for this role looks like:

• Use the scope of work set out in a client contract to independently make decisions about the manner in which the deliverables are met and the work is completed
• Facilitate meetings and produce deliverables according to the timeline in the contract or a modified timeline decided on between the client and consulting team
• Create work products and deliver service to clients consistently and with integrity 
• Produce expert-level client deliverables independently or within a team
• Answer internal Slack queries and external client emails within two business days, even if it is just to acknowledge receipt of the message
• Create agendas for and schedule meetings with clients proactively
• Post meeting, send out tasks and reminders, keep great notes
• Prepare, enter, and review monthly transactions for client organizations.
• Reconcile bank statements and ensure consistency with internal records.
• Prepare, enter, and manage shadow financial records for clients with separate fiscal sponsorship arrangements. 
• Generate financial reports as needed.
• Review and balance internal accounts, analyze variances, prepare reports, and monitor assets.
• Ensure accurate and timely processing of client payroll
• Ensure accurate receipting of client expense activity
• Process updates to salaries, taxes, benefits, deductions, and contributions
• Prepare and send invoices on behalf of clients
• Manage and iterate on weekly client bill pay processes
• Monitor payment deadlines and ensure timeliness
• Produce forecasting documents and explain them to clients and stakeholders

Teamwork:

• Work with our strategy team and HR team to produce forecasting documents with regard to strategic plans and compensation analysis projects 
• (Optional) Attend all team meetings (these are every other month and are planned six months in advance)
• (Optional) Participate in social media initiatives and outreach activities to promote Work in Progress
• When working in groups, participate in mid-project feedback sessions and post-project debriefs

Requirements

Essential Qualifications & Competencies

• At least five years of management, consulting, or director-level work in bookkeeping and financial administration
• Extremely comfortable with remote work, using Zoom to meet, communicating virtually, Google Workspace, and Quickbooks
• Working knowledge of GAAS, GAAP, and accrual-based accounting
• An understanding of nonprofit compliance and the functional forms that go along with it like 990s and Form 1023
• Accounting for grant reporting and management
• Ability to decode and explain financial statements and concepts for non-financial professionals
• Experience with payroll systems
• Ability to independently keep your calendar updated and manage your time and capacity
• The ability to lead client work by proactively building agendas and facilitating meetings
• The knowledge of when you need to ask for help, the ability to advocate for the support you need
• Strong interpersonal skills; experience with multi-stakeholder communications 
• Ability to act as an accountability partner to others on your team as well as hold yourself accountable to commitments and deadlines that impact others
• Comfort with pivoting and problem-solving as circumstances change and new needs or information arise
• A growth mindset, a strong interest in continuous learning and improvement, and a sense of curiosity about what is possible in a given project and subject area
• Ability to understand the overall direction of a project and translate it into next steps for day-to-day work
• Openness to giving and receiving feedback consistently
• Follow up and follow through on commitments to client and internal work

Qualifications & Competencies that are helpful to have but not a deal-breaker

• Previous consulting experience
• Previous nonprofit experience
• Strong research, analytical, writing, facilitation, and presentation skills
• Excellent organizational skills; ability to multi-task with keen attention to detail
• Professional or volunteer experience with community organizing, issue advocacy, nonprofit service delivery, or management  
• Knowledge of pro-worker management, union membership, and applying the terms of a Collective Bargaining Agreement to the operations of an entity
• Ability to center equity and accessibility in financial deliverable outcomes and design
• Knowledge of solidarity economies, ethical investing, values-based budgeting
• Knowledge of c4 and PAC accounting

A Note on Qualifications:

You do not need to be a college graduate, lifelong organizer, political operative, activist, or credentialed practitioner to work with us, but you do need to understand the mission, vision, and importance of our clients and partners. You must have a willingness to learn and ask questions and the desire to encourage others to do the same. 

Applicants who meet some but not all or exceed the above criteria are still encouraged to apply! 

We welcome and strongly encourage candidates with the following types of lived experience, work experience, and related social & political activism or analysis to apply to work at Work in Progress:

• Abortion, Reproductive Justice
• Work toward Black liberation, racial justice, and work toward dismantling white supremacy.
• Indigenous liberation, Palestinian liberation, Settler colonialism, and the ongoing genocides perpetuated by the United States of America
• Immigrants’ rights
• Trauma-informed Human Resources or Other people-centered business coaching praxis
• Gender justice, Queer and Trans struggles for liberation
• Disability justice, ableism, fatphobia, neurodivergence, and workplace ADA implementation
• Lived experiences of poverty, and anti-poverty and class struggle work
• Prison abolition and anti-carceral work
• Harm reduction

• Pro-worker management, Union membership and relations

If you would like to request accommodations to apply for this role, please email rachel@workinprogressconsulting.net