Senior Accountant-Warranty and Service Parts at Slate Auto in Troy, Michigan

Job description

• Slate Auto is seeking a Senior Accountant, Warranty & Service Parts to join our Commercial Accounting team. Reporting to the Manager, Commercial Accounting, this role is the primary executor of warranty and service parts accounting—owning the day-to-day journal entries, reconciliations, and close deliverables that support the team's warranty liability methodology and financial reporting.
• As an early member of the Commercial Accounting team, you will help build foundational processes and controls that scale with the business. The ideal candidate brings strong technical accounting and warranty accounting experience, understands the downstream accounting implications of operational decisions, and partners effectively across Finance, Sales, Operations, Legal, and FP&A. This person is proactive, highly analytical, and comfortable establishing controls, solving complex accounting issues, and contributing to a high-growth automotive or EV setting—with deep technical grounding in ASC 450.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and post journal entries for warranty accruals and service parts, including monthly expense accruals, claim settlements, and inventory adjustments, in support of the warranty liability methodology and procedures.
• Prepare quarterly and annual warranty accrual calculations, true-up schedules, and supporting workpapers for management review and financial statement disclosures.
• Support external audit preparation by assembling reconciliations, workpapers, and supporting schedules for warranty-related audit requests.
• Maintain and apply the warranty liability methodology—preparing roll-forwards, updating assumption inputs, and flagging shifts in claims experience for management review
• Support cross-functional initiatives with Sales, Operations, Legal, Engineering, and FP&A by providing accounting data, analysis, and conclusions that ensure warranty programs and contractual terms are accurately reflected in the financial statements.
• Partner with FP&A by providing actuals data, accounting context, and variance explanations to support warranty expense forecasting and budget development.
• Execute and continuously improve accounting processes and internal controls for warranty and service liabilities, surfacing ideas that support scalability, automation, and SOX readiness.
• Identify and escalate accounting implications of new products, services, and operational changes, and assist in documenting conclusions prior and during product launch.
• Identify and surface opportunities for process improvement within SAP, partnering with IT to enhance data accuracy, reporting, and operational insight.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance; CPA or CPA candidates preferred
• 4+ years of relevant accounting experience; public accounting experience strongly preferred
• Solid understanding of warranty and contingent liability accounting under ASC 450, with hands-on experience preparing accruals, roll-forwards, and reconciliations
• Experience with service parts or spare-parts inventory accounting under ASC 330, including COGS, reserves, and cycle-count reconciliation
• Proficiency with ERP systems (SAP preferred) and comfort working with IT on integrations and transaction flow design
• Advanced Excel skills; strong analytical mindset with close attention to detail
• Proven ability to build processes from scratch in a fast-paced, high-growth environment
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with demonstrated initiative and independent thought
• Automotive, EV, or manufacturing experience preferred
• Self-starter with a positive mindset and genuine excitement for building something from the ground up in a start-up environment
• Agile and adaptable workstyle and comfortable navigating ambiguity, shifting priorities, and evolving processes as the business scales
• Natural problem-solver who digs into complexity, asks the right questions, and finds practical solutions without waiting to be directed
• One-team mentality with an emphasis on collaboration, generous with knowledge, and motivated by shared wins over individual recognition
• Excellent communicator with the ability to translate accounting conclusions clearly for non-accounting partners and escalate issues proactively to the Manager, Commercial Accounting.

Skills

Required

• Advanced Excel
• ERP systems (SAP preferred)
• Strong analytical mindset
• Attention to detail
• Initiative and independent thought
• Problem-solving
• Collaboration
• Adaptability

Preferred

• CPA
• Public accounting experience

Benefits

• At Slate, we’re fueled by grit, determination, and attention to detail. The start-up spirit of ingenuity and resourcefulness move our business forward. Team Slate fosters a culture of excellence, innovation, and mutual respect, and is motivated by shared principles.
• Safety First
• Delight Customers
• One Team
• Relentless Improvement
• Fast, Frugal, and Scrappy
• Respectful Collaboration
• Positive Legacy