Accounting Manager

Job description

Who is Make Space? Make Space is a proudly Canadian-owned and operated company with a fast-growing footprint across more than 65+ storage locations from British Columbia to Quebec. We’re a dynamic team of real estate and storage professionals, expanding our network by acquiring, enhancing, and developing self-storage facilities across Canada. Our finance and accounting team plays a critical role in supporting this growth by ensuring accurate financial reporting, operational insights, and sound business decisions. Who we are looking for: We are seeking a proactive, business‑minded, and results‑oriented Accounting Manager to play a key leadership role within the Make Space Finance team. Reporting to the Controller, this position serves as a strategic bridge between Finance, Operations, and Executive Leadership, ensuring that financial reporting, insights, and decision‑support tools are aligned with the realities of our rapidly growing multi‑site business. Beyond managing month end close and financial reporting for a diverse portfolio of entities, this role is deeply embedded in the operations of the business - working closely with regional and facility managers to translate financial data into actionable business insights. The ideal candidate brings strong technical accounting skills, experience with construction accounting, exceptional leadership capabilities, and a passion for continuous improvement. This is a hands-on role for someone who thrives in a dynamic environment, takes ownership, and is excited to improve processes, strengthen internal controls, and elevate the relationship between Finance and Operations. Key Responsibilities: Financial Reporting & Controls Manage monthly and quarterly close processes across multiple entities, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and timeliness. Review and approve journal entries, accruals, inter-company eliminations, and balance sheet reconciliations. Lead monthly reporting cycles, ensuring delivery of financial statements with clear variance commentary. Maintain and strengthen internal control procedures, including documentation of accounting policies and processes. Ensure compliance with regulatory and internal accounting standards, coordinating with external auditors as needed. Business Partnering & Operational Support Act as the finance liaison for General Managers and Store Managers, translating financial results into clear operational insights. Coordinate monthly performance meetings with Operations to review P&L variances, margin drivers, and cash flow impacts. Collaborate with non-finance leaders to build financial acumen across the business and provide tools to manage budgets and KPIs effectively. Provide ad hoc analysis to support site-level decision-making (e.g., evaluating marketing ROI, pricing impacts, or cost-saving initiatives). Business Partnering & Operational Support Serve as a finance contact for regional and facility managers, helping translate financial results into operational insights. Participate in monthly performance meetings with Operations to review P&L variances, margin drivers, and cash flow impacts. Support non-finance leaders by providing financial guidance, reporting, and tools to help manage budgets and key performance indicators. Provide ad hoc financial analysis to support site-level decision-making, including pricing, occupancy, marketing, and cost management initiatives. Tax & Compliance Reporting Coordinate the preparation and review of indirect tax filings, including GST/HST, QST, and other applicable tax returns across multiple entities and jurisdictions. Ensure tax filings are completed accurately and submitted on a timely basis, working closely with internal stakeholders and external tax advisors as required. Review transactions and accounting records to identify potential tax implications and escalate complex issues to the Controller or external tax advisors. Support annual tax compliance processes, including the preparation of information required for corporate income tax returns, partnership filings, and year-end tax reporting. Assist with tax audits, reviews, and information requests from regulatory authorities by gathering documentation and coordinating responses. Budgeting & Forecasting Support annual budgeting process for all properties, working cross-functionally with operations and leadership. Develop rolling forecasts and scenario planning models in collaboration with the Controller. Monitor financial performance against budget and highlight risks, opportunities, and corrective actions where needed. Help build dashboards and automated reporting tools to improve forecasting accuracy and visibility. Process Improvement Identify gaps in accounting and reporting processes and lead initiatives to streamline workflows across the team. Drive adoption of automation tools, standardize reconciliations and reporting packages across entities. Partner with the Corporate Controller and BI team to improve data quality, integrations, and system upgrades (QuickBooks, Yardi, Power BI, etc.). Provide guidance on AR process improvements, monitoring collection trends, and ensuring strong collaboration between Finance and Operations. Maintain and refine SOPs, process maps, and internal controls documentation to ensure scalability. Collaborate on special projects such as ERP migrations, financial system integrations, and cross-functional initiatives impacting financial operations. Leadership & Team Management Review team deliverables for accuracy, completeness and adherence to deadlines. Lead a team of property accountants responsible for full-cycle accounting across multiple regions and funds. Set performance expectations, review work for accuracy and completeness, and provide constructive feedback. Provide coaching, training, feedback and cross-training in different areas of the business. Foster a positive and accountable team culture, encouraging collaboration and ownership. Support recruitment, onboarding, and performance management activities as required. Qualifications CPA designation (or close to completion) required. 5+ years of progressive accounting experience, including at least 2 years in a supervisory or team lead role. Experience with multi-entity or multi-location environments (real estate, self-storage, or construction-related industries is considered an asset). Strong understanding of full-cycle accounting, intercompany transactions, and consolidations. Proficiency in accounting systems (e.g., QuickBooks, NetSuite) and intermediate to advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, Power Query, lookups). Proven ability to translate financial data into business insights for non-finance stakeholders. French language proficiency is considered an asset. Equal Opportunity Employer : We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to inclusive and accessible hiring practices. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, skills, and business needs. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals. Use of Artificial Intelligence : We may use AI-enabled tools to support parts of our recruitment process, including sourcing candidates or screening through external job boards. These tools are used to assist our team and do not replace human decision-making.