Senior Bookkeeper

About Merriam Music

Merriam Music is one of Canada's premier music education and piano retail organizations, operating multiple campuses across the Greater Toronto Area, serving thousands of students annually. The Finance Team supports a multi-entity structure spanning music education (Canadian and US Divisions), piano retail, instrument service, and event production.

Position Summary

The Senior Bookkeeper is responsible for the full-cycle month-end close for Merriam Music's multi-entity operations. Reporting to the Senior Director of Operations and directly supervising the Accounting Clerk, this role sits at the heart of the finance department - bridging transactional bookkeeping with Controller-level review and producing a GAAP-ready trial balance each period. This is a hands-on senior role for an experienced bookkeeper who has been responsible for close cycles in complex, multi-entity environments and is comfortable with reconciliations across a wide range of bank accounts, merchant processors, and accounting subsystems.

Key Responsibilities

Month-End Close

• Responsible for the close calendar and ensure all tasks are completed within the published deadlines
• Review the Accounting Clerk's transactional work prior to posting and provide coaching on coding accuracy where necessary
• Produce the trial balance for review each period
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams (operations, inventory, payroll) to capture all required close inputs

Bank and Merchant Reconciliations

• Reconcile numerous bank and merchant processor accounts each month, including a mix of operating accounts
• Reconcile a broad range of payment processors used across retail and education operations
• Prepare full bank reconciliations on multi-currency operating accounts (CAD and USD)
• Review and post journal entries based on the Accounting Clerk's transaction summaries
• Process electronic transfers as required

Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Balance Sheet Preparation

• Reconcile retail and school AR balances to the subledger each month
• Manage miscellaneous AR journal entries and cash matching
• Review AP coding and prepare cheque runs for signature
• Post AP accruals (Visa, American Express, general) and reconcile the AP clearing account
• Manage prepaid amortization adjustments and fixed asset depreciation entries

Inventory Accounting

• Receive inventory with corresponding AP invoice matching
• Capitalize related labour timesheet costs into inventory
• Maintain landed cost, serialized inventory records, and trade-in valuations
• Complete actual cost fields on sales orders, including freight, mileage, and import schedule values
• Ship and invoice sales orders
• Reconcile the inventory clearing account each month
• Prepare quarterly margining reports and lead the year-end inventory reconciliation
• Coordinate with operations on shipment GL posting and undelivered inventory review

Revenue Recognition

• Prepare and post monthly school revenue entries for the Canadian and US (MMOA) divisions
• Manage deferred revenue mechanics for summer lessons, summer camps, examinations, and the August year-end roll-over to the new school year
• Post entries for school instrument rental, school lesson and credit requests, and seasonal program revenue

Payroll Review and Compliance

• Review payroll registers prior to transmission and post related journal entries
• Calculate commissions and prepare commission continuity entries
• Manage vacation pay accruals and reconcile the payroll clearing account
• Prepare WSIB payments each month and prepare the annual WSIB reconciliation and return
• Prepare the EHT annual reconciliation and return
• Manage full-time, part-time, and last-month payroll accruals and reversals
• Review T4 reports for prepare any adjustments
• Coordinate with payroll service to prepare T4's

Tax Filings and Other Close Items

• Calculate, file, and remit GST/HST on the required schedule
• Reconcile long-term debt balances and post deferred financing charge entries
• Allocate piano tuning costs to the appropriate accounts
• Calculate and post the income tax expense provision
• Maintain entries related to vehicle and travel cost tracking

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of full-cycle bookkeeping experience, preferably in a multi-entity environment
• Registered Professional Accountant (RPA) designation
• Demonstrated ownership of month-end close - accountability for the close cycle and trial balance, not task-level execution alone
• Strong reconciliation discipline across high-volume bank and merchant processor accounts
• Multi-currency reconciliation experience (CAD and USD)
• Inventory accounting experience in a retail or distribution business, including landed cost, serialized inventory, and inventory subledger reconciliation
• Hands-on experience with Ontario payroll, WSIB, EHT, and CRA GST/HST filings
• Working knowledge of Canadian ASPE or a comparable GAAP framework
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills (pivot tables, lookups, large data sets)
• Demonstrated supervisory experience, or clear readiness to take on direct supervision responsibilities

Preferred Qualifications

• CPA Professional Education Program (PEP) designation preferred
• Experience working within an ERP platform in a multi-entity environment
• Experience in a hybrid service and retail business with both recurring revenue and product sales

Work Arrangement

• Hybrid: Anchored at the Oakville head office, with 1–2 days of remote work per week
• In-office presence is required during the close week, cheque run cycles, and as needed for audit preparation

Salary Expectations & Benefits

• $60,000 to $75,000 salary range
• Merriam Music full-time employees enjoy membership in a co-op benefits package, which offers coverages for dental, medical, and other various benefits.