Senior Accountant – Quality/Audit
Location: Vancouver, BC - HYBRID
Salary Range: $75,000 - $85,000
Love public accounting, but ready to step away from the client-facing demands and busy-season grind?
This is an opportunity to stay in public practice, continue building your technical audit expertise, and work closely with experienced Assurance professionals, without managing a portfolio of clients or carrying the traditional pressures of a client-service role.
Smythe LLP is seeking a Senior Accountant to join our Assurance practice as an Internal Audit Quality Specialist. This is an ideal opportunity for someone with a strong public practice audit background who enjoys the technical side of Assurance and is looking for more predictable hours, less client-facing pressure, and a different way to build a long-term career within public accounting.
Rather than managing client relationships and external deadlines, your focus will be internal: supporting audit quality, professional standards, regulatory compliance, training, methodology, and continuous improvement across the Assurance practice.
You will work closely with partners, managers, and engagement teams, giving you broad exposure across the firm while becoming a trusted internal resource on audit quality and technical matters.
The Opportunity
If you enjoy public accounting but are questioning whether the traditional client-service path is right for you, this role offers another option.
You can remain within a public accounting environment and continue using the audit knowledge you've worked hard to build while moving into a role that is internally focused, technically interesting, and less driven by client demands and busy-season pressures.
You will gain exposure to firm-wide audit methodology, quality management, professional standards, internal inspections, training, and regulatory requirements while working alongside experienced Assurance leaders.
This role offers:
- A non-client-facing career path within public accounting
- More predictable hours than a traditional external audit role
- The opportunity to stay closely connected to Assurance without managing a client portfolio
- Broad exposure to partners, managers, and engagement teams across the firm
- A chance to deepen your expertise in audit quality, methodology, and professional standards
- Meaningful work that directly influences the quality and consistency of the firm's Assurance practice
Key Responsibilities
- Support the ongoing maintenance and improvement of the firm’s quality management processes and internal policies
- Assist with internal file inspections and quality review procedures
- Develop and maintain templates, guidance documents, and technical resources for Assurance teams
- Support engagement teams with audit methodology and compliance-related questions
- Monitor changes to accounting and assurance standards and help translate updates into practical internal guidance
- Assist with the development and delivery of internal training sessions and technical presentations
- Identify opportunities to improve processes, consistency, and efficiency across the Assurance practice
- Participate in special projects and firm-wide quality initiatives
- Collaborate with partners, managers, and staff across the firm
What You Bring
- CPA designation or progression toward completion of the CPA program
- 3 to 5 years of public practice audit or assurance experience
- Strong understanding of Auditing Standards and financial reporting frameworks, such as ASPE, IFRS, and US GAAP
- A genuine interest in audit quality, professional standards, technical research, and process improvement
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines effectively
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to collaborate effectively across teams
- Experience with CaseWare and audit methodology tools is considered an asset
Why Join Smythe?
At Smythe, we believe there is more than one way to build a successful career in public accounting.
Not every experienced auditor wants to spend their career managing client portfolios, chasing chargeable hours, or working through the traditional busy-season cycle.
This position provides an alternative path: one where your audit experience remains highly valuable, but your focus shifts toward quality, technical excellence, internal collaboration, and improving how Assurance work is delivered across the firm.
For someone who still enjoys the public accounting environment and wants to remain connected to Assurance, but is looking for a more sustainable and internally focused career path, this role offers the best of both worlds.
We offer:
- Competitive base salary
- Discretionary bonus program
- RRSP matching
- 3 weeks (15 days) vacation
- Extended health benefits
- Extended sick time
- One-time home office allowance
- Annual wellness allowance
- Hybrid working environment
- A role designed around internal quality rather than ongoing client portfolio management
About Smythe LLP
Smythe LLP is a professional services firm with offices in Vancouver, North Vancouver, and Langley. Since 1980, we have supported organizations throughout British Columbia, across Canada, and internationally with accounting, assurance, tax, insolvency, and advisory services.
Our team of more than 200 professionals and support staff works collaboratively across the firm, bringing together technical expertise, diverse perspectives, and a shared commitment to quality.
As a member of Allinial Global, one of the world's largest international accounting associations, Smythe combines the resources and reach of an international network with the relationships and opportunities of an independent firm.
Let's Build Something Meaningful Together
You don't have to leave public accounting to leave the traditional audit grind behind.
If you enjoy the technical side of Assurance, want to keep building on your public practice experience, and are ready for a role with less client pressure, greater predictability, and the opportunity to influence audit quality across an entire practice, we'd love to hear from you.
Learn more at: www.smythecpa.com
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