Payroll Accountant

Harness is a high-growth company that is disrupting the software delivery market. Our mission is to enable the 30 million software developers in the world to deliver code to their users reliably, efficiently, securely and quickly, increasing customers’ pace of innovation while improving the developer experience. We offer solutions for every step of the software delivery lifecycle to build, test, secure, deploy and manage reliability, feature flags and cloud costs. The Harness Software Delivery Platform includes modules for CI, CD, Cloud Cost Management, Feature Flags, Service Reliability Management, Security Testing Orchestration, Chaos Engineering, Software Engineering Insights and continues to expand at an incredibly fast pace.   Harness is led by technologist and entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal, who founded AppDynamics and sold it to Cisco for $3.7B. We’re backed with $425M in venture financing from top-tier VC and strategic firms, including J.P. Morgan, Capital One Ventures, Citi Ventures, ServiceNow, Splunk Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Adage Capital Partners, Balyasny Asset Management, Gaingels, Harmonic Growth Partners, Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Alkeon Capital, Battery Ventures, Sorenson Capital, Thomvest Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank.

Position Summary

We are seeking a detail-oriented and proactive Payroll Accounting Accountant to join our Payroll team. This role will be responsible for ensuring accurate payroll accounting, performing payroll-related reconciliations, supporting monthly close activities, and partnering closely with HR, Payroll, and Benefits teams to maintain compliance and streamline processes. The ideal candidate is organized, analytical, and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment

About the role

• Prepare and record payroll journal entries for U.S. and international entities.
• Reconcile payroll-related balance sheet accounts, including wages payable, benefits, taxes, and other deductions.
• Support monthly, quarterly, and annual close activities related to payroll expenses.
• Partner with General Ledger, HR and Benefits teams to ensure payroll data accuracy and proper accounting treatment.
• Review payroll registers, identify discrepancies, and ensure corrections are recorded timely.
• Assist in implementing and documenting payroll-related process improvements and internal controls.
• Support audits (financial, SOX, tax) by preparing schedules and providing required documentation.
• Maintain compliance with federal, state, and local payroll tax regulations.
• Prepares supporting documentation and reports for payroll, payroll tax returns, benefits, cost centers, and bonus plans.
• Participate in special projects, including system integrations, process optimization, and cross-functional initiatives.
• Assist with semi-monthly payroll with accuracy and timeliness that includes salaried, hourly, and contract employees.
• Assist with year-end reporting including W-2s, 1099s, L&I, benefits, and multi-state filings.
• Upload and reconcile data between multiple software applications and payroll systems. 
• Coordinate and execute company registrations in new tax jurisdictions to ensure compliance with local payroll regulations.
• Prepare, review, and manage payroll tax amendments, ensuring accuracy and timely submission to relevant authorities.
• Assist with annual 401(k) and financial audits

About you

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.
• 2–4 years of payroll accounting experience. 
• Understanding of payroll accounting concepts.
• Experience with payroll and accounting systems (e.g., Paylocity, Hi-Bob, NetSuite, Benapass) is a plus.
• Proficiency in Excel; ability to work with large data sets.
• Strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and ability to meet deadlines.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment

Work Location

• We are looking for someone who currently resides within the Eastern timezone. The role can be fully remote or work from our NYC or BOS office. 

What you will have at Harness

• Competitive salary
• Comprehensive healthcare benefits
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Flexible work schedule
• Employee Assistance Prog