Revenue Accountant, Cost of Revenue

ABOUT CLAY

Our mission is to help organizations turn any growth idea into reality.

We see growth as a creative practice, not a formula. Finding and reaching your best-fit customers takes unique ideas and constant iteration. As AI makes execution faster and tactics easier to copy, creativity is the only lasting advantage. We're already helping thousands of customers https://clayrun.notion.site/Wall-of-Love-b243f2b67607438b9fad99341e6b8d47 — including Anthropic, Notion, Google, and Ramp — go to market with unique data, signals, and AI research.

In 2025, we raised a $100M Series C https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/business/dealbook/clay-ai-marketing-fundraise.htmlbacked by world-class investors including Sequoia, CapitalG, and First Round — and crossed $100M in revenue.

In 2026, we announced our second employee tender offer https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/business/dealbook/clay-start-up-tender-offers.html in 9 months at a new $5B valuation. We also launched a community equity round https://www.clay.com/blog/community-equity-offering, for our customers, agency partners, and club members.

Some things to know about us:

• Our community http://community.clay.com includes 11,000+ customers, 150+ integration partners, 125+ agencies, 50+ Clay clubs https://luma.com/claylive, and 30k members on Slack.

• Our culture https://nextplayso.substack.com/p/spotlight-clay is unique inside and outside of work. Our team members are also DJs, activists, writers, clowns, marathoners, skydivers, psychedelic therapists, social workers, and more.

• All employees can work for free with world-class coaches who specialize in creativity, management, and more.

• Our operating principles — including negative maintenance and non-attached action — guide our work. Read more about them here https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61477f2c24a826836f969afe/685d83a71452245cc1129791_4d770abfd83e276ec15315a2e06945bd_Clay2025_OperatingPrinciples.pdf.

• Read about us in the NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/business/dealbook/clay-ai-marketing-fundraise.html, Forbes http://google.com/search?q=forbes+clay&rlz=1C5OZZY_enUS1155US1155&oq=forbes+clay&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiABNIBBzkzM2owajSoAgOwAgHxBVAe8UAxJx_p&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8, First Round Review https://review.firstround.com/podcast/inside-clays-unconventional-path-to-1-25b/, and more https://www.clay.com/press.

Hear from our employees directly on our Glassdoor https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Clay-EI_IE9850794.11,15.htm page!

REVENUE ACCOUNTANT, COST OF REVENUE

Clay is in hypergrowth mode, and we're building the financial infrastructure to match. This is a foundational hire on the Accounting team and an opportunity to get in early, shape how we operate, and grow alongside the business.

We're looking for a Revenue Accountant to build our cost of revenue function from the ground up across a fast-growing base of 200+ data providers. You'll define how we classify, accrue, and reconcile vendor costs, using AI tooling to build processes that don't exist yet, partner with Data Partnerships to stand up that infrastructure together, and give the company a clear picture of gross margin.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Cost of Revenue Accounting

• Define the cost of revenue classification methodology for hosting, infrastructure, and data provider costs, establishing the standard Clay applies across the P&L

• Build and own the monthly cost accrual process, capturing vendor costs accurately at period-end before invoices arrive

• Own reconciliation of vendor invoices against internal usage data across 200+ data provider contracts, building the visibility Clay needs into one of its largest cost centers

• Execute month-end close for cost of revenue, including journal entries, reconciliations, and flux analysis that surfaces the insights leadership needs to make decisions

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Act as a thought partner to Data Partnerships on vendor negotiations and contract structuring, helping shape deals with the accounting and cost impact in mind before they're signed

• Partner with Revenue Accounting on judgment calls that span both sides of the ledger, from revenue share treatments to contract modifications with cost implications

• Deliver Clay's first complete view of gross margin, bringing revenue and cost of revenue into a single picture the business can act on

Systems & Audit Readiness

• Apply AI and modern tooling to design vendor reconciliation and cost accrual workflows built for scale, rather than automating around existing process

• Own cost of revenue readiness for Clay's first external audit, from schedules and documentation through direct response to auditor requests

• Shape how cost data flows from vendor invoice to GL as volume grows, with decisions that will define the function as the company evolves

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• 4–6 years of progressive accounting experience, with meaningful exposure to revenue and cost accounting, vendor/AP management, or accrual accounting; Big Four or public accounting experience a plus

• Solid knowledge of US GAAP cost classification principles (cost of revenue vs. opex) and accrual accounting

• Data fluent and comfortable reconciling large, messy vendor invoice and usage datasets; SQL is a strong plus

• Excellent written communication; able to document a cost classification methodology as clearly for an auditor as for a cross-functional partner

• Proven track record of building a process from scratch; comfortable operating without a pre-existing playbook across a high volume of variable contracts

NICE TO HAVES

• Experience at a high-growth startup

• Experience managing or reconciling vendor costs in a usage-based or consumption-based business model

• Familiarity with vendor/procurement contract management tools

• Active CPA

• Hands-on experience applying AI tools (e.g., Claude, Cursor) to automate processes or tasks