The Manager Accounts Payable & Travel & Expense (T&E) leads Avalara's global AP and expense operations with a strong focus on operational excellence, automation, and scalable process design. This role ensures timely vendor payments, robust SOX-compliant controls, and continuous process improvement to support Avalara's multi-entity SaaS environment.

The ideal candidate is a transformation-minded finance leader who can optimize systems, drive automation, and enhance end-to-end Procure-to-Pay (P2P) efficiency. You'll report to Sr. Manager / Director, Accounting.

#LI-Hybrid

Global Accounts Payable & T&E Operations

• You'll lead end-to-end AP lifecycle including invoice intake, 2/3-way matching, approvals, and payments
• Oversee global T&E program governance, policy compliance, and corporate card administration
• Ensure adherence to SOX controls and internal accounting policies
• You'll manage month-end close activities including accruals and reconciliations
• Monitor KPIs such as invoice cycle time, exception rates, on-time payments, and policy compliance

Process Improvement & Automation

• Drive automation across AP and T&E workflows (OCR, AI-based coding, workflow routing, auto-approvals)
• You'll increase straight-through processing (STP) and reduce manual touchpoints
• Improve PO-backed invoice compliance and 2/3-way match automation
• You'll implement dashboards and real-time reporting for operational visibility
• Standardize global processes and develop scalable SOPs
• Partner with IT and Finance Systems to enhance ERP and expense platforms
• You'll lead initiatives to reduce duplicate payments, mitigate fraud risk, and optimize working capital

Controls, Risk & Leadership

• You'll maintain strong internal controls in a SOX-regulated environment
• Support internal and external audits with complete documentation
• Embed segregation of duties and fraud prevention controls into workflows
• You'll lead, coach, and develop AP and T&E team members
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Procurement, Accounting, Tax, HR, FP&A, and IT
• You'll act as a change agent during system implementations and finance transformation initiatives

• Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance
• 10–14 years of AP/T&E experience in a SOX-compliant, public company or SaaS company environment
• Proven experience driving automation or finance transformation initiatives
• Strong ERP experience (Oracle, NetSuite, SAP) and T&E systems (Concur or similar)
• Analytical and process optimization skills

AI Use in Role

Avalara is an AI-first company. We expect every Avalarian to actively leverage AI to enhance productivity, quality, innovation, and customer value. AI is embedded in our workflows and decision-making and success at Avalara requires embracing AI as an essential capability, not an optional tool. In this role, AI is used to:

• Improve invoice processing accuracy and automate data capture.
• You'll monitor service levels, detect anomalies, and reduce fraud risk.
• Optimize workflows and reduce manual effort through intelligent automation.
• You'll apply responsible AI practices, including oversight, validation, and data privacy controls.

AI is embedded in our workflows, decision-making, and products. Success here requires embracing AI as an essential capability.

• You’ll bring experience using AI and AI-related technologies, ready to thrive here.

• You’ll apply AI every day to business challenges - improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers.

• You’ll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too.

Total Rewards

In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses.

Health & Wellness
Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance.

Inclusive culture and diversity
Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture. We also have a total of 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and exec sponsorship.

We’re defining the relationship between tax and tech.

We’ve already built an industry-leading cloud compliance platform, processing over 54 billion customer API calls and over 6.6 million tax returns a year. Our growth is real - we're a billion dollar business - and we’re not slowing down until we’ve achieved our mission - to be part of every transaction in the world.

We’re bright, innovative, and disruptive, like the orange we love to wear. It captures our quirky spirit and optimistic mindset. It shows off the culture we’ve designed, that empowers our people to win. We’ve been different from day one. Join us, and your career will be too.

We’re An Equal Opportunity Employer

Supporting diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of our company — we don’t want people to fit into our culture, but to enrich it. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, national orientation, disability, sexual orientation, US Veteran status, or any other factor protected by law. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.