Senior Account Executive (Accounting Firms)

About the company

Zato is developing agentic AI software for accounting firms. Its platform is designed to automate and coordinate the full compliance workflow, including questionnaires, GL review, workpapers, queries, review, sign-off, client communication, and delivery. The company works with firms that want to reduce manual effort, improve margins, move faster, and modernize the way compliance work gets done.

Role overview

The company is seeking a commercially strong Senior Account Executive to help accounting firms adopt Zato. This is not a high-volume cold outreach position. Instead, you will work from a defined list of firms, build trusted relationships with owners, partners, and directors, lead discovery conversations, deliver product demonstrations, address objections, and turn interested firms into active Zato customers.

The role blends sales, consulting, relationship management, and implementation handoff. Success in this position requires a solid understanding of how accounting firms operate, the ability to identify where time and margin are being lost, and the skill to explain the business case for change in a way that moves firms from interest to commitment.

This is a practical, hands-on commercial role. You will work closely with the CEO, product, implementation, and client teams, and the feedback you gather from the market will directly influence Zato’s growth.

Key responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of target accounting firms across New Zealand and Australia.
• Develop and maintain relationships with firm owners, partners, directors, and senior managers.
• Run structured discovery conversations to uncover firm size, job volumes, workflow setup, team structure, bottlenecks, and adoption risks.
• Present tailored product demos that reflect how each firm actually operates.
• Spot commercial opportunities across new prospects, existing relationships, and wider firm rollouts.
• Respond to objections related to change management, pricing, data, integrations, staff adoption, and implementation.
• Convert interested firms into pilots, annual agreements, and broader deployments.
• Keep the sales pipeline accurate and disciplined, with strong CRM hygiene, forecasting, and follow-through.
• Partner with implementation to ensure sold firms are transitioned properly and become successful users.
• Stay engaged during the early adoption stage to build trust, improve retention, and support expansion.
• Share market insights, objections, and product feedback with the CEO, product, and implementation teams.
• Represent Zato professionally in meetings, events, webinars, and partner discussions.

Initial focus areas

• Work through a defined list of warm and target accounting firms.
• Lead discovery and demo discussions with partners and directors.
• Help move firms from trial, pilot, or early engagement into committed rollout.
• Build a repeatable sales motion for converting accounting firms.
• Understand the main objections firms raise when adopting AI and workflow automation.
• Work closely with implementation so firms have a clear path from approval to successful use.

Candidate profile

The ideal person has experience selling to or working with accounting firms. A background in B2B sales, SaaS, accounting software, account management, partner management, customer success, implementation, or working inside an accounting practice would all be relevant. You should be comfortable speaking with owners, partners, directors, and other senior stakeholders, and be confident in discovery, product demos, objection handling, and closing.

You’ll need strong commercial judgment, the ability to talk credibly about workflow, margin, staff leverage, time savings, and operational change, and the skill to turn product capabilities into clear business outcomes. Good organisation, consistent follow-up, solid pipeline management, and disciplined CRM use are essential. Curiosity about how accounting firms run, along with resilience, urgency, and ownership, will be important. The role also calls for close collaboration with product, implementation, and client teams.

Preferred background

• Experience working in an accounting firm as a senior accountant, client manager, practice manager, advisory manager, or operations manager.
• Existing relationships with accounting firms in New Zealand or Australia.
• Background selling practice management, workflow, compliance, tax, advisory, payments, or outsourcing-related tools.
• Experience with HubSpot, Salesforce, or comparable sales platforms.

What success looks like

• Building trust with accounting firm partners and directors.
• Understanding how a firm operates quickly and accurately.
• Running a focused discovery and demo process.
• Creating urgency without being aggressive.
• Converting strong-fit firms into committed Zato clients.
• Working smoothly with implementation so clients are handed over properly and not oversold.
• Helping create a repeatable commercial engine across New Zealand and Australia.

Who this role may suit

This opportunity could suit a SaaS Account Executive looking to sell into a meaningful, clearly defined vertical. It may also appeal to someone from Xero, MYOB, Karbon, Ignition, or another accounting technology business. A commercially minded customer success, partner, or implementation professional who wants to move closer to revenue could also be a fit. In addition, someone from an accounting firm with strong operational knowledge and the confidence to step into a commercial role may succeed here.

What matters most is the ability to understand accounting firms, earn trust with senior stakeholders, run strong commercial conversations, and help move firms from interest to action.

Location and travel

The position can be based in Auckland or Sydney. Regular travel across New Zealand and Australia may be needed for client meetings, events, and firm visits.

Why join Zato

Zato is a high-growth venture working to transform an entire industry. The business is already working with a growing number of accounting firms across New Zealand and Australia, and it believes AI will fundamentally reshape how compliance work is delivered.

This is an opportunity to join near the front of that shift, work directly with senior leadership, and help build the commercial engine for a company with ambitious growth plans. You’ll have meaningful responsibility, direct exposure to the market, and the chance to influence how accounting firms adopt AI in practice.

Application fit

• You are commercially sharp and relationship-oriented.
• You can run discovery and demos with confidence.
• You are comfortable speaking with accounting firm owners, partners, and directors.
• You care about solving real operational issues, not just pitching features.
• You want to contribute to a high-growth AI company changing the way accounting firms work.

Contact

To help your application stand out, you may share your resume and your strongest win involving an accounting firm with the team at the company’s contact email.