---
title: 'Senior Accountant / Finance Manager at Passage'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-accountant-finance-manager-passage-passage-hq-7as3n1v5dc33'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Senior Accountant / Finance Manager at Passage

- **Company:** Passage
- **Location:** Passage HQ
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-06-15
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/passage/dd991660-5f3b-4f8a-9b1b-3946892dce78

## Job description

## Who we are

Imagine a world where your birthplace doesn’t limit your dreams. That’s what Passage is here to create. We aren’t just a bridge of financial support; we connect families all around the world to life-changing opportunities. We believe in a future where deserving students can pursue their dreams and ambitions - even if their parents don’t have money. Our mission is bold but simple: by 2030, we aim to dismantle the barriers preventing brilliant minds from accessing the opportunities they deserve. Starting with financial barriers, we’re offering loans to international students and refugees, helping them pursue better education in Canada and unlock a world of possibilities - not just for themselves, but for their families and future generations, too.

## Who you are

We’re looking for an exceptional early-career finance professional with a CPA designation and 3–5 years of progressive experience in accounting and finance. You’ll work directly with our Head of Finance and take meaningful ownership of reporting, operations, and strategic decision-making. This is a rare opportunity to join a leading AI company in a high-impact role. From day one, you’ll lead core accounting and financial reporting processes while gaining exposure to FP&A, portfolio analytics, and corporate development. You’ll play a key role in building the financial infrastructure that supports our long-term growth. We operate as a lean, high-performing team - there’s no fixed hierarchy or ceiling on growth. We’re looking for someone who wants to grow quickly into a Controller role and is eager to take full ownership of financial operations as the company scales. If you thrive in unstructured environments and are hungry to accelerate your career, we’d love to meet you.

## What you will do

You’ll take full ownership of core accounting and financial operations, with exposure across reporting, audit, internal controls, and cross-functional initiatives that support our product and growth.

Accounting & Financial reporting

- Lead day-to-day accounting operations and month-end close
- Prepare monthly financial statements under IFRS and support external audit
- Maintain and document accounting policies, memos, and reconciliations
- Build and scale internal controls, systems, and reporting infrastructure

Finance Operations

- Design and manage finance-related processes integrated with our product
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to automate manual workflows

Strategic Reporting & Analysis

- Partner with the Head of Finance on investor and board reporting
- Support strategic decision-making while preparing and maintaining critical source-of-truth datasets across accounting, operations, and lending
- Build tools and frameworks to track KPIs, unit economics, and cash flow

You’ll also be a key contributor to long-term projects like audit readiness, financial model development, and future financing events - with increasing ownership based on performance.

## Qualifications

- CPA designation with 3–5 years of experience, ideally starting in Big 4 audit
- Strong understanding of accounting principles and financial reporting under IFRS
- Comfort working independently in Excel and building reporting from scratch

Nice to Haves

- Experience in financial services, lending, or structured credit
- Exposure to FP&A, financial modelling, or investor reporting
- Experience building and/or testing internal controls
- Familiarity with data visualization tools (e.g. Power BI, Google Studio)

Ready to join us? We’re on a mission to make the world a fairer place, one student at a time. If you’re excited to work hard, innovate fearlessly, and collaborate with a high-energy team striving for global impact, we’d love to meet you. Note: This role is based in Toronto, and requires a five-day-a-week in-office commitment. Applicants must be willing to relocate if they’re not already in the area. Let’s help shape a future where every dream can thrive - no matter where it begins.

Note: Artificial intelligence may be used in the screening or assessment of applicants. Expected annual compensation: CA$80,000 – CA$130,000.

## About Passage

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Passage is a Talent Success Platform that matches international students with PGWP-eligible Canadian programs aligned with labour-market shortages, finances tuition and living costs, and supports students through graduation and employment.
- **Entity Type**: Private (funding stage not disclosed)
- **Headquarters**: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Martin Basiri (CEO), Saif Iqbal (CTO) [ca.linkedin.com](https://ca.linkedin.com/company/passagehq)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Education technology and student finance
- **Target customers**: International students from 100+ countries seeking Canadian education and post-graduation work pathways; Canadian public colleges and universities (DLIs)
- **Mission**: "A public commitment to change one million lives by the start of 2030" [passage.com](https://www.passage.com/)

## Products & Services
- **Match**: AI-guided intake platform that routes international talent into Canadian programs aligned with verified Government of Canada labour shortages, screened for PGWP eligibility [passage.com](https://www.passage.com/)
- **Finance**: Loans up to C$65,000 at 11.95% fixed APR for tuition and first-year living costs, underwritten using program, profile, and outcome signals rather than traditional credit history [passage.com](https://www.passage.com/)
- **Stay**: End-to-end support from pre-arrival study-permit guidance through on-the-ground academic and settlement help, job search, and PGWP-eligible placement [passage.com](https://www.passage.com/)
- **Afghan Program**: A dedicated initiative launched in 2024 to fund and admit up to 100 Afghan women through Canadian university and college programs [passage.com](https://www.passage.com/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly available
- **Key Metric**: Total funding not disclosed; team size of ~16 employees (as of early 2026) [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/passage-passagecom)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not listed in available sources
- **Growth Signals**: Launched in 2023 with first cohorts arriving in 2024; active hiring across operations, finance, and engineering globally; expansion into onshore and offshore pathways for students from Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Latin America [passage.com](https://www.passage.com/)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Integrated model**: Combines matching, financing, and post-graduation support in one platform – unlike loan-only or recruitment-only alternatives.
- **Alternative underwriting**: Uses education and outcome signals instead of cross-border credit history, enabling financing for students traditionally priced out.
- **Labour-market alignment**: Programs selected based on verified Canadian shortages, increasing employability and PGWP success.
- **AI-driven consistency**: Policy enforcement, document validation, and audit trails ensure every applicant receives the same care [passage.com](https://www.passage.com/).

## Strategic Focus
- Scale the platform to serve more international talent and expand the network of Canadian partner institutions.
- Grow the lending book while maintaining low default rates via outcome-linked financial model.
- Build technology infrastructure (data platform, engineering) to support automated intake and policy application.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven**: Direct, measurable impact on access to education and career opportunities for underserved international talent.
- **Small, ambitious team**: 16 employees in Toronto with a flat structure; roles in product, operations, finance, and law [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/passage-passagecom).
- **Work policy**: Hybrid/on-site at Toronto HQ for most roles; some remote positions available for global acquisition coordinators and growth leads in specific regions [passage.com](https://www.passage.com/).
- **Open roles**: Currently hiring for Business Operations Associate, Credit Strategy Analyst, Director of Data, Principal/Senior/Staff Software Engineer, Staff Analytics Engineer, and global growth/acquisition roles [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/passage-passagecom/jobs).
- **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on using AI to automate repetitive tasks so the team focuses on human-centric support; modern stack with data-driven decision-making.

## Sources
1. [passage.com](https://www.passage.com/)
2. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/passage-passagecom)
3. [ca.linkedin.com](https://ca.linkedin.com/company/passagehq)

## Other roles at Passage

- [Senior Marketing Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-marketing-engineer-passage-toronto-c1xjtwedtdpx) — Toronto, Canada
- [Senior Analytics Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-analytics-engineer-passage-toronto-30tb82f8adh7) — Toronto, Canada
- [Global Growth Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/global-growth-lead-passage-india-pkf2abavmkw2) — India
- [Director of Finance](https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-finance-passage-passage-hq-n7mg1fdt7196) — Passage HQ
- [Principal Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-software-engineer-passage-passage-hq-h7ywwarrefd0) — Passage HQ
- [Staff Analytics Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-analytics-engineer-passage-passage-hq-8gdmbfyccxvb) — Passage HQ
- [Director of Data](https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-data-passage-passage-hq-apdmc8ym2w47) — Passage HQ
- [Senior Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-passage-passage-hq-wj2v9pmg2cp4) — Passage HQ
- [Global Acquisition Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/global-acquisition-coordinator-passage-india-3tm3gt5fe30b) — India
- [Global Acquisition Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/global-acquisition-coordinator-passage-nigeria-sm4mdx5df6bj) — Nigeria