Technical Accounting Lead, AI

About the company

Fal provides infrastructure to host multimodal AI models—image, video, and audio—for developers and enterprise customers.

About this role

fal is the generative media ecosystem powering the next generation of AI products. We build the infrastructure, tools, and model access that teams need to move from idea to production, and do it at scale without compromise. For developers and enterprises, fal is the foundation that makes generative media not just possible, but practical: a unified platform where high-performance inference, orchestration, and observability come together to unlock new categories of AI-native products. As generative media reshapes industries across a market projected to grow by hundreds of billions over the next decade, fal is becoming the ecosystem that ambitious teams build on. ROLE OVERVIEW We're hiring a Technical Accounting Lead to own fal's technical accounting agenda and support month end close, composed of both operational and technical entries. That means two things in practice. First, accounting for the single largest and most complex area of our cost base: compute. GPU capacity is the core of our business, and how we capitalize, depreciate, lease, and expense the infrastructure that powers the platform that drives our unit economics and our results. Second, the technical agenda — revenue contracts, capitalized software, equity and stock-based compensation, consolidation and business combinations, expense classification, and the policies and operational application that support each. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role, with runway to lean on external technical accounting advisors as needed. You'll partner closely with Infrastructure, Procurement, Legal, Strategic Finance, and our external advisors, and use the latest AI tools to work productively. WHAT YOU'LL DO OVERALL - Execute our technical accounting agenda by working cross functionally and vertically throughout the organization to establish a rigorous technical accounting discipline - Work closely with business partners to articulate business requirements to operationalize technical conclusions - Assess the adequacy of current business systems and identify opportunities to leverage AI in your day to day work - Set a foundation of best practice internal controls considerations as you complete your technical tasks COMPUTE COST ACCOUNTING - Own the monthly close for all compute-related accounts: vendor spend, prepaid and capacity commitments, accrued liabilities, fixed assets, and leases — including journal entries, reconciliations, and clearing reconciling items - Validate vendor invoices against contracted rates, committed capacity, and actual usage; drive billing errors and overages to resolution - Analyze compute and cloud agreements — commitments, minimums, tiered pricing, credits, prepayments — and apply the correct US GAAP treatment - Research and document technical positions: lease vs. service contract, embedded leases, capitalization thresholds, impairment, and cost classification (COGS vs. opex vs. capex); write memos that stand up to auditor review - Evaluate accounting implications of new vendor agreements pre-signature, partnering with Legal and Infrastructure - Partner with Strategic Finance to tie compute spend to capacity, utilization, and unit economics - Design and stand up scalable processes and controls for a rapidly growing and evolving cost base REVENUE (ASC 606) AND CONTRACT COSTS (ASC 340-40) - Research and advise on revenue accounting for customer contracts WORK CROSS-FUNCTIONALLY WITH SALES, LEGAL, AND DEAL DESK ON NON-STANDARD ARRANGEMENTS TO DETERMINE APPROPRIATE APPLICATION OF GAAP ACCOUNTING Determine the appropriate GAAP application for our commission and incentive compensation plans LEASES (ASC 842) & FIXED ASSETS - Own lease accounting across real estate, colocation space, GPU rental agreements, and equipment - Abstract new and modified contracts, assess classification (finance vs. operating), and identify embedded leases within compute and hosting arrangements - Accurately calculate lease liability, ROU asset, and expense amounts and prepare lease disclosures CAPITALIZED SOFTWARE (ASC 350) - Own internal-use software capitalization (ASC 350-40, including ASU 2025-06) — partnering with Engineering to assess which development activities qualify - Recommend and document capitalization and useful-life policies - Partner with Infrastructure on capex tracking, asset tagging, and periodic physical verification, and reconcile the fixed asset subledger to the GL EQUITY & STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION (ASC 718) - Support ASC 718 expense: award data reconciled to board minutes, 409A interpolation, award modifications, and secondary sales and tender offers, among other matters - Prepare and validate SBC calculations and disclosure reports CONSOLIDATION, BUSINESS COMBINATIONS & OTHER AREAS - Own consolidation across our US entity, foreign subsidiaries, acquired entities — including intercompany and FX - Own P&L expense classification, related-party analysis, going concern, and other technical positions as they arise - Research and document the company's positions under US GAAP, and draft and maintain the supporting policy memos QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED - Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance; CPA required - 8+ years of progressive accounting experience, with a mix of Big 4 public accounting and in-house industry experience (tech, SaaS, cloud infrastructure, or AI strongly preferred) - Range of technical knowledge of US GAAP across ASC 842, ASC 718, ASC 350-40, ASC 805, ASC 810, ASC 606 - Experience supporting or leading an external audit - Strong written communication skills — you can translate complex accounting into clear, concise takeaways with non-technical audiences - High agency — you set your own priorities, make decisions independently, and drive work to completion PREFERRED - Experience at a high-growth software, cloud infrastructure, AI, or other capital-intensive technology company - Experience accounting for tech