Executive Assistant & Bookkeeper

Overview

Executive Assistant & Bookkeeper Jobs in Ames, IA at Confidential

About the Role

A private principal is seeking a highly capable, organized, and resourceful Executive Assistant & Bookkeeper to provide executive support, maintain routine financial records, and coordinate day-to-day matters across a diverse portfolio of privately held assets.

The portfolio includes agricultural land, ranch properties, residential real estate, active development projects, vehicles, and heavy equipment across multiple states. Existing employees, contractors, attorneys, accountants, property personnel, and other specialists handle much of the technical and local work. This role will create the central coordination, financial organization, and follow-through layer.

This is broader than a traditional executive assistant or bookkeeping position. It is a hands-on support and coordination role for someone who enjoys bringing structure to complicated situations, following through relentlessly, working across unrelated projects, and becoming the person who can reliably answer, “What is happening with this?”

The right candidate does not need experience in every area of the portfolio. We are looking for someone intelligent, dependable, financially comfortable, highly organized, and capable of learning quickly. This is intended to be a long-term, full-time role with meaningful room to grow in responsibility and compensation.

Location and Travel

• Hybrid and remote-flexible, with periodic in-person work in the Ames area.
• Strong preference for candidates based in Central or North-Central Iowa and within reasonable driving distance of Ames.
• This role does not require daily office attendance.
• Occasional travel to properties and projects in other states will be required; business travel expenses will be covered.
• Consistent availability during normal business hours is required.

Executive Support and Portfolio Coordination

• Track active projects, deadlines, open issues, commitments, and next actions.
• Coordinate with property and ranch personnel, contractors, developers, vendors, attorneys, accountants, insurance professionals, and other outside advisors.
• Follow up until commitments and deadlines are actually completed.
• Maintain organized records for properties, leases, contracts, equipment, vehicles, vendors, insurance, and major projects.
• Gather bids, proposals, estimates, and supporting information; compare options and prepare concise recommendations.
• Track repairs, maintenance, capital projects, registrations, renewals, and recurring obligations.
• Monitor real-estate and development projects and surface schedule, budget, permitting, contractor, or decision issues.
• Identify operational inefficiencies, unnecessary expenses, missed follow-ups, and opportunities to improve how work is managed.
• Prepare a concise recurring summary of important issues, upcoming decisions, risks, and priorities.
• Handle personal, household, scheduling, correspondence, research, and miscellaneous principal requests as needed.

You will not personally manage every property or perform field work. Existing employees, contractors, and specialists handle much of the local execution. Your job is to help make sure the overall system works.

Finance and Bookkeeping

• Maintain accurate routine bookkeeping records across multiple entities.
• Enter and categorize transactions.
• Manage accounts payable, bill-payment administration, invoice tracking, and vendor records.
• Complete bank and credit-card reconciliations.
• Track property-level and project-level expenses and maintain supporting documentation.
• Maintain clean entity-level records and prepare basic monthly financial reports.
• Track insurance, taxes, leases, renewals, and other recurring financial obligations.
• Organize information for outside CPAs and tax professionals.

This role does not replace the family’s CPA or tax professionals. The objective is to keep the books accurate, current, and organized so outside experts can work efficiently.

The First 90 Days

The initial mandate is not to redesign everything. It is to learn how the principal currently works, identify where time is being lost to unnecessary detail, and begin taking those matters off his plate. Early priorities will include building a clear list of active matters and recurring obligations, establishing reliable systems for follow-up and records, bringing routine bookkeeping current, and creating a concise weekly briefing of completed work, open issues, and decisions required.

What We Are Looking For

• Approximately 2–7 years of professional experience in operations, project management, accounting or bookkeeping, finance, real estate, construction, agriculture, property or facilities management, logistics, business administration, executive support, or a similarly demanding role.
• Exceptional follow-through and the ability to own work without constant supervision.
• Financial literacy and comfort with numbers, spreadsheets, reconciliations, and basic reporting.
• Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills; QuickBooks experience is preferred.
• Clear and professional written and verbal communication.
• Comfort calling people, asking direct questions, and following up when something is late.
• Ability to manage many unrelated projects without losing track of details.
• Good judgment, discretion, and comfort working directly with a private principal.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both professional advisors and field-based employees, vendors, or contractors.
• Willingness to complete reference and background checks and sign a confidentiality agreement.

Experience with real estate, agriculture, construction, equipment, insurance, multi-entity bookkeeping, or vendor management is helpful but not required. Capability, judgment, curiosity, and ownership matter more than a perfect résumé. An exceptional operator who needs to strengthen specific bookkeeping skills may still be a strong fit.

What Success Looks Like

Within the first several months:

• Important deadlines are tracked and rarely missed.
• Projects have clear owners, next actions, and follow-up.
• Financial records are organized, reconciled, and current.
• Property and equipment information is easy to locate.
• Vendors and employees receive consistent follow-up.
• Problems are identified earlier.
• Routine issues are resolved without unnecessary involvement from the principal.
• The principal can get a clear answer quickly when he asks what is happening.

How to Apply

Please submit a resume and answer the application questions with specific examples.

Because this is a confidential search, additional information about the principal and portfolio will be shared with qualified candidates as the process advances.

Pay: $65,000.00 – $85,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Flexible schedule

Application Question(s):

• In 250 words or fewer, describe one specific example of an ambiguous personal, operational, or business problem that you independently took from an unclear request to a completed result. What did you do, and how did the matter end?
• Briefly describe your experience with bookkeeping or financial administration, including any work with QuickBooks, accounts payable, bank or credit-card reconciliations, transaction coding, expense tracking, or basic financial reporting. If your experience is limited, describe comparable work and how you would get up to speed.

Willingness to travel:

• 25% (Preferred)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Ames, IA 50010

Title: Executive Assistant & Bookkeeper

Company: Confidential

Location: Ames, IA

Category: