Accounting Intern (Fall 2026) - Finance & Accounting - Cloudflare

Role overview

About this role

<div class="content-intro"><div>About Us</div> <div> At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company.  At Cloudflare, we’re not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; we’re looking for the builders who see the cracks in the Internet that everyone else has simply learned to live with. We value candidates who have the instinct to spot a "normalized" problem and the AI-native curiosity to create a solution using the latest tools. Our culture is built on iteration, leveraging AI to ship faster today to make it better tomorrow, while ensuring that every improvement, no matter how small, is shared across the team to lift everyone up. If you’re the type of person who values curiosity over bureaucracy, and that AI is a partner in solving tough problems to keep the Internet moving forward, you’ll fit right in. </div></div>Available location: Austin, TX About the Role We are looking for a highly motivated and tech-savvy Controllership Operations Accounting Intern to join our Accounts Payable (AP) team. This isn’t your traditional data-entry internship. While you will gain hands-on experience with core accounting operations, your primary focus will be on the future of finance: process optimization and AI automation. You will help us modernize our Procure-to-Pay (P2P) lifecycle, acting as a bridge between operational accounting and technological innovation. If you are passionate about finding smarter ways to work and want to see how artificial intelligence is transforming corporate finance, this is the role for you.   <h3>Key Responsibilities</h3> Process Improvement & P2P Optimization <ul> <li>Support analyzing and mapping current Procure-to-Pay (P2P) workflows to identify bottlenecks, manual touchpoints, and inefficiencies.</li> <li>Collaborate with the controllership team to design and implement streamlined processes that reduce cycle times and improve accuracy.</li> <li>Assist in developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for newly optimized workflows.</li> </ul> AI & Automation Projects <ul> <li>Support the rollout of AI initiatives within the AP function (e.g., automated invoice data extraction, intelligent workflow routing).</li> <li>Act as a liaison between the accounting team and technical developers, helping to translate business needs into technical requirements.</li> <li>Help test and validate new automation software, ensuring data integrity between our financial systems and new AI tools.</li> </ul> Core AP & Employee Expense Operations <ul> <li>Provide ad-hoc support for invoice processing and payment run workflows.</li> <li>Assist with the auditing and compliance of employee Travel & Expense (T&E) transaction reports.</li> <li>Assist with month-end close activities related to AP and general controllership duties.</li> </ul>   <h3>Qualifications & Skills</h3> <ul> <li>Education: Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Management Information Systems (MIS), Data Analytics, or a related field.</li> <li>Technical Aptitude: A strong foundational understanding of technology, data analytics, or AI-related projects is highly preferred. While coding is not required for this role, you should possess the technical fluency to communicate effectively with developers, grasp complex system architectures, and understand how automation is built.</li> <li>Systems Experience: Familiarity with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite) or expense management platforms (e.g., Navan) is a plus.</li> <li>Analytical Mindset: A natural problem-solver who doesn't just ask "how" a process works, but "why" it works that way and how it can be improved through technology.</li> <li>Detail-Oriented: Ability to maintain high accuracy when dealing with financial data while simultaneously seeing the big picture of process design.</li> </ul>   <h3>What You Will Learn</h3> <ul> <li>How a corporate controllership function operates at scale.</li> <li>Practical, hands-on experience deploying AI and automation tools in a real-world financial environment.</li> <li>Project management and cross-functional communication skills, specifically bridging the gap between business and IT.</li> </ul> <div class="content-conclusion">What Makes Cloudflare Special? We’re not just a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company. We’re a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company with a soul. Fundamental to our mission to help build a better Internet is protecting the free and open Internet. <a href="https://blog.cloudflare.com/protecting-free-expression-online/">Project Galileo</a>: Since 2014, we've equipped more than 2,400 journalism and civil society organizations in 111 countries with powerful tools to defend themselves against attacks that would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflare’s enterprise customers--at no cost. <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/athenian/">Athenian Project</a>: In 2017, we created the Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration. Since the project, we've provided services to more than 425 local government election websites in 33 states. <a href="https://1.1.1.1/">1.1.1.1</a>: We released<a href="https://1.1.1.1/"> 1.1.1.1</a> to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy-centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer-focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Here’s the deal - we don’t store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by our<a href="https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/privacy/public-dns-resolver"> privacy commitment</a> and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers. Sound like something you’d like to be a part of? We’d love to hear from you! Please note that applicants who progress to the offer stage of the interview process may be asked to attend an in-person interview within one of the Cloudflare Offices or Cloudflare Hubs.  More details about this will be available at that stage of the interview process. This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license. Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness.  All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person's, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer. Cloudflare provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities.  Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, changing the application process, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.  If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job, please contact us via e-mail at hr@cloudflare.com or via mail at 101 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107.</div>