Quick Facts
Sensiba internship · at a glance
Roles open and close throughout the year. Check Sensiba's careers portal for what is live today, and apply in the first week a role posts.
Before you applyWould your profile get you in?6 questions, under a minute. Compared with real interns who landed similar roles.Check my oddsAlso in this guide
Put real project work on your résumé, with the Yinan Zhao Investing & Financial Modeling Externship or the Hydroficient IoT Cyber Defense Externship.
Explore all externships →All quick facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Where to apply | Sensiba current opportunities board (every internship posting lives here), linked from the student opportunities page. Vault's apply link points to an old board, so use the firm's own page |
| Application window (2027–28) | Summer 2027 (Audit, Tax, Outsourced Accounting, IT Risk Assurance): open now, no deadline. Winter 2027 Tax (Jan to Apr 2027): open now, no deadline. Summer 2028: expected to open around Sep 2027 |
| Rolling? | Yes. No posting has a closing date, and the firm told Vault it has no national deadline and reviews applications on a rolling basis |
| Eligibility | Summer 2027 audit, tax and outsourced accounting: graduating Dec 2027 to Jun 2028. Winter 2027 tax: graduating Dec 2026 to Jun 2028. A 3.0 accounting GPA is preferred, not required |
| Duration | Summer: 8 weeks, including one on-site week in San Jose. Winter tax: January to April 2027, 15 to 25 hours a week |
| Compensation | $24 to $30 an hour on all five requisitions, in every location and on the remote postings |
| Return offers | No conversion rate published. The firm says many of its associates came through its internship and leadership programs |
| Locations | San Jose and San Ramon, CA; Bend, OR (hybrid). IT Risk Assurance and the winter tax internship are fully remote |
| # Programs | 5 internship requisitions (4 for summer 2027, 1 for winter 2027), plus a two-day Leadership Program for sophomores that isn't an internship |
Last updated: October 2026
Sensiba has two internship doors open at the same time. On October 12, 2026, its careers board listed five internship requisitions across 11 postings: Audit, Tax, Outsourced Accounting and IT Risk Assurance for summer 2027, plus a remote, part-time Tax internship for winter 2027 that runs January to April. Every one publishes the same pay range, $24 to $30 an hour, and none carries a deadline. In plain words: you apply in fall 2026 and intern in summer 2027, and if you want something sooner, the winter 2027 tax cohort starts in about three months.
Sensiba is a San Jose CPA firm that went by Sensiba San Filippo until 2023. Its summer program is eight weeks long, includes one on-site week at the San Jose headquarters, and runs on a four-day work week.
What Is a Sensiba Internship?
A Sensiba internship is a paid position at Sensiba LLP, a CPA firm founded in 1977 and headquartered in San Jose, California. The summer internship lasts eight weeks in one of four tracks: audit, tax, outsourced accounting or IT risk assurance. A separate winter tax internship is remote and part-time during busy season. Vault ranks the program #13 on its 2026 Best Accounting Internships list. The firm ranked #76 on INSIDE Public Accounting's 2026 Top 100 Firms and is a Certified B Corp. Its US offices are in San Jose, San Mateo, San Ramon and Fresno in California and in Bend, Oregon. Interns spend one week on site at the San Jose headquarters for training, then work with partners and CPAs on client engagements. Vault lists the intern class at 21 to 50 students.
When Do Sensiba Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?
Sensiba runs two cohorts a year on different lead times. The summer 2027 requisitions were live by early October 2026, about eight to nine months before an expected June 2027 start, and the previous cycle's summer 2026 roles were advertised on the firm's LinkedIn page around September 20, 2025. The winter 2027 tax internship is posted about three months before its January 2027 start. Neither cohort has a closing date. Applications for summer 2028 are expected to open around September 2027, projected from those two cycles. The winter cohort has only one observed cycle, so a winter 2028 date is a low-confidence estimate.
Applications for summer 2027 are open in Audit, Tax, Outsourced Accounting and IT Risk Assurance. Applications for the remote winter 2027 Tax internship (January to April 2027) are open too. No posting has a deadline.
Rolling review for both cohorts. The firm says its process takes two to three weeks: a recruiter conversation, an interview with two team members and an interview with a partner. Winter 2027 tax seats have to be settled before the January start.
The winter 2027 tax internship runs through busy season, fully remote at 15 to 25 hours a week. Summer 2027 postings may still be up, since none states a closing date, but seats fill as offers go out.
The summer 2027 internship is expected to run for eight weeks, with one on-site week at the San Jose headquarters. The requisitions state the length but not the exact start and end dates.
Applications for summer 2028 are expected to open, based on the September 2025 and fall 2026 openings. A winter 2028 tax posting may appear around the same time (low confidence, one cycle observed).
How to read this page: our dates come from tracking previous recruiting cycles and daily posting data. Treat them as informed estimates based on historical patterns, not confirmed dates. The company's official careers page is always the most current source. If a role is posted there, go by that, even if this page suggests the window hasn't opened yet.
Why You Must Apply the Week Applications Open
Sensiba's hiring is rolling, and the evidence is on its own board. The deadline field is empty on all 11 internship postings, and the firm's entry on Vault says it "does not have a national application deadline" and reviews applications on a rolling basis. That cuts both ways. You haven't missed a cutoff, but there's no date that protects your seat either. Vault lists the intern class at 21 to 50 students across every track and office, and each candidate who clears the three interviews takes one of those seats. The winter 2027 tax internship is the tighter of the two, because it starts in January and the firm's own process takes two to three weeks.
Which Sensiba Internship Programs Should You Target?
Sensiba's board lists four summer 2027 tracks and one winter 2027 tax internship. Three of the summer requisitions are posted once per office, which is why five requisitions show up as 11 postings.
| Program | Focus | Location | Key skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit Intern, Summer 2027 (open) | Financial statement audits and assurance: testing, workpapers, internal-control documentation | San Jose, San Ramon, Bend (hybrid) | Accounting major, substantive testing, analytical procedures |
| Tax Intern, Summer 2027 (open) | Federal, state and local returns for individuals, partnerships and corporations; tax research | San Jose, San Ramon, Bend (hybrid) | Accounting major, return preparation, research |
| Outsourced Accounting Intern, Summer 2027 (open) | Client accounting: payables and receivables, reconciliations, month-end close, management reports | San Jose, Bend, United States (hybrid) | Excel; QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, NetSuite or Xero preferred |
| IT Risk Assurance Intern, Summer 2027 (open) | Control audits and assurance reports against SOC 1, SOC 2, ISO 27001 and HIPAA | United States (fully remote) | Accounting, IT, computer science or information systems major |
| Tax Intern, Winter 2027 (open) | Busy-season tax work on client engagements, January to April 2027, 15 to 25 hours a week | United States (fully remote) | Accounting major, return preparation, research |
Sensiba also runs a two-day Leadership Program for college sophomores exploring tax, audit and consulting. It's a campus program, not an internship, and 2027 dates aren't published. Program details are on the student opportunities page.
What Are the Eligibility Requirements?
The five live requisitions set these rules:
• Graduation window, summer 2027: audit, tax and outsourced accounting want a bachelor's or master's degree finished "between December 2027 and June 2028", so students about one year from graduating. IT Risk Assurance says "between Spring 2027 and Spring 2028".
• Graduation window, winter 2027 tax: "between December 2026 and June 2028", which covers current seniors and juniors.
• Major: audit and tax need "a major or emphasis in Accounting". Outsourced accounting accepts accounting or a related field. IT Risk Assurance accepts accounting, IT, computer science or information systems.
• GPA: "Minimum accounting GPA of 3.0 preferred" (IT Risk Assurance: major GPA of 3.0 or above preferred).
• CPA track: the audit and tax requisitions say "CA CPA eligible".
• Work authorization: the postings don't mention sponsorship. Vault's profile lists international students as not eligible.
Is the 3.0 GPA a Hard Cutoff at Sensiba?
No, by the firm's own wording. Every requisition says a 3.0 is "preferred", not required, and we found no statement of a hard screen. The graduation window is the firmer gate, since it's written as a requirement on each posting. One detail to read carefully: "CA CPA eligible" appears on the Bend, Oregon and remote postings as well, because those postings share one requisition body with the California ones. We wouldn't read it as a California residency rule. If you're unsure whether your coursework counts, ask the recruiter in the first conversation.
Profile Match · Extern Data
Could You Get In at Sensiba? Compare Your Profile
Based on 127 Big 4 audit and tax interns at the Big 4 from the classes of 2025 and 2026 (public LinkedIn profiles, aggregated). Six questions, under a minute.
Which summer are you applying for?
Recruiting timelines differ by class year, so we compare you with the right group.
Which group is your school closest to?
Firms recruit on campus in tiers. We match you against admits from schools like yours.
Is your major accounting?
Accounting is the credential the Big 4 screen for first; other business majors are less common.
How many internships, externships or research positions have you held so far?
Count anything with a real employer, mentor or principal investigator attached. Retail and food service do not count.
Has any of that experience been accounting-related?
Accounting, tax, audit or bookkeeping. A local CPA firm or a company finance department counts.
Are you in a Beta Alpha Psi, accounting society or business fraternity?
About a third of Big 4 admits were members before the offer.
Aggregated from public LinkedIn profiles of people who held the internship. No individual profile is shown. Read the full Big 4 intern profile analysis and the cross-industry study of 2,500+ intern profiles.
What Skills Does Sensiba Look For, and How Do You Build Them?
Across the five requisitions, three things appear every time: attention to detail and analytical ability, clear written and verbal communication, and motivation to learn. Four of the five ask for teamwork "to meet periodic and project-based client deadlines". The technical asks depend on the track. Audit names substantive testing, analytical procedures and workpapers. Tax names return preparation and research. Outsourced accounting names reconciliations, month-end close and Excel ("formulas, sorting, filtering, and data organization"), with QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, NetSuite or Xero preferred. IT Risk Assurance names SOC 1, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 control testing.
What Sensiba looks for in interns
Skills across 5 Sensiba intern & analyst job descriptions · live internship requisitions, October 2026
Method: full-text reading of the five Sensiba internship requisitions live on its careers board on October 11 to 12, 2026 (audit, tax, outsourced accounting and IT risk assurance for summer 2027; tax for winter 2027). Requisitions posted to several offices are counted once.
How Is Demand for Accounting Interns Moving Right Now?
Accounting intern postings · Sep vs Aug 2026
vs 362 in August
For Sensiba applicants: Sensiba's board carries five internship requisitions today, four for summer 2027 and one for winter 2027, all at $24 to $30 an hour and none with a closing date. Apply to the track that fits your graduation date this month.
Daily US job-posting counts, Sep 1–30 vs Aug 1–31, 2026. Covers under half of US postings; shows direction, not market size. Pay = median of employer-published ranges only (83 postings in September, 44 in August).
Build These Skills Before You Apply
Each Sensiba skill maps to a remote Externship that leaves you with finished work to discuss in the partner interview.
| Skill (from real JDs) | JD evidence | Externship that builds it |
|---|---|---|
| Financial statements and analytical procedures | Audit: "Conduct substantive testing and analytical procedures"; outsourced accounting: variance analysis and financial trend reporting | Yinan Zhao Investing & Financial Modeling |
| Excel and transaction data | Outsourced accounting: "Basic proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including formulas, sorting, filtering, and data organization" | Breaking Games E-Commerce Data Analysis & Strategy |
| IT controls and security frameworks | IT Risk Assurance: exposure to control auditing and SOC 1, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 | Hydroficient Advanced: IoT Cyber Defense |
| Document review and evidence | Tax: "Support the organization and maintenance of tax documents and client information" | Pfizer Advanced: AI-Powered Document Insights & Data Extraction |
The financial modeling match is the broadest: reading three financial statements is the base for audit testing, reconciliations and variance analysis alike.
What Is the Sensiba Application and Interview Process Like?
Sensiba described its process to Vault, and interns surveyed by Vault describe the same steps:
1. Apply on the careers board. Pick the posting for your track and office. The firm also posts on Handshake and recruits at Beta Alpha Psi events, accounting club meetings and meet-the-firm nights.
2. Recruiter conversation. The firm calls it "a casual screening conversation" with Talent Acquisition.
3. Team interview. An interview with two team members from the department you applied to.
4. Partner interview. A final conversation with a partner from the same department.
5. Decision. The firm says "students can expect the recruitment process to take 2-3 weeks."
Interns say each round ran about 30 minutes and focused on fit and communication, with questions like why public accounting and a time you failed and fixed it. Our behavioral interview guide covers that format.
What Interns Say on Vault
Reddit has no usable first-hand threads about Sensiba internships, so these cards come from Vault's 2026 intern survey instead.
Interns describe three rounds of about 30 minutes each: a recruiter, a senior associate and then a partner. They say the questions weren't very technical and focused on fit and communication.
The week runs a little under 30 hours: a half day of training on Monday, client work on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Thursday sessions on the industries the firm serves. Several interns call the work-life balance the best they've seen in public accounting.
Views on pay are mixed. One intern said it was the most they'd earned, while another wanted it closer to what classmates got at other firms. Some also said there wasn't always enough work for the interns.
How Do You Stand Out for a Sensiba Internship?
Three moves. First, match the posting to your graduation date. Summer 2027 wants December 2027 to June 2028 graduates, and the winter tax internship takes December 2026 to June 2028. Applying to the wrong one wastes a rolling seat. Second, prepare stories, not technical drills. Interns report fit questions in all three rounds, so have a clear answer for why public accounting and one example of a mistake you fixed. Third, use the remote tracks if you can't relocate. IT Risk Assurance and the winter tax internship are fully remote, and IT Risk Assurance takes IT and computer science majors. Sensiba doesn't publish an applicant count or a conversion rate. Interns surveyed by Vault say many of them receive full-time offers, and an Audit Associate posting for fall 2027 is on the same board.
What Other Companies Should You Consider?
Students looking at Sensiba usually compare it with other West Coast and Bay Area CPA firms.
- Frank, Rimerman + Co.Bay Area regional firm with a venture capital and technology client baseGuide →
- ArmaninoBay Area-headquartered top-25 firm with a large outsourced accounting practiceGuide →
- Moss AdamsWest Coast firm with offices in the Bay Area and OregonGuide →
- BPMSan Francisco and San Jose regional firm that recruits from the same campusesGuide →
- HCVTCalifornia regional CPA firm with tax and audit internshipsGuide →
Our Big 4 accounting and audit internships guide compares recruiting calendars across the largest firms.
FAQ
Can I still apply for a summer 2026 Sensiba internship?
No. The summer 2026 program has finished. The open doors are the next two cohorts: four summer 2027 internships in audit, tax, outsourced accounting and IT risk assurance, and a remote winter 2027 tax internship that runs January to April 2027. All five requisitions were live on Sensiba's board on October 12, 2026.
When do Sensiba internship applications open for summer 2027?
They're open now. The summer 2027 requisitions were live by early October 2026, and last cycle's summer 2026 roles were advertised around September 20, 2025. So the summer wave posts in September, about eight to nine months before a June start. Applications for summer 2028 are expected around September 2027.
Is there a deadline for the Sensiba internship?
No published deadline exists. None of the 11 internship postings carries a closing date, and Sensiba told Vault it has no national application deadline and reviews applications on a rolling basis. Rolling means seats fill as candidates finish interviews, so apply early, especially for the winter 2027 tax internship that starts in January.
How much do Sensiba interns get paid?
Every live internship requisition publishes $24 to $30 an hour. The range is the same for San Jose, San Ramon, Bend and the remote postings, and for both the summer 2027 and winter 2027 cohorts. The postings add that final offers may vary from the listed range. No housing or relocation stipend is mentioned.
What GPA do you need for a Sensiba internship?
A 3.0 accounting GPA is preferred, not required. That wording is on all five requisitions, and IT Risk Assurance asks for a 3.0 major GPA instead. The firmer rule is the graduation window: December 2027 to June 2028 for most summer 2027 tracks, and December 2026 to June 2028 for winter tax.
Is the Sensiba internship remote?
Partly. The summer 2027 IT Risk Assurance internship and the winter 2027 tax internship are fully remote. Audit, tax and outsourced accounting summer roles are hybrid out of San Jose, San Ramon or Bend. The summer requisitions also describe one on-site week at the San Jose headquarters for training and networking.
What is the Sensiba internship interview process like?
It has three conversations: a recruiter screen, an interview with two team members and an interview with a partner. The firm says the process takes two to three weeks. Interns surveyed by Vault describe 30-minute rounds focused on fit, such as why public accounting, teamwork, and a failure you fixed.
Do Sensiba interns get full-time offers?
Sensiba doesn't publish a conversion rate. Its student page says many associates are graduates of its internship and leadership programs, and interns surveyed by Vault say many receive offers. Full-time associates start the autumn after graduation, and an Audit Associate role for fall 2027 is posted on the same board today.
Sensiba's summer 2027 and winter 2027 internships are both open with no deadline, so apply while seats remain. For the interviews, a remote Externship gives you a finished financial modeling, data or security project to talk through with the partner.
About the Author
Bifei Wang has spent 17 years focused on human flow and the growth of young professionals, spanning international education, career training and coaching, and recruitment process outsourcing. Over 7 years at Extern, he has had one-on-one sessions with thousands of students exploring careers in consulting, finance, tech, marketing, and data, giving him a firsthand view of how the job market has shifted for early-career professionals and what it actually takes to break in.
