I am trying to find an appropriate title for a talented accountant with 4 years experience in the mortgage industry

Lead Accountant

Please be advised that the title you select will be associated with a salary band, published by multiple sources. Opposite extremes - an Accounting Clerk has one salary band and a Chief Accounting Officer has another. I often use as a resource the Robert Half Salary Guide series. For your needs I recommend the "2015 Salary Guide Accounting & Finance." You will see multiple titles with multiple salary bands.

If you move right to choosing a title, don't be surprised to have a conversation with the individual two weeks later. "I have done a little research and I see that with my new title, I am underpaid."

The title needs to be commensurate to the responsibilities associated with the role. Is the role a non-management, management, partner track? Does your organization have room for employees to grow and does the selected title provide room for that growth? Evaluate the compensation range for the role and then select from titles commensurate to that range of compensation and responsibilities.

You could always ask them what title they would like. It's interesting to see how someone see's themselves.

On the other hand, you can say "pick one of these titles", but beware of the Cesar syndrome (okay a Planet of the Apes reference)

Use this as an opportunity to break out or segregate your "Accountant" roles/levels. Accountant 1 , 2, 3 or whatever you wish. Of course the paygrade follows the levels.

What does their job description say?

I like Wayne's approach of asking them what they would be happy with as long as it represents their actual job duties.