Senior Accountant Details

Senior Accountant

City of Merced - Merced, CA

Employment Type : Full-Time

JOB
Class specifications are intended to present a descriptive list of the range of duties performed by employees in the class. Specifications are not intended to reflect all duties performed within the job.SUMMARY DESCRIPTIONUnder general direction, supervise, direct, and coordinate the work of assigned City finance and finance support staff; exercise day-to-day responsibility for investments and grants; perform a variety of the more complex accounting, fiscal analysis, and auditing in the preparation, maintenance, and analysis of City fiscal records and financial transactions; prepare the City's annual budget; to prepare and maintain a variety of complex financial statements and reports; perform revenue collection and; perform related work as required.DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICSThis is the advanced journey, full supervisory level in the professional Accountant class series. Incumbents supervise assigned accounting and fiscal support and perform a variety of the more complex fiscal, accounting, and auditing work, such as investments. This class is distinguished from Accountant II by being assigned full supervisory responsibility for designated staff.REPORTS TODeputy Finance Officer, Finance Officer or designee.CLASSIFICATIONS SUPERVISEDAssigned Accountants or fiscal support staff.

EXAMPLE OF DUTIES
REPRESENTATIVE DUTIESThe following duties are typical for this classification. Incumbents may not perform all of the listed duties and/or may be required to perform additional or different duties from those set forth below to address business needs and changing business practices.Plan, assign, and oversee the work of designated staff; provide training and work evaluations. Perform a variety of complex professional accounting work in the establishment and maintenance of City fiscal records; review fiscal records to ensure proper disbursement of funds. Oversee investments and grant administration and review contract fiscal administration, as needed and prepare, update, and maintain the investment recap and cash flow for investment spreadsheets. Perform periodic internal audits of accounts payable and payroll; prepare information for outside fiscal audits and provide first line contact with contract auditors, preparing and providing documentation for annual audits.Maintain a variety of ledgers and journals; coordinate the posting of journal entries, as required; review and update accounts payable, accounts receivable, journal entries and budget adjustment entries; and develop and manage the year-end accounts payable accrual process ensuring expenditures are recorded in the proper fiscal year. Maintain general ledger accounts and funds; activate, inactivate and/or set up accounts, as needed and provide daily updates on subsidiary ledgers. Maintain and balance revenue information.Prepare work papers, financial statements and various reports for Federal, State and other outside agencies as well as for internal accounting.Perform a variety of budget activities; assist with the development and control of City budget information; review and ensure proper control of budget expenditures for assigned City Departments; and verify and correct budgeted amounts for Capital Improvement Projects.Review payroll transactions for accuracy and correct posting of expenditures as necessary. Perform special financial analysis assignments. Coordinate the balancing of City cash accounts with banks and reconcile problem accounts.Review and post daily cash batches.Prepare disbursement processing including the printing of accounts payable and payroll checks and recording cash transactions; prepare bank issues to be uploaded into the bank websites.Perform verification of draft financial audit reports and adjust entries after verification, as requested in audit reports.Coordinate, oversee, and prepare the City's annual budget.Coordinate all internal fund calculations.Coordinate, oversee, and prepare the City's 5-year forecast.Reconcile, maintain, and process payments for City debt service. Provide City staff with a variety of information regarding fiscal processes and procedures; assist other departments with cash receipt batches, requests for information, and run queries and reports to obtain information.Serve as a liaison with other government agencies, auditors, and the public; handle customer disputes. Research and resolve accounting or procedural issues within the finance department and other departments; recommend or implement changes in accounting systems and procedures. Oversee the month-end-close process including the review of month end journal vouchers and reports prepared by accounts payable and general ledger staff.Review, update, and post fixed assets and corresponding journal vouchers.Prepare and/or review the year-end journal entry adjustments including physical inventory, interest income accrual, debt service, fixed assets, depreciation expenses, and others.Prepare reports for monthly, quarterly, and fiscal year closing.Oversee and monitor collection efforts including reviewing and moving files to collection agencies.Review and prepare requests for payment for vendors and finance department expenses and review and sign purchase orders.Perform related duties as required.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
QUALIFICATIONSThe following generally describes the knowledge and ability required to enter the job and/or be learned within a short period of time in order to successfully perform the assigned duties.Knowledge of: General accounting theory, principles, and practices and their application to a variety of accounting transactions and problems.Methods and practices of financial and statistical record keeping.Government cost accounting and budgeting.Public agency investment practices and legal requirements.Auditing theory, principles, and techniques and their application to government finance.Principles of account classification.Budget development and control.Principles of supervision, training, and employee evaluation. Principles and techniques of public relations and customer service.The collection and bankruptcy processes.Methods and techniques of data collection, research and analysis.Principles of business letter writing and report preparation.English usage, spelling, grammar and punctuation.Office procedures, methods, and equipment including computers and applicable software applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, and databases.Ability to: Provide supervision, training, and work evaluations for assigned staff.Exercise day-to-day responsibility for investments and the fiscal administration of grants.Perform a variety of complex accounting and financial transaction work.Work with and utilize the City's computerized financial management, payroll, and utility billing systems in performing a variety of fiscal work.Analyze and evaluate financial information, researching and gathering appropriate information to resolve problems.Monitor and update fiscal records.Prepare a variety of financial reports and statements.Gather, organize, analyze, and present a variety of information and make recommendations.Read and understand codes, statutes, policies, procedures and information related to financial and statistical record keeping work.Make mathematical calculations quickly and accurately.Effectively represent the City and City Finance Department in contacts with the public, other City staff, and other government agencies.Apply auditing principles to ensure the best possible internal controls to all financial processes.Accomplish multiple tasks simultaneously.Interpret data to prepare reports.Provide guidance to other City staff.Operate office equipment including computers and supporting word processing, spreadsheet, anddatabase applications.Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing.Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.Education and Experience Guidelines - Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be: Education/Training: A Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in accounting, business administration or a related field.Experience: Three years of professional accounting experience, including two years of experience with a government agency and one year of experience as a functional supervisor.License or Certificate: Possession of an appropriate California Driver License.PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORKING ENVIRONMENTThe conditions herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential job functions.Environment: Work is performed in an office environment; continuous contact with staff and the public.Physical: Frequently stand and walk; sit for extended periods; normal manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination; lift and move objects weighing up to 25 pounds; corrected hearing and vision to normal range; verbal communication; and use of office equipment, including computers, telephones, calculators, copiers, and FAX.