Staff Accountant

JOB TITLE:
Staff Accountant

EMPLOYER:
Shelter Youth & Family Services

DEPARTMENT:
Finance

REPORTS TO:
Fractional Controller/Fiscal Manager

ABOUT SHELTER YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES

Shelter Youth & Family Services provides emergency housing, community-based services, and support for youth and families in crisis. Founded in 1975, we've grown into a leading voice for child welfare, human trafficking response, foster care innovation, and trauma-informed care in Illinois. With a current budget of $10M and ambitious plans to grow to $15M, our mission is to end the cycle of abuse and neglect by providing safe, healthy, and stable lives for children and families.

Shelter Youth & Family Services is committed to providing safe, inclusive, and supportive resources for youth and families from all backgrounds and identities. We actively strive to create an environment that supports all employees, placing value in contributions from people from diverse backgrounds, and honoring all experiences, perspectives, and unique identities. Our mission is to protect children, strengthen families, and transform communities.

Joining us in this role will give you a chance to help fulfill that mission and help the community. Shelter and its facilities are drug and smoke-free environments.

Learn more at shelter-inc.org.

Shelter Youth & Family Services encourages the application of all bilingual applicants to work with our client community. Applicants who can successfully certify their skill level in reading, speaking, and writing in two languages with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services may receive an additional salary stipend. Certification testing is set by DCFS.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Staff Accountant is a full-time member of the Finance team responsible for accurate, timely transaction processing across accounts payable, accounts receivable, foster-care payments, cash activity, and general ledger support. This is a hands-on processing role in a high-volume environment: the position enters and codes transactions, prepares reconciliations and supporting schedules for review, and produces recurring reports, while transaction approvals and payment release remain with senior finance staff and the CFO.

Working closely with the Fractional Controller/Fiscal Manager, the Director of Financial Operations, and the CFO, this position supports the month-end close calendar, accounts payable entry and coding in BILL, accounts receivable aging reporting and cash application, bank and credit card reconciliation preparation, and foster-care batch processing. The Staff Accountant has no payment-release rights; the role prepares work that senior staff review, approve, and release, maintaining clear separation of duties over high-volume financial activity.

The ideal candidate is a detail-oriented accountant who thrives on recurring high-volume workflows, cares about our mission, follows documentation standards closely, and communicates proactively across departments. This person brings a service-oriented, “no surprises” approach, meets close-calendar deadlines reliably, and helps strengthen accounting discipline, compliance, and financial visibility in support of Shelter Youth & Family Services’ mission.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Enter and code accounts payable in BILL and Quick Books, including high volumes of vendor bills and card/Divvy expense items (roughly 365 AP items per month), and route items for approval; the role does not release payments.
• Prepare the weekly foster-care payment batch from the program-approved register (child/placement , service period, rate, funding source, approver), maintain supporting documentation and the exception log, and submit the batch for two-step approval and release by authorized staff.
• Execute accounts receivable and billing support, apply cash receipts, and prepare the weekly A/R aging report (0–30 / 31–60 / 61–90 / 90+) to support collections follow-up and escalation.
• Prepare bank and credit card reconciliations for approximately seven to eight accounts (operating and restricted bank accounts, investment/money‑market accounts, Divvy, gift cards, and the organization's credit card) for Controller…