Accounting Manager

The Accounting Manager leads combined accounting operations across accounts payable, accounts receivable and collections, and grain procurement accounting, while overseeing month-end close, general ledger integrity, and continuous process improvement. This role provides hands-on leadership to a personable, intelligent team, drives technology-enabled efficiencies, and partners closely with operational and commercial stakeholders to ensure accurate, timely financial information and strong internal controls.

• Lead the combined accounting operations team spanning accounts payable, accounts receivable and collections, grain procurement accounting, and an Accountant.
• Set clear service levels and performance metrics for transactional teams to ensure work is balanced, backed up, and measurable.
• Establish and maintain cross-training across transactional teams so critical tasks are covered and continuity is maintained.
• Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching, training, and development opportunities to team members and build bench strength within the accounting function.
• Partner with grain origination, operations, and commercial teams to ensure contracts, settlements, and grain payables are recorded accurately and settled on time.
• Serve as the escalation point for vendor, customer, and producer issues that the accounting team cannot resolve independently.
• Manage the monthly financial close process, ensuring all costs incurred are properly recorded and supporting timely, accurate reporting.
• Review journal entries, account reconciliations, and reporting packages for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with policies.
• Reconcile sub-ledgers to the general ledger, resolve differences, and own key balance sheet reconciliations each month.
• Oversee daily bank and credit card reconciliations and monitor cash disbursement requests to safeguard cash activity.
• Support periodic cash forecasting to help inform financial planning and liquidity management.
• Support the preparation of quarter-end and year-end financial statements and maintain a detailed close calendar.
• Shorten the close cycle without sacrificing accuracy, tracking cycle time and reconciliation quality as ongoing measures of the function’s health.
• Lead technology-enabled process improvement projects across the accounting function from opportunity identification through design, testing, implementation, and adoption.
• Move routine transactional review toward an exception-based model by designing tolerances, thresholds, and alerts that focus attention on genuinely unusual activity.
• Drive general ledger automation, including recurring and systematic journal entries, automated reconciliation matching, and the elimination of manual spreadsheet handoffs.
• Expand the use of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power BI by partnering with internal stakeholders to replace manual reporting with self-service dashboards.
• Create and document business processes and accounting policies, and keep documentation current as processes evolve.
• Evaluate emerging finance and accounting technologies, including automation and AI-assisted tools, and present practical recommendations to Finance leadership.
• Enhance and maintain internal controls to safeguard company assets and mitigate operational and financial risk.
• Collaborate with internal and external auditors to support timely and efficient completion of audit processes.
• Assist with state, local, and federal tax filings for U.S. entities in coordination with relevant stakeholders.
• Prepare yearly insurance renewal documentation and support the broader risk management process.
• Actively contribute ideas for process improvements and future-focused initiatives to support the growth and evolution…