Accounting Specialist

Position: ACCOUNTING SPECIALIST
The City of Helena is an equal opportunity employer. The City shall, upon request, provide reasonable accommodations to otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities.

Job Purpose:

Under the direction of the Controller/Treasurer, this position is responsible for assisting with daily, monthly, and annual accounting tasks in conformance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Provides support with general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable, fixed asset, payroll, and banking transactions.

Provides fiscal analysis and prepares financial data and reports for the Finance Department and other departments within the city.

This position may be recommended to advance to the Accountant position if specific milestones are achieved.

Essential Duties:
These job functions are the essential duties of the position and are not all-inclusive of all the duties the incumbent may be assigned.

60% Accounting Tasks:

Review and verify accounts receivable transactions and post to the General Ledger on a daily basis.

Cross train and assist Accounts Receivable and Payable functions as needed to ensure timely recognition of revenue and expenditures.

Gather and analyze capital outlay data from the financial system and prepare work papers for review and posting to the fixed asset system.

Update fixed asset system on a monthly basis.

Reconcile assigned balance sheet accounts on a monthly basis.

Prepare schedules and work papers for the monthly bank reconciliation.

Cross-train to function as back up to other accounting and finance staff as needed.

Prepare monthly investment allocation journal entry to apply earned interest to funds

Review utility and permitting data on a daily/weekly/monthly basis to ensure receivables are posting as expected and ties to source documents/modules.

Assist with annual inventory counts and analysis.

Assist with payroll processing by reviewing status changes to ensure employee records are updated accurately prior to payroll cycle.

While this position is not expected to perform at the Payroll Specialist level, this position may be called upon to cross train with payroll functions as assigned.

20% Financial Analysis:

Analyze financial data and prepare adjusting journal entries as needed.

Gather and analyze statistical metrics for the annual financial report. Update financial schedules.

Reconcile loan receivables on a monthly basis to the general ledger. Analyze payment information to tax files.

Prepare and enter monthly internal overhead allocations and inter-department transfer journal entries according to the approved budget and reconcile on a monthly basis.

Assist with preparation of schedules and work papers for the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.

Assist with preparing work papers and gathering information for the annual audit.

20% Other

Scan and file accounting transactions to journal entry detail.

Cross trains with other accounting and finance staff to ensure duties are completed accurately and timely.

Participates in special projects as assigned which may include fiscal analysis, forecasting, and feasibility analysis.

May be called upon to assist with annual assessment analysis and updates and provide customer service to taxpayers with their assessment questions.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Essential Knowledge,

Skills and Abilities

Related to this Position:

Knowledge of:

* Customer service skills including active listening and problem solving

* The principles, methods, and practices of accounting according to GAAP

* Strong organizational skills

* Learn and become highly functional in several major modules of the City's accounting software

* Intermediate use of Microsoft Office products, including Excel, Word, and Power Point

* Knowledge of federal and state laws or ability to research and familiarize self as related to position duties.

Skill or ability to:

* Ability to research and apply City, State, and Federal laws, rules, policies, procedures, and applicable methods for compliance;

* Work proficiently to create, maintain, and modify Excel spreadsheets used in the accounting, financial reporting, and audit processes;

* Communicate effectively…