Premium Accountant

Aston Carter•Villa Park, IL

6d•$30 - $36•Hybrid

About The Position

The Financial Reporting Accountant - Premium Accountant role involves managing the receipt and application of premium-related payments, ensuring accurate posting, and reconciling financial records. This position supports period-end close activities, analyzes general ledger activity, and partners with accounting leadership to explain financial fluctuations and support reporting. The role also focuses on improving transparency, documenting processes, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure a consistent understanding of premium and revenue activity. A key aspect is evaluating large data sets, identifying errors, and developing recommendations for data quality improvement.

Requirements

Approximately 2 to 4 years of accounting or revenue-focused experience, ideally within a general ledger environment.
Ability to reconcile and explain differences between source system reports and data warehouse or DVR reports.
Experience supporting month-end close activities, including reconciliations, journal entries, and financial reporting.
Understanding of GAAP principles and their application within general ledger and revenue accounting.
Ability to analyze financial data, identify variances, and clearly explain drivers behind fluctuations in balances.
Comfort working across multiple systems and large data sets, with the ability to evaluate, clean, and improve data quality.
Strong Microsoft Excel skills, including advanced use of pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, formulas, and data validation.
Experience with financial reporting and financial analysis related to revenue, premiums, and cash movements.
Hands-on experience applying premiums and working with premium revenue concepts, billing, and reporting practices.
Motivation to take ownership of processes, work independently, and drive continuous improvement.
Comfort operating in a dynamic, growth-oriented environment with changing priorities and evolving structures.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or a related field is preferred.
Exposure to insurance or financial services accounting, particularly insurance premium operations, billing, and related processes.
Familiarity with premium revenue concepts, insurance billing, and reporting practices.
Experience working in a VBA-based ERP or system is a plus, including VBA programming exposure.
Experience with data warehouse reporting and the ability to interpret and reconcile data warehouse DVR reports.
Experience supporting audits or operational reviews, including preparation of documentation and reconciliations.
Exposure to process improvement or automation initiatives within accounting or revenue operations.
Experience with accruals and audit-related accounting activities.

Responsibilities

Manage the receipt and application of premium-related payments across various lines of business, ensuring timely and accurate posting.
Review incoming cash activity and validate accuracy against expected balances, investigating discrepancies and resolving issues promptly.
Coordinate payment activity, including preparation of funding requests and wire details, and ensure proper documentation of all transactions.
Upload, maintain, and reconcile paid and unpaid transaction records within internal systems to support accurate reporting.
Perform account reconciliations related to premiums, receivables, and claims balances, ensuring alignment between subledger and general ledger activity.
Investigate and resolve discrepancies between subledger activity and the general ledger, preparing journal entries and supporting schedules as needed.
Support period-end close by preparing accurate journal entries, reconciliations, and detailed tie-outs between source data and financial records.
Analyze general ledger activity tied to premium revenue and cash movements to identify trends, variances, and potential issues.
Partner with accounting leadership to explain fluctuations in balances and support monthly financial reporting and revenue recognition analysis.
Prepare summary reporting that highlights key drivers impacting revenue recognition, outstanding balances, and cash flow visibility.
Provide insight into aged receivables and unpaid premium activity to help improve forecasting and cash flow management.
Utilize system data and reports to improve transparency between transactional processing and financial outcomes, and propose data-driven solutions.
Document workflows, controls, and standard operating procedures to create clear, repeatable processes and support audit readiness.
Identify opportunities to streamline processes, improve data accuracy, and enhance efficiency within premium accounting and revenue operations.
Support internal and external audit requests by providing clear documentation, reconciliations, and explanations of account activity.
Work independently and take ownership of assigned accounts and processes, proactively driving improvements and resolving issues.
Collaborate with cross-functional partners across finance, operations, and other teams to ensure consistent understanding of premium and revenue activity.
Evaluate large data sets, identify errors or inconsistencies, correct issues, and develop recommendations to improve data quality and reporting.