AP/AR SPECIALIST

City of Pontiac•Pontiac, MI

4h•Onsite

About The Position

The Accounts Payable / Accounts Receivable Specialist is responsible for ensuring accuracy, integrity, and compliance in the City's day-to-day payment and collection activities. This position is the City's first line of defense against duplicate payments, fraudulent invoices, unauthorized charges, and processing errors — and the first point of contact for vendors and customers resolving account issues. This role requires a "trust but verify" mindset. Strong candidates approach every invoice and transaction with healthy skepticism, ask questions before processing, investigate discrepancies rather than working around them, and treat their review of each payment as personal accountability for accuracy. The City's financial credibility depends on this function being done well. The position is approximately 75% Accounts Payable and 25% Accounts Receivable. The Specialist works closely with department heads, vendors, customers, and the Senior Accountant, and supports month-end close, year-end close, and annual audit activities. While deep governmental accounting experience is not required, candidates must bring strong AP/AR fundamentals, an investigative mindset, and the willingness to learn municipal finance nuances on the job.

Requirements

Associate degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or related field required.
Two to five years of hands-on accounts payable experience required.
Accounts receivable experience required.
Strong working knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) as applied to AP and AR transactions.
Knowledge of internal controls, segregation of duties, and fraud prevention practices in a payment processing environment.
Working knowledge of purchase order workflows, three-way matching, and contract compliance.
Familiarity with month-end and year-end close procedures.
Proficiency with financial ERP systems required.
Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, including sorting, filtering, pivot tables, and VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP functions.
Proficiency with Microsoft Word and Outlook.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, particularly for professional correspondence with vendors, customers, department heads, and auditors.
Strong organizational skills and ability to manage high transaction volumes without sacrificing accuracy.
Investigative mindset. Ability to examine invoices, statements, and supporting documentation critically; to ask the right questions before processing; and to identify discrepancies, errors, or suspicious transactions that others might miss.
Professional skepticism. Willingness to push back on incomplete or improperly documented payment requests, including requests from senior staff or department heads, while maintaining professional working relationships.
Ability to interpret financial data, identify trends, and explain findings clearly.
Ability to maintain accuracy and attention to detail when processing high volumes of transactions.
Ability to handle confidential financial and vendor information with discretion.
Ability to work collaboratively with City departments, vendors, customers, and the public while representing the Finance Department professionally.
Ability to work independently and prioritize competing deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree preferred.
Minimum one year accounts receivable experience preferred.
Government or public-sector experience preferred but not required.
Experience with BS&A (the City's finance system) is preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

Review vendor invoices for accuracy, completeness, appropriate approvals, and consistency with purchase orders, contracts, and supporting documentation before processing for payment.
Perform three-way matching of purchase orders, receiving documents, and invoices; investigate and resolve any discrepancies before payment is released.
Identify and prevent duplicate payments, suspicious invoice patterns, vendor impersonation attempts, ACH fraud, and other payment fraud indicators; escalate concerns to the Finance Director or Senior Accountant.
Verify vendor legitimacy by working with the Compliance Team before processing payments to new vendors, including W-9 collection, tax ID validation, and verification against the City's vendor master file.
Process vendor payments via check and ACH, in accordance with payment terms and the City's cash management practices.
Reconcile vendor statements monthly and resolve outstanding items before processing additional payments.
Respond to vendor inquiries promptly and professionally, resolving billing and payment issues while maintaining the City's vendor relationships.
Support the annual external audit by preparing AP-related schedules, pulling supporting documentation for sampled transactions, and responding to auditor requests.
Maintain and reconcile the accounts receivable ledger; ensure all receipts are posted accurately and timely.
Generate and distribute customer invoices in accordance with city policies and contractual obligations.
Prepare aging reports and identify overdue accounts requiring collection activity.
Assess customer credit history, evaluate risk, and recommend credit limits or payment terms where applicable.
Investigate and resolve billing disputes and payment discrepancies.
Support collection efforts on delinquent accounts, including communication with customers and coordination with the Deputy Finance Director and the Treasury Team on escalated matters.
Analyze AP/AR data to identify trends, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies; recommend process improvements to the Deputy Finance Director or Finance Director.
Prepare and distribute periodic reports, including aging reports, payment status summaries, and vendor spend analyses.
Propose and help implement internal control improvements where weaknesses are identified.
Support month-end close activities including accruals, cutoff testing, vendor statement reconciliation, and prepaid expense analysis.
Support year-end close and external audit preparation, including schedule preparation, documentation pulls, and responses to auditor inquiries.
Ensure all activities comply with the City's internal controls, purchasing policies, and applicable regulations.
Maintain organized records in accordance with records retention and public records requirements.
Perform other duties as assigned by the Deputy Finance Director.