Accounts Payable Specialist

Impel•City of Syracuse, NY

16d

About The Position

The Accounts Payable Specialist owns end-to-end invoice-to-payment integrity across multiple entities, by processing, verifying, and reconciling invoices, monitoring expenses, and keeping a record of it all for tax purposes. You will exercise independent judgment to assess payment priorities, resolve vendor and invoice discrepancies, evaluate contractor classification accuracy, and drive continuous improvement of AP workflows and controls. You will serve as a critical checkpoint between financial obligations and actual disbursements, and your independent analysis and decision-making directly shapes the accuracy of Impel's financial reporting. This role is ideal for someone who identifies problems before they compound, drives issues to resolution without prompting, and takes genuine ownership of compliance outcomes.

Requirements

2+ years of professional experience
Proficient with excel
Vendor and customer reconciliations experience
Strong communication skills

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in accounting preferred

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary decision-maker for vendor invoice discrepancies - independently analyzing root causes, determining appropriate corrective action, and driving resolution end-to-end.
Audit vendor invoices against contracts, independently identifying discrepancies and initiating corrective action with internal teams and vendors; responsible for ensuring credits are issued and confirmed by the vendor following resolution.
Proactively identify changes to AP and vendor approval workflows and independently streamline routing to improve efficiency and reduce processing risk.
Compile and evaluate weekly AP payment batches across multiple entities, assessing payment priorities, cash flow implications, and disbursement sequencing prior to manager approval.
Execute approved disbursements from Sage to bank with a full audit trail, ensuring accuracy and completeness of all payment records.
Reconcile AP, credit cards, and other balance sheet accounts to the subledger monthly; independently investigate variances, determine root cause, and report findings and recommended resolution to management.
Partner with internal and external business stakeholders monthly to evaluate and determine necessary accruals and adjustments impacting the income statement, ensuring all accruals are captured accurately at month end.
Own the full 1099 contractor lifecycle, including ongoing evaluation of vendor classification accuracy throughout the year, proactive identification of misclassification risks, and ensuring compliant, timely year-end filings.
Maintain documentation and audit trails supporting 1099 compliance, and serve as the internal subject matter expert for contractor payment.
Develop and maintain standard operating procedures and controls documentation for AP functions, ensuring consistency and audit readiness across all entities.
Perform various account analyses and reconciliations as determined by management, applying independent analytical judgment to surface insights and recommendations.
Support additional finance and accounting initiatives as business needs evolve.