Financial Services Specialist

City of Yakima•City Hall, WA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The City of Yakima Finance Division seeks an energetic, motivated team player with a strong bookkeeping or accounting background. Under general supervision, the Financial Services Specialist performs responsible, moderately complex financial recordkeeping and related clerical tasks. The role involves operating office and specialized equipment, exercising independent judgment to resolve unusual problems and interpret moderately complex guidelines and regulations, and ensuring work is timely and consistent with applicable federal, state, and local guidelines. Other related duties may be assigned. The position serves the public and City departments while processing and maintaining financial records, invoices, payments, cash receipts, deposits, payroll records, utility bills, travel authorizations, assessments, and account reconciliations. It also prepares reports and documents, assists with discrepancies and audits, and may train new employees. Work is performed primarily in an office environment and may involve contact with irate, upset, or disturbed customers. Applicants must provide sufficient education and work history in the application for the City to evaluate their qualifications; resumes are not accepted in lieu of application fields, and required additional documents must be attached. For experience calculations, one year equals 12 months with at least 173.33 hours per month.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent.
At least 18 months of business financial recordkeeping, bookkeeping, and/or accounting experience; completion of a technical/vocational, associate's, or bachelor's degree in accounting, business, or a related field may substitute for the work experience.
Knowledge of modern office practices and procedures; moderately complex business arithmetic; clerical, accounting, and bookkeeping principles and practices; the State of Washington BARS accounting system; and records-retention policies and procedures.
Thorough knowledge of applicable federal, state, and local laws and City policies and procedures.
Knowledge of techniques for communicating moderately complex or technical information in writing and verbally to diverse audiences.
Working knowledge of spreadsheets, databases, industry applications, Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, and Excel), office equipment, and computerized municipal financial management practices.
Clear and effective written and verbal communication, including appropriate business and plain English, grammar, vocabulary, letter composition, editing, spelling, and punctuation.
Ability to operate standard office equipment and enter information into a computer system accurately and at the required speed.
Ability to perform and understand mathematical computations, maintain financial records, apply moderately complex guidelines to varied situations, and resolve issues using initiative and independent judgment.
Ability to work independently under general instruction; manage multiple tasks and changing priorities within strict timelines and stressful conditions; maintain attention to detail; and work under time pressure.
Strong analytical and organizational skills.
Ability to provide excellent customer service and maintain effective, courteous working relationships with employees and members of the public from diverse backgrounds and with differing opinions.
Ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing, and handle sensitive and confidential information in accordance with City and state disclosure guidelines.
Ability to receive feedback positively and take direction.
Regular, reliable, and punctual attendance.

Responsibilities

Greet the public by phone or in person, provide information about the work unit, route calls and visitors, resolve standard requests or issues, and take messages and complaints.
Establish and maintain computerized and manual records in accordance with retention policies; compile and prepare documents and reports; prepare reports, letters, and fiscal documents; and proofread and correct errors.
Receive, review, sort, and process mail, invoices, receipts, purchase orders, disbursement requests, statements, travel authorizations, and other documents.
Verify merchandise receipt and audit computations and entries for accuracy, including credits, taxes, freight charges, and discounts; match vendors and invoices to purchase orders; and charge expenditures to the proper Budget Account Number.
Contact vendors and departments to reconcile or resolve discrepancies, and prepare requisitions as necessary.
Issue accounts payable warrants or checks with explanations of items paid.
Maintain time, attendance, and payroll records, and verify time usage and accruals.
Monitor bank account balances and, with authorization, deposit funds to maintain sufficient operating balances.
Receive cash transmittals from other departments; balance, receipt, record, and post them to appropriate accounts; and help identify and correct discrepancies.
Receive, process, enter, audit, and track documents, transmittals, and information.
Balance daily cash received, process bank deposits, maintain records, and prepare reports and spreadsheets as needed.
Maintain contact with other departments to share information and solve problems; provide technical assistance and support; and provide information to auditors as needed.
Receive and verify travel authorizations, including costs and required signatures, then process and file them.
Receive, verify, and process telephone, gas, electric, outside utility, cellular phone, scanner 911, and other utility bills.
Balance money received by departments and daily cash by cashier and revenue type; issue receipts; and post totals to ledgers or a computer terminal.
Maintain ledgers for daily bank deposits; reconcile accounts and prepare reports.
Issue authorized electronic fund transfers and refund checks; reconcile warrant register books for warrants issued and redeemed; and, when authorized, sign on City bank accounts.
Administer Local Improvement District assessments, including preparing publication notices, establishing accounts, providing account balances, and notifying property owners about delinquent accounts and payment alternatives.
Maintain billing accounts, issue statements, calculate amounts due and applicable interest, penalties, late charges, or replacement costs, post and verify payments, and maintain associated records and files.
Explain policies and procedures to the public, taxpayers, vendors, departments, auditors, and others, including when serving as a witness or in other venues.
May train new employees, monitor their work, ensure accurate and timely task completion, and make corrections as needed.
Operate office and specialized equipment, including computers, calculators, copy machines, cash registers, fax machines, and scanners.
Maintain regular, reliable, and punctual attendance and perform other related duties as assigned.