Principal Accountant - City of Bessemer Utilities

JobsQuest•Bessemer, AL

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Bessemer Utilities Department is seeking a Principal Accountant to provide strategic direction and oversee the department’s daily financial operations. In this role, the Principal Accountant may perform or supervise a variety of duties, including, but not limited to, maintaining accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), banking, general ledger (GL), grant, and budgetary accounts. The incumbent ensures compliance with federal, state, and local laws and guidelines, including Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) standards. The incumbent may also use Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) software to produce and support financial statements and oversee internal and external audits of financial records. Work is performed in an office setting and may involve direct supervision of staff, including Accounting Assistants, Accountants, and Senior Accountants.

Requirements

Option A: Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration.
Experience leading the accounting functions for a department or organization such as preparing general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, financial statements, payroll, or budgets.
Experience with periodic financial reporting (e.g., balance sheets, income statements, transaction process reports, daily cash reports) for oversight, compliance, and/or to fulfill legal requirements.
Option B: Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration.
Experience as a Senior Accountant in the Merit System.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in Accounting.

Responsibilities

Oversees the Accounts Payable (AP) and/or Accounts Receivable (AR) process by entering requisitions and payments, generating invoices and account statements and reconciling funds using accounting software in accordance with professional standards to maintain finances for a department or jurisdiction.
Oversees internal and external audits of financial records by acting as the point of communication, distributing audit-related tasks, and implementing changes identified during the audit consistent with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) and auditor transaction testing techniques to maintain compliance with professional standards and regulations.
Oversees the maintenance of banking records by researching banking and account information to provide recommendations to the department or jurisdiction regarding which banking institutions to utilize.
Prepares, monitors, and administers departmental or organizational budget by reviewing spending trends, expenditure reports, analyzing financial data and ensuring expenditures are within annual budgetary limits.
Performs the financial closing process at the end of an accounting period (i.e., monthly, quarterly, yearly) by analyzing account balances and performing balance sheet reconciliations to ensure compliance with federal, state and local guidelines and laws.
Oversees the maintenance of the general ledger (GL) by reviewing and approving journal entries, auditing the GL for accuracy, creating journal entries and general ledger adjustments, and reconciling the general ledger to other financial records to ensure completeness of information and compliance with federal. state and local guidelines and laws.
Oversees the maintenance and reporting of confidential governmental financial records according to federal, state, and local guidelines and laws (e.g., Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)) by reviewing financial data and reports and preparing documentation related to financial activities to ensure organizational compliance.
Monitors agencies’ use of grant funds by verifying compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) to ensure that grant funds are used for their intended purpose.
Oversees the accounting and processing of employee payroll by reviewing and reconciling payroll data and preparing reports related to payroll activities in accordance with professional standards to ensure accurate payroll calculations and compliance with federal, state and local laws and guidelines.
Engages in activities designed to ensure professional development, awareness of developments in the field, and knowledge of relevant practices, rules, laws, policies, and/or guidelines.
Prepares requests for proposals and bid specifications for the jurisdiction or department(s) by reviewing current departmental needs and budget information in order to obtain bids from vendors for products or services.
Supervises staff by assigning and distributing work, directing staff in their job duties, monitoring progress of work, providing feedback and/or training.