Project Accountant

Signs•Santa Maria, CA

About The Position

Join Signs of Success as our Project Accountant. Signs of Success is a commercial sign and architectural graphics company serving public and private clients throughout California. Our projects include commercial signage, architectural wayfinding systems, custom fabrication, public works installations, and construction-related sign packages. We are seeking an experienced construction accounting professional to help keep project costs, billing, payroll, certified payroll, change orders, retainage, and financial documentation accurate and visible. This role is ideal for someone who has held direct responsibility for construction project accounting, not just clerical support or general data entry. The right person can work with project managers, ownership, and admin staff to identify what is ready, missing, overdue, blocked, or at risk.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of accounting experience, including at least 3 years in construction, specialty trades, public works, general contracting, subcontracting, architecture/engineering, or a related construction business
Equivalent experience may be considered for candidates with 7+ years of direct construction accounting responsibility
Direct responsibility for project accounting functions, not only clerical support or data entry
Experience with job costing, progress billing, AP/AR, payroll review, labor coding, and project financial tracking
Experience working with project managers, estimators, owners, or operations teams to resolve billing backup, cost coding, change order, or project financial questions
Strong QuickBooks and Excel skills required

Nice To Haves

Certified payroll, prevailing wage, retainage, lien release, pre-lien, change order, or public works experience strongly preferred

Responsibilities

Track project costs including labor, materials, subcontractors, freight, equipment, and buyout items
Review AP coding and labor allocation for job-cost accuracy
Coordinate with project managers to confirm job-cost information
Track cost overruns, missing costs, and questionable charges
Prepare job-cost summaries for ownership and project managers
Prepare or support progress billing, final billing, and closeout billing
Collect billing backup such as photos, install notes, milestones, time sheets, and signed documentation
Track deposits, retainage, change order billing, and final billing requirements
Maintain billing logs and invoice status
Review AR aging and prepare collections summaries
Escalate disputes, under billing, missing backup, or collection risks
Own the payroll review and submission process
Review payroll packets prepared by bookkeeping/admin support
Confirm timecards, PTO, overtime, prevailing wage hours, and reimbursements before payroll is submitted
Review labor coding for job-cost accuracy
Run payroll after ownership approval or within approved company procedures
Maintain certified payroll and prevailing wage tracker
Review certified payroll packets, track due dates, save proof of submission, and escalate compliance questions
Track billing-related contract terms, change order status, retainage, releases, and closeout documentation
Support preliens, lien releases, and customer-required billing documents
Prepare weekly summaries showing what is ready, missing, overdue, blocked, or needing a decision
Help improve accounting, billing, payroll, job-costing, and documentation workflows