Senior Accountant, Property Accounting (PowerPlan)

Liberty Utilities•Litchfield Park, AZ

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Utility Property Accountant III is a senior accounting professional responsible for safeguarding the integrity, accuracy, and regulatory compliance of the Company's utility plant and fixed asset records. The role ensures utility capital investments are classified, capitalized, depreciated, retired, reconciled, and reported in accordance with FERC Uniform System of Accounts (USoA), NARUC guidance, GAAP, company accounting policies, and applicable regulatory requirements. As a member of the Fixed Asset Lifecycle team, this position provides oversight of accounting transactions supporting utility infrastructure investments and advises Engineering, Construction, Operations, Regulatory, Project Management, and Finance teams on capitalization, asset accounting, and regulatory reporting. It uses judgment to evaluate complex accounting transactions, resolve financial and operational discrepancies, and ensure plant accounting records can withstand regulatory, audit, and financial statement scrutiny.

Requirements

Working knowledge of GAAP and fixed-asset accounting.
Strong understanding of accounting reconciliations, journal entries, depreciation, capitalization, and financial close processes.
Intermediate or advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables, lookups, data analysis, and reconciliation techniques.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Ability to research accounting issues and document conclusions.
Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple deadlines.

Nice To Haves

Experience in fixed assets, property accounting, plant accounting, or a regulated utility environment.
Experience with PowerPlan.
Direct experience with FERC Uniform System of Accounts (USoA).
Experience with NARUC/state utility commission accounting requirements.
Utility experience in electric, natural gas, water, or other regulated infrastructure.
Experience accounting for CWIP, AFUDC, plant retirements, depreciation, asset transfers, and construction projects.
Experience supporting FERC or state regulatory filings and rate cases.
CPA, CMA, or progress toward a professional accounting designation.
Experience with SAP S4 Hana integrated with PowerPlan.
Knowledge of utility units of property, retirement units, mass property, and composite depreciation.

Responsibilities

Safeguard the accuracy, completeness, and compliance of the Company's utility plant accounting records and capital investments.
Record and maintain utility plant additions, retirements, transfers, adjustments, and other transactions under FERC/NARUC Uniform System of Accounts and company policies.
Review capital projects and supporting documentation to determine plant accounts, functional classification, asset class, and in-service treatment.
Establish and maintain asset records in PowerPlan, including project and asset information, plant accounts, units of property, in-service dates, cost components, depreciation attributes, and retirement information.
Ensure costs are transferred from Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) to plant in service when assets are placed in service.
Review construction and work-order activity to determine appropriate capitalization versus repair and maintenance treatment.
Process asset transfers, retirements, abandonments, disposals, and adjustments in accordance with company policy and regulatory requirements.
Ensure asset records agree with general ledger and subsidiary records.
Investigate, assess, and resolve discrepancies across PowerPlan, SAP general ledgers, project accounting records, work orders, and other source systems.
Lead reconciliations for utility plant, accumulated depreciation, CWIP, and related fixed asset balances across systems and supporting records.
Review PowerPlan depreciation calculations and investigate unusual changes.
Support asset-data cleanup and maintain the integrity and completeness of the fixed-asset database.
Calculate, review, and record depreciation and amortization in accordance with approved rates, asset lives, and regulatory requirements.
Maintain documentation supporting regulatory accounting conclusions and ensure transactions are adequately supported and auditable.
Review project costs for potential misclassification, duplicate charges, unsupported costs, and other accounting issues.
Assist with unit-of-property and retirement-unit determinations.
Support accounting treatment of AFUDC, engineering, construction, labor, materials, and other eligible capital costs under company policy and regulatory requirements.
Prepare monthly journal entries and supporting schedules for plant accounting and related accounts.
Perform monthly close activities, including reconciliations, variance analysis, depreciation review, and account analysis.
Prepare management reports and analytical schedules relating to capital expenditures, plant balances, depreciation, retirements, and CWIP.
Support FERC, state commission/NARUC, and other regulatory information requests.
Prepare schedules and supporting documentation for rate cases, regulatory audits, financial audits, and other examinations.
Maintain source documentation and a clear audit trail from source transaction through the general ledger and regulatory reporting.