Senior Accountant, Property Accounting (PowerPlan)

Liberty Utilities•Downey, CA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Utility Property Accountant III serves as 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 is accountable for ensuring utility capital investments are properly 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 key member of the Fixed Asset Lifecycle team, this position provides oversight of accounting transactions supporting substantial utility infrastructure investments and serves as a trusted advisor to Engineering, Construction, Operations, Regulatory, Project Management, and Finance teams on capitalization, asset accounting, and regulatory reporting requirements. The role exercises significant judgment in evaluating complex accounting transactions, resolving financial and operational discrepancies, and ensuring the Company's plant accounting records can withstand regulatory, audit, and financial statement scrutiny.

Requirements

Preferably in fixed assets, property accounting, plant accounting, or a regulated utility environment.
Working knowledge of GAAP and fixed-asset accounting.
Strong understanding of accounting reconciliations, journal entries, depreciation, capitalization, and financial close processes.
Advanced or intermediate 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 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 professional accounting designation.
Experience with SAP S4 Hana system integrated with PowerPlan
Knowledge of utility units of property, retirement units, mass property, and composite depreciation.

Responsibilities

Serve as a steward of the Company's utility plant accounting records, ensuring utility assets and capital investments are accounted for accurately, completely, and in compliance with regulatory and accounting requirements.
Record and maintain utility plant additions, retirements, transfers, adjustments, and other transactions in accordance with the FERC/NARUC Uniform System of Accounts and Company accounting policies.
Review capital projects and support documentation to determine appropriate plant accounts, functional classification, asset class, and in-service treatment.
Establish and maintain asset records in PowerPlan, including project/asset information, plant accounts, units of property, in-service dates, cost components, depreciation attributes, and retirement information.
Ensure costs are properly transferred from Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) to plant in service when the asset is placed in service.
Review construction and work-order activity for 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 the Company's general ledgers and support subsidiary records.
Investigate, assess and resolve complex discrepancies between PowerPlan, the SAP general ledgers, project accounting records, work orders, and other source systems.
Lead reconciliation activities supporting utility plant, accumulated depreciation, CWIP, and related fixed asset balances across PowerPlan, SAP, project accounting systems, and supporting records.
Review PowerPlan depreciation calculations and investigate unusual or unexpected changes.
Support periodic asset-data cleanup and ensure the integrity and completeness of the fixed-asset database.
Calculate, review, and record depreciation and amortization in accordance with approved depreciation 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, or other accounting issues.
Assist with unit-of-property and retirement-unit determinations when required.
Support the accounting treatment of AFUDC, engineering, construction, labor, materials, and other eligible capital costs in accordance with Company policy and applicable 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 related 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.
Ensure plant accounting records are supported by appropriate source documentation and maintain a clear audit trail from source transaction through the general ledger and regulatory reporting.