STAFF ACCOUNTANT (REPOST)

CITY OF FAIRBURN•Fairburn, GA

27d•$57,860 - $60,753•Onsite

About The Position

The City of Fairburn is seeking a detail-oriented and professional Staff Accountant to support our financial operations. This role involves maintaining accurate fiscal records, ensuring compliance with governmental accounting standards, and assisting in the preparation of the City’s annual budget and audits. This position ensures financial transactions, records, statements, and reports comply with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), ensures accounting records on assigned properties are properly documented, and oversees the remittance and reconciliation of all legislated property taxes and/or performs technical and analytical duties in the budgetary process, providing detailed and complex analysis of City government and other operating and capital budgets. Reports to the Finance Director.

Requirements

Requires a Bachelors’ degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Finance, Accounting, Economics (or equivalent); supplemented by supplemented by three (3) years of related experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience in finance, accounting, or related field.
Valid State of Georgia driver's license.
Requires an acceptable general background check to include a local and state criminal history check, an acceptable driving record, and possessing a satisfactory credit history.
Knowledge of the modern principles and practices of public finance administration with particular emphasis on generally accepted accounting principles and standards that apply to governmental accounting and reporting.
Knowledge of principles and practices of preparing, distributing and collecting tax bills.
Knowledge of practices and procedures established by the Government Finance Officer's Association (GFOA), Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) and other appointed boards and professional standards organizations.
Ability to interpret which guidelines apply to given situations.
Knowledge of or ability to learn policies and procedures of the City.
Skill in preparing, analyzing, and interpreting a variety of financial documents and reports.
Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel); Skill in use of Excel (e.g., Formulas, Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP, other functions, charts, tables).
Ability to organize and analyze data from multiple sources and prepare reports, narratives, statistical charts and other documents.
Ability to work independently and meet assigned schedules and deadlines.
Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing.
Ability to maintain accurate and accessible records.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with co-workers, City officials, and the general public.
Ability to interact effectively with senior leadership, department personnel, and others with tact and diplomacy.
Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with vendors, coworkers, management, and other individuals in contact during the course of work.

Nice To Haves

Municipal or governmental accounting experience strongly preferred.
Experience with ERP system a plus.
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) desirable.
Certified Local Government Finance Officer (CLGFO) desirable.

Responsibilities

Maintains the general ledger, codes invoices, sets up new accounts, and reconciles accounts.
Reconciles bank accounts, verifies deposits, and addresses inquiries from banks.
Reconciles cash disbursement accounts, payroll, customer accounts, and other financial accounts; manages accounts receivable collections.
Verifies and/or completes payment of invoices associated with accounts payable and ensures payments are charged to the appropriate accounts.
Performs account reconciliations, monitor and analyze department financial activities and operations for accuracy, and provide recommendations for improvement or resolution.
Develops procedures to maintain the integrity of the general ledger and subsidiary accounting systems.
Maintains the Property Tax Billing and Collection System in accordance with City policies and procedures and accurately accounts for all property tax revenue.
Prepares and distributes property tax bills to all property owners in the City who are eligible to pay property taxes.
Identifies problems and errors in the Property Tax System and assists in promptly rectifying them.
Maintains an accurate, up-to-date inventory of property in the City and property owners eligible to pay taxes; works with the County in maintaining the property tax inventory.
Monitors all past-due accounts and takes prompt collection action in accordance with City policy.
Works with property owners to quickly, courteously, and accurately resolve property tax problems.
Maintains a complete, accurate and up-to-date set of property tax records and prepares timely reports on property tax matters.
Reviews purchase orders and encumbrances; validates justifications, authorizations, budget availability and accuracy of coding.
Makes budget fund transfers between line items to meet encumbrances and expenses within approved guidelines and limits.
Participates in and monitors the annual capital budget.
Prepares, reviews, and analyzes Capital Improvement Project (CIP) budgets.
Reviews grant revenues and expenditures on a periodic basis for reasonableness and compliance with grant regulations.
Gathers, analyzes, prepares, and summarizes recommendations for financial plans, trended future requirements and annual operating forecasts and capital budgets.
Drafts correspondence such as financial notices, form letters, payments, accounting documents and ensures proper and accurate backup information accompanies related files and records; responds to phone calls; assists citizens, vendors or businesses with questions or complaints, and explains policies and procedures, resolves discrepancies.
Prepares and maintains complex financial and statistical reports related to budgetary obligations and expenditures and projections.
Prepares, provides, and responds to requests and inquiries regarding financial, expenditure, revenue/fund status, appropriation transfers, supplemental appropriations, and variance reports to management to enable financial and budgetary monitoring and control.
Monitors debt to include maintaining files, assuring timely payments are made, assisting with new debt arrangements, assuring compliance with continuing disclosure requirements, and providing oversight for sinking funds.
Serve as a financial resource to other City departments.
Recommends improvements to policies and procedures to ensure compliance with accounting practices, laws and regulations, audit financial records for completeness and conformance to policies and procedures.
Works with the Finance Director to assess internal and external trends and issues, revenue sources, expenditure requirements, service demands and other relevant matters and facilitate development of long-term fiscal strategies.
Answers questions and provides information to City employees, taxpayers, and interested agencies, firms, individuals and businesses, pertaining to tax billing and collecting activities, in accordance with City policies.
Audits accounts, as necessary, to assure proper collection of property taxes, and ensures the accuracy of both the bills and the collections.
Assists with the preparation of documents for annual audits and tax filing processes.
Prepares journal entries and maintains accuracy of general ledger records.
Remain current with relevant changes in accounting standards and state and local laws, and legislation that may impact the City budget and finances.
Attends and participates in training sessions, meetings and conferences, as directed.
Performs other related duties as assigned.