Accountant

Salary Grade: 11

The Pima County Department of Finance and Risk Management is looking for a skilled, motivated professional Accountant I to join their Financial Control and Reporting (FC&R) Division. Pima County offers many great benefits and upon successful completion of your probationary period, our Department offers an alternative work schedule as well as telecommuting, up to two days per week. The FC&R Division is responsible for compiling, issuing, and reviewing accurate and timely interim and year-end financial reports and note disclosures according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for inclusion in the County's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. We are looking for an enthusiastic, dependable, dedicated professional with a positive attitude to join our team.

What you’ll do:

• Prepare account reconciliations and analyze discrepancies.
•  Prepare accounting entries and research transactions using an automated accounting system.
• Ensure proper accounting methods and policies, accuracy, and compliance within the department and the County.
• Perform ad-hoc projects and other tasks as assigned.

• An individual with excellent analytical skills with a strong focus on accuracy and attention to detail.
• A detail-oriented individual with the ability to prioritize various critical tasks and meet deadlines and the overall goals of the division.
• An individual who demonstrates strong problem-solving abilities and a proactive approach to addressing issues.
• A team player with strong interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to establish rapport and gain the trust of others and to establish cooperative working relationships with co-workers and other County departments. 

Duties/Responsibilities

(Work assignments may vary depending on the department's needs and will be communicated to the applicant or incumbent by the supervisor.)

General Duties:

• Establishes and maintains journals and ledgers of financial transactions;
• Reviews accounts payable charges for validity and conformance to adopted budgets;
• Ensures departmental compliance with Board of Supervisor policies and Administrative Procedures;
• Authorizes payments of valid charges;
• Establishes and monitors purchasing accounting procedures;
• Bills, collects, accounts for and manages a variety of debts due;
• Posts, balances and maintains accounting records unique to departmental operations, or for multiple departments;
• Reviews accounting reports for accuracy in revenues and expenditures and makes necessary corrections;
• Reviews transactions for coding and cost accounting purposes;
• Assists in the preparation of supporting documentation for annual audits of financial reports;
• Audits and reconciles various accounting records and documentation prepared by others;
• Recommends, implements and maintains accounting internal controls;
• Researches problems and answers questions regarding accounting procedures or documentation;
• Reconciles and monitors various accounting records, reports and funds;
• Maintains equipment utilization and inventory accounting systems;
• May supervise, train and evaluate support personnel.

In addition to the General Duties cited above, positions within Finance & Risk Management may include the following:

• Reviews accounting transactions for validity, proper coding, and conformance to Generally Accepted
• Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB);
• Ensures data entered into the automated financial accounting system is processed, balanced, recorded, and reported in an accurate and timely manner at a Countywide level;
• Prepares and enters Countywide interdepartmental charges;
• Assists in the preparation of quarterly receivable collection reports that are presented to the Board of Supervisors;
• Assists with the testing of financial system upgrades and reports;
• Assists with reconciliation of the Countywide bi-weekly payroll.

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:
Knowledge of:

• financial record keeping practices;
• general governmental accounting principles, pronouncements, practices, rules, regulations and methods to include GAAP, GASB, etc.;
• County policies and procedures;
• various software programs.

• analyzing and interpreting financial and accounting records and preparing financial statements and reports;
• applying Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and County procedures to Countywide accounting transactions;
• preparing, verifying and reconciling accounting documentation;
• communicating effectively, both orally and in writing;
• training employees and scheduling work.

Minimum Qualifications

(1) A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a major in accounting, finance, economics, public or business administration or a closely related field as defined by the appointing authority at the time of recruitment.

OR:

(2) An Associate’s degree with a focus in accounting, finance, economics, public or business administration or a closely related field as defined by the appointing authority at the time of recruitment and two years of professional accounting experience.

(Relevant experience and/or education from an accredited college or university may be substituted.)

Qualifying education and experience must be clearly documented in the "Education" and "Work Experience" sections of the application. Do not substitute a resume for your application or write "see resume" on your application.

1. Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in finance or accounting.
2. Minimum two (2) years of experience/proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office Suite (with particular emphasis on Microsoft Excel). 
3. Minimum two (2) years of experience performing account reconciliations and analyzing discrepancies.
4.  Minimum two (2) years of experience in preparing accounting entries and researching transactions using an automated accounting system. 
5. Minimum two (2) years of experience working within a governmental accounting environment.
6. Minimum two (2) years of experience processing updates and changes to a fixed asset system, including manual additions, transfers, category changes, and retirements.