Accounts Payable Administrative Aide - Recreation & Parks, Bureau of Administrative Services

Howard County Government Job Posting

Howard County Government is seeking outstanding individuals to join their team and contribute to excellence in operations. This position offers competitive compensation and benefits including medical, retirement, and wellness programs.

Position Summary: Provide administrative and clerical support for all accounts payable aspects for the Department of Recreation & Parks. Starting salary hiring range: $24.59 - $26.89 ($51,139 - $55,938).

This is a classified position, meaning that it is a part of the Howard County Classified Service upon completion of a probationary period of at least six (6) months. This position falls within a collective bargaining unit and is represented by AFSCME Local 3085, Local 3888, or Local 1810.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Accounts Payable and Financial Processing:

• Process department-wide payments in SAP, including parked documents and employee expense claims (Trips); track payment status and maintain accurate records.
• Review, analyze, and reconcile financial data, forms, and documents for completeness and accuracy.
• Respond to telephone and email inquiries from contractors, coordinators, and managers regarding payment status in SAP.
• Review and resolve complex discrepancies between invoices and service contract terms with department staff.
• Liaise with the Office of Finance, Purchasing, third-party payment vendors, and the SAP Team regarding payment status, contract specifications, and accounting updates.

Contracts and Vendor Management:

• Request and track required vendor documentation (e.g., W-9, Vendor Information Forms) for new and existing vendors in SAP.
• Manage department-wide service provider contracts, including reviewing agreements and amendments, assigning contract numbers, and ensuring alignment between contract terms and invoices.
• Create and maintain contract summary spreadsheets to track invoices and spending.
• Oversee contract compliance and provide guidance to coordinators on contract updates or amendments impacting Accounts Payable.

Procurement Cards:

• Perform monthly review and reconciliation of procurement (PDQ) cards, ensuring compliance with Department of Finance and Purchasing policies.

Cash Handling:

• Process fund requests; balance and maintain funds monthly.
• Support Department of Finance auditors during audits of fund accounts.

Training and Compliance:

• Assist the Accounts Payable Supervisor in the support and training of new employees on the PDQ User's Guidelines, Service contract policies/procedures, and invoice submission procedures.

Administrative and Operational Support:

• Maintain organized files and documentation for all financial and contract-related activities.
• Assist with records retention and file storage in accordance with Records Management guidelines.
• Serve as primary backup to the Accounts Payable Supervisor, including monitoring the Accounts Payable email inbox.
• May be designated as an essential employee during emergencies based on operational needs with responsibility for maintaining critical Accounts Payable and procurement card (PDQ) functions and ensuring timely completion of required financial processing, reconciliation, and payment activities.
• Other related duties may be assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities: This job has no supervisory responsibilities.

Minimum Required Education/Experience

Associate degree and two (2) years of experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience. Preferred education, knowledge, skills, and abilities:

• SAP knowledge and experience.
• Working knowledge of Excel and Word.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

Physical demands and work environment:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear.
• The employee frequently is required to sit and use hands to touch, handle, or feel.
• The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, and reach with hands and arms.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus.

Work environment: The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet.

Language Skills, Mathematical Skills, and Reasoning Ability

Language skills:

• Ability to read and comprehend simple instructions, short correspondence, and memos.
• Ability to write simple correspondence.
• Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to customers, clients, and other employees of the organization.

Mathematical skills:

• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent, and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

Reasoning ability:

• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed but uninvolved written or oral instructions.
• Ability to deal with problems involving a few concrete variables in standardized situations.

Additional Information

To apply, you must complete an employment application online to be considered for this recruitment. Resumes cannot be substituted for completion of the job application work history. No paper applications will be accepted.

Selected candidates may be subject to drug screening, background screening, and reference checks.

At time of application, please submit a copy of any college degree, coursework, licenses, or certifications that you have referenced on your application. Applicants who have education obtained outside of the U.S. may need to provide proof of the equivalent U.S. education as determined by a foreign credential evaluation service.

Howard County Government is not sponsoring employees in application of the H-1B Visa or providing an extension of an existing H-1B Visa. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

Howard County is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, and we are committed to a workplace that values diversity, equity, and inclusion. The County prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, ancestry, creed, national origin, disability status, genetics, marital status, military service, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Applicants requiring accommodations during the hiring process should contact the Office of Human Resources directly at View email address on click.appcast.io. Requests for accommodations should not be attached to the application.