Accountant

Accountant Position

The Accountant position performs professional accounting, financial reporting, reconciliation, and internal-control duties in support of the municipality's financial operations. The position maintains general ledger accounts, prepares journal entries and financial reports, reconciles financial records, assists with monthly and fiscal year-end closing, and prepares documentation for the annual financial audit. This position also serves as a designated backup for payroll, accounts payable, cash receipts, and routine purchasing functions. Backup responsibilities are performed when the primary employee is unavailable, during periods of increased workload, or as otherwise assigned. All duties are performed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, governmental accounting standards, applicable laws and regulations, municipal policies, and established internal controls. The position requires sound professional judgment, attention to detail, the ability to meet recurring deadlines, and the ability to safeguard confidential financial, payroll, banking, employee, purchasing, and vendor information. Work is performed under the general supervision of the Assistant Director of Finance or other designated supervisor. The set starting range for this position is $66,368.00 to $69,049.00 annually.

The Town of Blacksburg is an EEO Employer M/F/D/V

Essential Functions

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable an individual with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

General Accounting

• Maintains general ledger accounts and supporting financial records in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and applicable governmental accounting standards.
• Prepares and posts recurring, correcting, adjusting, accrual, allocation, reclassification, and year-end journal entries.
• Reviews journal entries and other financial transactions for accuracy, completeness, supporting documentation, proper account classification, and required authorization.
• Reconciles general ledger accounts, subsidiary ledgers, bank accounts, investment accounts, pooled cash accounts, receivables, liabilities, payroll accounts, and other assigned financial records.
• Researches and resolves accounting discrepancies, posting errors, unreconciled transactions, unusual balances, and differences between subsidiary systems and the general ledger.
• Reviews revenues, expenditures, transfers, receivables, liabilities, and fund balances for proper accounting treatment and fiscal-year recognition.
• Assists with monthly and fiscal year-end closing procedures, including account analysis, accruals, cutoff procedures, reconciliations, and preparation of closing workpapers.
• Monitors assigned funds, departments, grants, capital projects, and special programs for appropriate accounting treatment, budgetary compliance, and financial reporting.
• Reviews financial transactions for compliance with adopted budgets, municipal policies, grant requirements, contracts, and other applicable restrictions.
• Assists departments with account coding, budget availability, transaction research, financial system corrections, and interpretation of accounting procedures.
• Prepares financial analyses, account schedules, reconciliations, and management reports as assigned.
• Assists with the development, documentation, and implementation of accounting policies, procedures, and internal controls.

Financial Reporting and Audit Support

• Assists with the preparation of interim and annual financial statements and other required financial reports.
• Prepares schedules, reconciliations, account analyses, confirmations, and supporting documentation for the annual external audit.
• Responds to auditor inquiries and assists with researching and resolving audit questions and proposed adjustments.
• Assists with preparation of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report or other annual financial reporting document.
• Assists with preparation of state, federal, grant, debt, and other regulatory financial reports.
• Maintains organized accounting records in accordance with applicable records-retention requirements.
• Assists with implementation of new governmental accounting standards and financial reporting requirements.

Payroll Backup Responsibilities

• Reviews employee time records, leave usage, overtime, pay adjustments, benefit deductions, and other payroll information for completeness and authorization.
• Enters or reviews authorized payroll changes, including new hires, terminations, salary changes, deductions, direct-deposit information, and benefit elections.
• Processes regular, supplemental, special, or correction payrolls in accordance with established schedules and procedures.
• Reviews payroll registers, exception reports, deduction reports, direct-deposit totals, and control totals before payroll is finalized.
• Prepares or reviews payroll-related journal entries, benefit payments, tax deposits, and liability reconciliations.
• Assists with reconciling payroll expenditures, payroll liabilities, benefit deductions, retirement contributions, and tax withholding accounts.
• Assists with quarterly and annual payroll reporting, including Forms 941, W-2, and other required reports.
• Responds to employee payroll questions while maintaining confidentiality.
• Documents payroll corrections, exceptions, and approvals.
• Ensures that payroll transactions processed as a backup receive appropriate independent review and approval.

Accounts Payable Backup Responsibilities

• Reviews invoices, purchase orders, contracts, receiving documentation, payment requests, and departmental approvals.
• Verifies invoice calculations, vendor information, account coding, payment terms, budget availability, and compliance with purchasing requirements.
• Enters invoices, credit memos, and payment transactions into the financial system.
• Identifies duplicate invoices, incomplete documentation, unauthorized purchases, incorrect pricing, and potential payment discrepancies.
• Processes check, electronic, wire, or other authorized payment batches.
• Reviews accounts payable registers and control totals before payments are released.
• Assists with vendor inquiries, payment research, returned payments, stop payments, voided checks, credits, and payment corrections.
• Maintains accounts payable records and supporting documentation.
• Assists with vendor tax reporting, including preparation and review of Forms 1099.
• Reconciles accounts payable subsidiary records and outstanding liabilities to the general ledger.
• Ensures that payment batches, vendor-master changes, and sensitive payment transactions receive appropriate independent review and authorization.

Cash Receipts Backup Responsibilities

• Reviews cash receipt reports, deposit records, electronic receipts, lockbox activity, credit-card settlements, and other revenue documentation.
• Records or imports cash receipts into the financial system and applies receipts to the appropriate funds, accounts, customers, or receivables.
• Reconciles daily collections to bank deposits, system reports, subsidiary records, merchant-service reports, and general ledger postings.
• Investigates unidentified receipts, returned payments, overpayments, shortages, posting errors, and deposit discrepancies.
• Prepares or reviews cash receipt journal entries, deposit records, and supporting documentation.
• Assists with reconciliation of online payments, automated clearinghouse transactions, electronic fund transfers, and merchant-service activity.
• Maintains complete documentation supporting deposits and cash receipt transactions.
• Ensures that deposits are prepared and transmitted promptly in accordance with municipal cash-handling policies.
• Ensures that cash receipt transactions and adjustments receive appropriate independent review.

Purchasing Backup Responsibilities

• Reviews purchase requisitions for completeness, proper account coding, budget availability, required approvals, and compliance with purchasing policies.
• Creates and processes routine purchase orders after obtaining appropriate departmental and purchasing authorization.
• Assists departments with purchasing procedures, required quotations, purchase requisitions, purchasing forms, and supporting documentation.
• Obtains or assists departments in obtaining quotations for routine goods and services within established purchasing thresholds.
• Assists with preparation of informal requests for quotations, bid tabulations, purchasing correspondence, contract summaries, and renewal notices.
• Reviews purchasing documentation for compliance with municipal policy and applicable public procurement requirements.
• Verifies that purchases are supported by appropriate quotations, cooperative contracts, sole-source documentation, emergency-purchase documentation, or other required procurement records.
• Reviews vendor setup requests for completeness, including tax forms, addresses, contact information, insurance documents, and payment information.
• Assists with creating and maintaining vendor records, subject to independent verification and approval of vendor additions and changes.
• Maintains purchasing records, including purchase orders, quotations, contracts, certificates of insurance, vendor documentation, and other procurement records.
• Reviews purchasing-card transactions for receipts, business purpose, account coding, approvals, sales tax, and compliance with municipal policy.
• Reconciles assigned purchasing-card statements and follows up on missing receipts, disputed charges, unauthorized purchases, and other exceptions.
• Monitor