Senior Project Accountant

Senior Development & Construction Accountant

Location: [Columbia, MD]

Reports To: [Senior Portfolio Controller]

Employment Type: Full-Time

Compensation: $110,000.00 + 10% Bonus + Restricted Stocks

Business Model : Mon - Fri in office.

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Development & Construction Accountant to oversee the accounting, financial reporting, budgeting and cost controls for a portfolio of commercial real estate development and construction projects .

This role will partner closely with Development, Construction, Asset Management, Property Management, lenders, investors, contractors and vendors to ensure projects are financially controlled, accurately reported and delivered within approved budgets.

The ideal candidate brings strong commercial real estate and construction accounting experience , understands the full development lifecycle, and is comfortable managing detailed project financials while also communicating effectively with senior leadership.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage accounting for multiple commercial development and construction projects from acquisition/pre-development through construction, stabilization and closeout.
• Maintain accurate project-level general ledgers, cost tracking and supporting schedules.
• Monitor construction budgets, commitments, contracts, purchase orders, change orders and actual costs .
• Review and process contractor invoices, pay applications, lien waivers and supporting documentation with minimal supervision, monitors leasing activity to identify and process required fixed asset transactions and adjustments.
• Review and analyze each deal to determine GAAP accounting with the understanding that the accounting may not mirror the economic deal structure.
• Requires knowledge of accounting principles and the ability to independently seek out resources both within and outside the company to determine the essence of the deal.
• Tracks budgets and estimates for development projects in the job cost system.
• Collaborate with project management, teams to obtain estimates.
• Review and analyze costs to ensure proper accounting.
• Prepare quarterly project financial project updates as assigned.
• Monitor and review PAY invoices and vendor Contracts/Change orders to ensure timely vendor payment and recording as well as proper coding.
• Monitor payments against approved spend and investigate and resolve variances.
• Assists with delivering accurate, timely and relevant reporting fixed assets and assigned development projects to various stakeholders highlighting information needed to make business decisions.
• Requires ability to continuously apply knowledge of what is relevant and adjust reporting metrics regularly to meet the needs.
• Prepare and process monthly capitalized interest calculations for active development projects.
• Monitor list of active projects based upon understanding of project status.
• Review underlying calculations ensuring they are prepared timely and accurately accordance with GAAP and accounting policies.
• Coordinate and facilitate quarterly development accrual process.

Qualifications

• A CPA is required or part of the CPA completed
• 5+ years of accounting experience, with significant experience in commercial real estate development and/or construction accounting.
• Strong understanding of commercial real estate accounting and construction costs.
• Experience with construction draws, pay applications, change orders, budgets and project cost reporting.
• Strong understanding of fixed assets and project closeout.
• Ability to analyze complex financial information and clearly communicate findings to Development, Construction and executive leadership.

Success in this role means providing Development and Construction leadership with accurate, timely and actionable financial information , maintaining tight control over project costs, identifying risks early, and ensuring every project is financially accounted for from initial development through completion and stabilization.