Lead Accountant

Job Title : Lead Account ant


Location: Philadelphia, PA 19102


Interview Type: Either Webcam Interview or In Person


Description:


The Lead Accounting Subject Matter Expert (SME) serves as the functional authority for accounting and financial business processes throughout the CIS implementation. This individual will represent the Water Revenue Bureau's (WRB) Accounting Division during all phases of the project, including statement of work requirements, solution design, configuration, testing, data conversion, training, cutover planning, and post- go-live stabilization.


The SME is expected to possess extensive knowledge of the City's current Basis2 accounting processes and understand how customer billing, payments, financial transactions, and general ledger activities support the City's water revenue operations.


Key Responsibilities:
• Serve as the primary Accounting representative for the CIS implementation project
• Provide functional expertise regarding current Basis2 accounting processes and business rules
• Define and validate future-state accounting workflows and system functionality
• Review and validate functional requirements, design documents, configuration workbooks, and business process documentation
• Identify opportunities to standardize, streamline, and improve accounting processes while minimizing customizations
• Collaborate with Finance, Customer Service, Billing, Collections, Payment Operations, IT, and vendor implementation teams
• Participate in system configuration workshops and design sessions
• Validate accounting-related system configurations and ensure compliance with City accounting policies and governmental accounting standards
• Support data cleansing, data validation, and financial data conversion activities
• Validate financial interfaces, payment settlement processing, reconciliation processes, and General Ledger postings
• Assist in developing training materials, standard operating procedures, and end-user documentation
• Support cutover planning, production readiness, hyper care, and post-go-live issue resolution.

Required Skills:


Mandatory Experience: Candidates must possess extensive hands-on experience using the Basis2 Customer Information System within Water Revenue Bureau's accounting operations.
• Demonstrated expertise in water utility accounting processes
• Thorough understanding of customer billing and revenue accounting
• Strong knowledge of payment processing and settlement operations
• Experience with Accounts Receivable accounting
• Experience validating General Ledger postings and financial reconciliations
• Knowledge of governmental accounting principles and financial controls
• Experience interpreting accounting transactions and financial reporting
• Ability to analyze current business processes and identify improvement opportunities
• Ability to translate business requirements into functional system requirements
• Ability to evaluate proposed system functionality against operational needs
• Experience participating in cross-functional initiatives involving accounting, operations, and technology.

Highly Desired/Preferred
• Previous participation in a CIS, ERP, billing, or financial system implementation
• Experience supporting system testing, including User Acceptance Testing
• Experience validating financial data conversions
• Knowledge of utility billing and customer information systems
• Experience working with system integrators or software vendors
• Familiarity with system interfaces, data migration, and reporting validation
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field CPA or governmental accounting experience is a plus