Senior Staff Accountant

Senior Staff Accountant

The Senior Staff Accountant co-owns Powerhouse's general ledger and month-end close, working hand in hand with a second Senior Staff Accountant and reporting directly to the CFO. Together you run the close, own the balance sheet reconciliations, manage the company's state and local tax compliance, and act as the accounting subject matter experts as the company moves from Microsoft Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central. You supervise a Staff Accountant, with AR and AP managed separately, and you are one of the two people the CFO relies on for numbers that are right, on time, and explainable.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Close and general ledger

• Co-own the month-end and year-end close calendar with the other Senior Staff Accountant: split the close checklist between you, prepare, review and post each other's journal entries, and deliver internal financial statements on schedule.
• Reconcile bank, credit card, intercompany and all balance sheet accounts monthly, with documented support and cleared reconciling items.
• Analyze results and trends against budget and prior periods; identify, explain and resolve variances.
• Supervise a Staff Accountant: set priorities, assign and review close checklist items, coach and develop them.
• Support the budget and forecast cycles with clean historical data and variance analysis.
• Prepare and review the monthly work-in-progress schedule and job cost reconciliations; book over/under billing adjustments and retainage.
• Maintain fixed asset records, depreciation and prepaid schedules.
• Ensure compliance with GAAP, company policies and financial reporting requirements; maintain and improve internal controls.

Tax compliance

• Work with the Sales Tax Manager and review the preparation and filing of sales and use tax (third-party filer), personal property tax, business and occupation tax, and payroll tax (third-party filer).
• Ensure the multi-state sales tax matrix by state and work type stays current and that gross receipts reporting and exemption and resale certificate support reach operations on time.
• Review monthly tax accruals and tax account reconciliations; assist with federal and state income and franchise tax support documents.
• Lead responses to state sales and property tax audits and support the annual financial audit with schedules and documentation.

Systems and process improvement

• Partner with the Finance Systems Manager, who owns Microsoft Dynamics GP and the migration to Dynamics 365 Business Central, as the accounting voice on that project: chart of accounts input, data validation, testing and reconciliation of opening balances.
• Build and maintain accounting reporting from GP and SQL data (queries, SmartLists, Excel models) in coordination with the Finance Systems Manager.
• Document accounting procedures and drive automation, efficiency and control improvements.

Requirements

What success looks like in the first 90 days

• Close responsibilities split and documented with the other Senior Staff Accountant; the month closed within the agreed number of business days with a full reconciliation package.
• Sales tax matrix current and every tax account reconciled with no unexplained items.
• Accounting requirements and validation approach for the Business Central migration documented and agreed with the Finance Systems Manager.

Minimum Qualifications

• Active CPA license required.
• Five or more years of progressive accounting experience including ownership of a month-end close; supervisory experience and tax or audit exposure strongly preferred.
• Construction or field-services accounting experience strongly preferred: job costing, work-in-progress and over/under billings, retainage, percentage-of-completion revenue recognition under ASC 606, and lien waiver and pay application workflows.
• Strong working knowledge of GAAP and multi-state sales and use tax.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or a related field.
• Proven ability to work independently, manage competing deadlines and deliver accurate work without close supervision.

Technical Skills

• Microsoft Dynamics GP experience preferred; Dynamics 365 Business Central experience or a prior ERP migration is a strong plus.
• SQL skills (writing queries against ERP tables, building views or reports) are a nice to have.
• Advanced Excel: pivot tables, lookups, structured tables, Power Query.
• Strong analytical, documentation and communication skills; comfortable explaining results to non-finance leaders.
• Experience preparing or reviewing tax filings and working with external filers, auditors and advisors.

Work Environment and Physical Requirements

This position operates in a professional office environment with moderate noise levels. Regular tasks include sitting, typing and viewing computer screens for extended periods. Occasional lifting of items up to 20 pounds may be required. The role demands a high level of attention to detail, organizational skill and the ability to meet deadlines.

Disclaimer: This job description describes the general nature and scope of responsibilities for this position. It is not an exhaustive list of duties, responsibilities or qualifications. Management may assign or reassign duties and responsibilities at any time to meet changing business needs.