Accounting - Junior Staff Accountant

JOB TITLE: Junior Staff Accountant
DEPARTMENT: Accounting
STATUS: Exempt
JOB CODE: 4202
PAY RANGE: $70,304.00 ANNUALLY


GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

The Junior Staff Accountant is an intermediate level position that supports the Accounting department by providing value added service to members, credit union staff, and vendors in a professional, efficient, courteous, and respectful manner. Embrace and embody Golden 1's mission, vision and core values. Ensures accurate and ethical accounting treatment of Credit Union activities in all financial statements and reporting. Using discretion and independent judgement, proactively engage stakeholders to identify solutions designed to assist them in achieving the strategic initiatives of the Credit Union.

TASKS, DUTIES, FUNCTIONS:

Perform the following job duties and responsibilities in accordance with corporate policy and procedures, within established timeframes:

1. Analyze general ledger accounts.
2. Monitor and maintain sub-ledgers.
3. Reconcile, research, and clear differences.
4. Develop process improvements to accounting systems and procedures to mitigate/resolve systemic issues and outages.
5. Data entry and recordkeeping.
6. Prepare journal entries for the Credit Union.
7. Review and research monthly income statement variances.
8. Participate in department projects by providing expert advice to management on all items related to their accounting specialization(s).
9. Initiating and leading meetings to resolve issues.
10. Contributes to the preparation and review of internal financial reports, including Cash Flow, Financial Statements, variance, statistical reporting, and other ad-hoc reporting.
11. Formulate, affect, interpret, and implement management policies and procedure practices for all position functions.
12. Update procedures in response to changes in operational activities or technological upgrades, as needed.
13. Maintain a thorough understanding of state and federal laws and regulations related to credit union compliance including bank secrecy act (BSA) and anti-money laundering laws appropriate to the position.
14. Ensure compliance with applicable standards, rules, regulations and systems of internal control.
15. Preparation of audit work papers/computer spreadsheets for internal auditors.
16. Independently formulate budget expectations for accounting specialization(s) in budget preparation, analyzing past performance and anticipating likely future implications.
17. Proactively develops and delivers solution recommendations to management.
18. Contributes to the preparation and review of external financial reports, including Investments, Financial Statements, variance reports, regulatory reports, Board reports, statistical reporting, peer reporting, and other ad-hoc reporting.
19. Increase productivity by developing automated applications, eliminating duplications and coordinating information requirements.
20. Perform reviews or validations of Accounting Specialist work prior to, or in lieu of, review by Accounting Supervisor.
21. Influences capital project planning.
22. Perform other duties as assigned.

Specializations in this position may include intermediate knowledge in one or more of the following:

• Accounts Payable (Invoice Processing, Expense Report Processing, Travel Advance Processing, Corporate Card Reconciliation, 1099 Reporting)
• Prepaid Expense and Accrual Tracking
• Fixed Asset Accounting (Property Tax Reporting, Budgeted Project Tracking)
• Financial Statement Analysis and Reporting
• Financial Institution Balancing and Reconciliation Activities:
• ATM Balancing
• Negotiable Items (Check Deposits, Cashier's Checks, and Money Orders)
• Shared Branch Operations (SBO)
• FED & Member Adjustments
• Vault/Cash Balancing
• Loan Accounting and Reporting (FAS91 Cost Estimates, Mortgage Servicing Rights)

PHYSICAL SKILLS, ABILITIES, AND EXERTION UTILIZED IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THESE TASKS:

1. Effective oral and written communication skills required to perform duties.
2. Must possess sufficient manual dexterity to skillfully operate a personal computer and other standard office equipment, such as a 10-key calculator, copy machine, and telephone.
3. Must work independently with minimal direction and exhibit own initiative.

QUALIFICATIONS:

1. EDUCATION: Bachelor's Degree in Accounting or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience required.
2. EXPERIENCE: Two years experience in accounting, financial institution, or equivalent preferred.
3. KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS:

• Functional:
• Functional Knowledge in the following areas: Federal Rules and Regulations as applied to credit unions; Golden 1 Products (Awareness); Golden 1 Employee Handbook.
• Intermediate knowledge in the following areas: Golden 1 Policies and Procedures; Financial Statement Concepts; Matching Principal; Natural Account Balances (Debits and Credits); Accrual Based Accounting; Depreciation and Amortization; Purpose and Requirements of Internal Controls; Maintain a working knowledge of GAAP to ensure accuracy of Financial Statements including accounting, tax, regulatory, and other related matters.
• Technical:
• Intermediate knowledge in the following systems/applications: Microsoft Word; Microsoft Outlook- Email, Calendar, Task; Microsoft Excel- Formulas, functions, and troubleshooting thereof; PDF Editing (Adobe/Nitro Pro); Web Browser (Chrome, Internet Explorer and Edge); Conference/Virtual Meetings and Communication (i.e. Zoom, Cisco WebEx); Microsoft Access; Microsoft PowerPoint.
• Intermediate knowledge in the following systems/applications (preferred): Prologue Financials; Frontier Reconciliation; Nautilus; DataSafe; DayForce (HRIS); Concur (Invoice/Expense); Fedline; Monarch; Axiom (Financial Planning Model).
• Behaviors:
• Models Golden 1's Core Values of Service Excellence, Respect, Integrity and Reliability; Embraces Golden 1's mission and vision.
• Acts ethically in all matters.
• Plans and organizes work in order to support department goals.
• Demonstrates awareness of the importance of one's own role to the delivery of excellent service for our members and colleagues.
• Manages time effectively and adapts to change in priorities.
• Productively works to improve the standard way of doing things, anticipating issues to prevent problems before they occur.
• Utilizes skill and training to make recommendations to improve a process, support our Core Values and/or save costs.
• Can be counted on to meet obligations and accepts accountability for delivering results.
• Does what they say they will do. Walks the talk.
• Establishes, monitors and reports key performance indicators.
• Demonstrates reliable and on-time attendance.
• Demonstrates functional, technical and job specific knowledge required for position.
• Is available and sought after as a resource of relevant skill and knowledge.
• Takes ownership of their own professional and personal development to ensure their skills remain current and relevant.
• Is open and willing to try new approaches and ideas.
• Sees opportunities where others see roadblocks.
• Learns about and embraces changes in Golden 1's strategy or direction.
• Takes initiative to identify, investigate and resolve stakeholder issues, including operational and support situations.
• Attention to detail; ensures accuracy in work product.
• Ability to independently prioritize tasks.
• Ability to structure workload, adding or delegating tasks as time allows.
• Manages time to ensure work life balance.
• Practices stress management techniques to maintain healthy, positive mindset.
• Leverages available tools and resources to stay organized and proactive.
• Displays a high level of emotional intelligence.
• Demonstrates desire and ambition to achieve.
• Knows when work product requires additional attention to presentation and acts accordingly to ensure deliverables match the need.
• Communication & Interaction:
• Steward of the Golden 1 Brand and maintains quality standards of service excellence in all interactions.
• Respects and works well with people with diverse skills, styles, perspectives, and backgrounds.
• Contributes to an inclusive environment, where everyone is treated with courtesy, dignity and respect, regardless of perceived differences.
• Provides exceptional member/colleague service by showing caring, friendly, member centric support, and seeking opportunities to provide Golden Service.
• Communicates clearly and concisely, both in written and oral form.
• Constructively shares lessons learned in success or failure with others to continuously improve how work gets done.
• Shares knowledge freely to help others succeed.
• Able to communicate insights and understanding of issues or problems in a skillful way.
• Shares important information at appropriate time; Ability to escalate issues requiring additional action.
• Works well within team and across departments, effectively collaborating and interacting with coworkers, leaders, and members.
• Takes time to understand co-workers work goals and supports them in their effort to do their best work.
• Acknowledges and celebrates the success of others.
• Gives and receives honest and candid feedback in a constructive way; Leverage feedback to further personal and professional development.
• Resolves conflicts with colleagues immediately with the utmost professionalism.
• Fully participates in meetings, proactively bringing forward relevant information, ideas and potential solutions
• Positively adapts to changes in Golden 1 and/or changes in own role, and helps others to do the same.
• Effective listener.
• Presumes positive intent in all communications.
• Displays a positive, outgoing, and empathetic attitude.
• Able to translate relevant Accounting concepts and information to non-accountants.
• Comfortable communicating with staff level employees throughout the credit union, vendors, and all levels of Accounting.
• Communicates the "why", not just the "how" or "what".
• Addresses inquiries holistically rather than literally.
• Ability to ask relevant probing questions of external stakeholders to ensure appropriate accounting treatment.
• Confident communicating with mid-level management outside the Accounting department.
• Leadership:
• Inspires others through words and actions.
• Guides external stakeholders to proper resources for inquiries.
• Provide guidance and training to other Accounting Specialists.
• Educates external stakeholders on proper accounting treatment of credit union actions.
• Provide guidance and training to other Junior Staff Accountants.
• Effective delegation skills; knows when to delegate and when to lead.
• Ability to effectively lead efficient meetings.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

1. Lifting up to fifteen pounds without assistance.
2. Prolonged sitting throughout the workday with occasional mobility required.
3. Corrected vision in normal range required to read and review logs, general ledger documents, and perform other related tasks pertaining to this functional area.
4. Hearing in normal range to handle moderate telephone contact. A telephone device to enhance hearing will be provided if needed.
5. Minimal local and statewide travel by car or public conveyance to attend meetings, seminars, conferences, training classes, etc.
6. Long work hours may be required to complete assigned tasks.

LICENSES/CERTIFICATIONS:

None

#LI-Hybrid

THIS JOB DESCRIPTION PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF THE GENERAL SCOPE AND LEVEL OF WORK EXPECTED TO BE PERFORMED, BUT IT IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF ALL DUTIES OR RESPONSIBILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE POSITION. THE CREDIT UNION RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY, ADD, OR REMOVE DUTIES AS NEEDED WITHOUT ADVANCE NOTICE. EMPLOYEES MAY BE REQUIRED TO PERFORM ADDITIONAL TASKS AND DUTIES AS DIRECTED BY THEIR SUPERVISOR, PROVIDED SUCH TASKS ARE WITHIN THE EMPLOYEE'S KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES, OR CAN BE PERFORMED WITH REASONABLE TRAINING. NOTHING IN THIS JOB DESCRIPTION ALTERS THE AT-WILL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP OR LIMITS THE CREDIT UNION'S RIGHT TO ASSIGN OR REASSIGN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES TO THIS POSITION AT ANY TIME.

REV. 4/17/2026