Accountant

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. 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 Serves as a trained backup for payroll processing when the primary payroll employee is unavailable, during periods of increased workload, or when additional support is required. Backup responsibilities may include: 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 Serves as a trained backup for accounts payable processing when the primary accounts payable employee is unavailable, during periods of increased workload, or when additional support is required. Backup responsibilities may include: 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 Serves as a trained backup for cash receipts and revenue posting when the primary cash receipts employee is unavailable, during periods of increased workload, or when additional support is required. Backup responsibilities may include: 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 Serves as a trained backup for routine purchasing functions when the primary purchasing staff is unavailable, during periods of increased workload, or when additional support is required. Backup responsibilities may include: 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. Monitors open purchase orders and works with departments to determine whether purchase orders should be adjusted, liquidated, carried forward, or closed. Assists with reconciling purchase orders, receiving records, invoices, payments, and remaining encumbrance balances. Researches purchasing discrepancies involving pricing, quantities, freight, sales tax, credits, contract terms, or duplicate charges. Assists with tracking contracts, expiration dates, authorized spending limits, renewal options, and insurance requirements. Provides routine purchasing guidance to municipal employees when serving in the backup role. Refers formal solicitations, complex procurements, construction contracts, procurement protests, contract disputes, and legal compliance questions to the Purchasing Manager, Finance Director, or legal counsel. Ensures that purchasing transactions processed as a backup receive all required reviews and approvals. Internal Controls and Continuity of Operations Complies with established internal controls, financial policies, purchasing requirements, records-retention requirements, and information-security procedures. Maintains sufficient knowledge of payroll, accounts payable, cash receipts, and routine purchasing functions to provide reliable operational backup. Participates in periodic cross-training and testing of backup procedures. Maintains current written procedures, checklists, calendars, and process documentation for assigned duties and backup responsibilities. Identifies control weaknesses, process inefficiencies, recurring errors, and compliance concerns and recommends corrective action. Protects confidential payroll, banking, vendor, employee, tax, purchasing, and financial information. Uses financial system access only for authorized job responsibilities. Reports suspected fraud, unauthorized transactions, security incidents, or control violations to the appropriate supervisor. Ensures that backup responsibilities do not override required approvals, reconciliations, access restrictions, or segregation-of-duties controls. Participates in business-continuity, disaster-recovery, and emergency financial operations as assigned. Additional Responsibilities Assists with special accounting, financial analysis, and process‑improvement projects. Participates in financial system implementations, upgrades, testing, and user training. Provides accounting guidance to departmental employees. Assists with development and delivery of financial procedure training. Attends meetings, workshops, and professional‑development activities. Performs other duties as assigned. Knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles and practices. Knowledge of governmental accounting, fund accounting, and financial reporting requirements applicable to state and local governments. Knowledge of general ledger, payroll, accounts payable, cash receipts, bank reconciliation, and basic purchasing processes. Knowledge of internal controls, segregation of duties, fraud-prevention practices, and financial risk management. Basic knowledge of public purchasing principles, competitive quotation requirements, purchase orders, purchasing cards, contracts, and vendor administration. Knowledge of federal, state, and local laws and regulations affecting municipal financial operations. Ability to prepare journal entries, account reconciliations, financial statements, audit schedules, and supporting workpapers. Ability to analyze financial records, identify errors, research discrepancies, and prepare appropriate corrections. Ability to interpret financial policies, purchasing procedures, contracts, ordinances, grant requirements, and accounting guidance. Ability to review requisitions, quotations, purchase orders, invoices, receiving documentation, and purchasing‑card transactions when performing backup duties. Ability to maintain accurate accounting, payroll, accounts payable, cash receipt, vendor, and purchasing records. Ability to operate enterprise resource planning systems, payroll systems, purchasing systems, online banking platforms, and document‑management systems. Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and other standard office software. Ability to manage multiple assignments, establish priorities, and meet recurring deadlines. Ability to maintain accuracy during payroll processing, year-end closing, audit fieldwork, and other high-volume periods. Ability to communicate accounting and purchasing requirements clearly to employees who may not have financial backgrounds. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees, vendors, auditors, financial institutions, government agencies, and the public. Ability to exercise sound judgment, maintain confidentiality, and recognize transactions requiring supervisory review. Education and Experience A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in accounting, finance, business administration, public administration, or a closely related field, including substantial accounting coursework. A combination of education and progressively responsible accounting experience that demonstrates the required knowledge, skills, and abilities may be considered. Preferred Qualifications Two or more years of professional accounting experience. Experience in municipal, county, state, school, public authority, or other governmental accounting. Experience with fund accounting, financial reporting, account reconciliation, audit preparation, or fiscal year-end closing. Experience processing or supporting payroll, accounts payable, cash receipts, or purchasing functions. Experience using an enterprise resource planning or governmental financial management system. Familiarity with public-sector purchase orders, purchasing cards, vendor maintenance, and informal quotation processes. Certified Public Accountant, Certified Government Financial Manager, Certified Public Finance Officer, or other relevant professional certification. Licenses and Certifications A valid driver’s license with a satisfactory driving record is required. The employee may be required to obtain job‑related certifications or complete continuing professional education. The work is primarily sedentary and is generally performed in an office environment. The employee must be able to: Remain in a stationary position for extended periods. Operate a computer, calculator, telephone, scanner, copier, and other standard office equipment. Communicate effectively in person, by telephone, and electronically. Review detailed financial records and computer‑generated reports. Occasionally move files, records, or office materials weighing up to approximately 20 pounds. Occasionally travel to other municipal facilities, financial institutions, meetings, or training locations. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. #J-18808-Ljbffr