Staff Accountant

Finance Department Position

This is a vital position in the Town of Fairfield Finance Department reporting directly to the Controller. The position ensures the financial integrity, transparency, and statutory compliance for the Town and is heavily focused on bank reconciliations, fixed asset management, budget monitoring, and general ledger maintenance. The position plays a key, hands-on role in year-end external audit preparation and the production of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR).

Supervision Received: Receives administrative direction from the Controller.

Supervision Exercised: May lead and train lower level professional and technical staff as assigned

Examples of Essential Duties:

Bank Reconciliations & Cash Management

• Conducts cutoff testing, manage outstanding check lists, and initiate stale-dated check or escheatment processes in compliance with local regulations.
• Monitors daily cash flows, electronic fund transfers (EFT), wire transfers, and credit card deposits.
• Performs comprehensive monthly reconciliations for all municipal bank accounts, including pension funds, against general ledger balances; promptly investigates and resolves variances.
• Reconciles pooled cash allocations across all distinct municipal funds (General, Utility, Special Revenue).

Budgeting & Financial Reporting

• Assists the Controller in the preparation, and maintenance of the annual municipal operating and capital budgets.
• Monitors departmental spending patterns to ensure strict compliance with approved budgetary limits.
• Performs monthly budget-to-actual variance review and reports discrepancies or potential over-expenditures to department heads.
• Processes formal budget amendments, transfers, and supplemental appropriations in accordance with Town policies.

Fixed Asset Accounting & Capital Projects

• Calculates and records annual depreciation for all municipal property, plant, infrastructure, and equipment.
• Coordinates physical inventory audits and reconciles fixed asset subsidiary ledgers to the general ledger.
• Maintains the municipal fixed asset management system, accurately tracking acquisitions, transfers, impairments, and disposals.
• Manages the Construction in Progress (CIP) account, ensuring completed capital projects are properly moved to active asset classes and depreciated.

Year-End Audit & ACFR Support

• Compiles and formats direct data for the ACFR, including Note Disclosures for Cash (FDIC/collateralization limits), Capital Asset roll-forward tables, and Statistical Section updates.
• Prepares year-end journal entries, expense accruals, and inter-fund transfers to ensure a clean closing process.
• Serves as a primary point of contact for external auditors by preparing required Provided by Client (PBC) schedules and work papers.

General Ledger

• Maintains and monitors general ledger accounts to ensure transactions are accurately and properly recorded.
• Monitors general ledger activity and identify corrections or adjustments requiring action.
• Prepares, reviews, documents, and posts journal entries, including recurring, adjusting, reclassification, accrual, and year-end entries.
• Researches and resolves unusual transactions, account discrepancies, and reconciling items.
• Ensures accounting transactions are recorded consistently with established Town policies and generally accepted accounting principles applicable to governmental entities.
• Prepares daily cash transmittals for deposit.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Knowledge of and hands-on proficiency with municipal ERP systems and public sector fund accounting platforms (for example: MUNIS, Tyler Technologies).
• Solid understanding of Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) pronouncements, modified accrual accounting principles, and budgetary control frameworks.
• Demonstrated Excel capability with data manipulation tools including pivot tables, XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP, SUMIFS, and data validation techniques to reconcile large datasets.
• Demonstrated organizational skills.
• Demonstrated financial reporting skills including generating, modifying, and building custom financial reports within an ERP environment or via tools like Excel Power Query or Power BI.
• Demonstrated interpersonal communication and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to maintain positive working relationships.
• Ability to learn and navigate software programs.
• Ability to multi-task and to prioritize tasks.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or closely-related field. 2-4 years of professional accounting experience, with direct experience in municipal government, public sector fund accounting, or public sector budgeting.

AFFILIATION

• Member of Professional and Technical Employees Association (PETA) Collective Bargaining Unit

The Town of Fairfield is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Town will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourage both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the Town when necessary.

Benefits

The Town of Fairfield offers a complete benefit package including: paid vacation, holidays and sick; 401(a) retirement plan, medical including health, prescription, dental, life and vision, life insurance, Optional 457 plan.