Development & Construction Accountant at Vermilion Development in Chicago, Illinois

Vermilion Development Accountant Position

Vermilion Development is seeking a collaborative, detail-driven accountant to own construction draw administration and support project accounting for our growing portfolio of ground-up multifamily and senior housing developments. This role offers meaningful responsibility, cross-functional exposure, and the opportunity to grow with an entrepreneurial national platform. We are conveniently located in the Loop with access to CTA, Metra, and parking. This position is in-office five days per week.

Construction Draw Management

• Manage monthly construction draws from project closing through final completion and closeout.
• Prepare complete lender draw packages, including pay applications, invoices, schedules, proof of payment, lien waivers, and required support.
• Coordinate draw timing and requirements with development and construction teams, lenders, title companies, inspectors, fund-control firms, contractors, and vendors.
• Review pay applications against contracts, budgets, schedules of values, change orders, retainage, and work completed.
• Identify and resolve billing errors, missing documentation, coding issues, budget variances, and funding risks before submission.
• Track approvals, equity contributions, loan proceeds, reimbursements, disbursements, and project-level audit support.

Development & Project Accounting

• Maintain accurate project cost records across entities, projects, cost codes, contracts, commitments, and change orders.
• Monitor actual costs against approved budgets and support cost-to-complete, contingency, and balance-to-fund reporting.
• Prepare project cost reports, draw reconciliations, funding schedules, and construction-in-progress reconciliations.
• Partner with development, construction, and finance leaders to investigate variances and surface potential shortfalls early.
• Support project setup, construction loan closings, capitalization, month-end close, audits, final draws, and project closeout.
• Improve accounting processes, internal controls, documentation, and reporting tools as the portfolio grows.

Accounts Payable & Vendor Relations

• Review, code, route, and enter invoices with accurate project and cost-code classification.
• Coordinate payment runs and monitor accounts payable aging, approvals, and available project funding.
• Manage vendor onboarding, tax documentation, payment information, and compliance records.
• Respond promptly to vendor questions and resolve invoice or payment discrepancies.
• Support Form 1099 preparation and maintain strong invoice, payment, and fraud-prevention controls.

What Success Looks Like

• Construction draws are complete, accurate, and submitted on time.
• Project cost and funding records are reliable, organized, and audit-ready.
• Issues are identified early, communicated clearly, and resolved with urgency.
• Internal teams and external partners view you as responsive, dependable, and easy to work with.
• You take ownership, improve processes, and earn broader responsibility as the company grows.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business, real estate, construction management, or a related field.
• Three (3) or more years of experience in construction, development, project, or commercial real estate accounting.
• Experience with construction draws, pay applications, project cost reporting, or construction-in-progress accounting.
• Working knowledge of budgets, schedules of values, commitments, change orders, retainage, lien waivers, and cost coding.

What Sets You Apart

• Experience with a real estate developer, owner, general contractor, lender, title company, or fund-control firm.
• Direct draw-management experience for multifamily, senior housing, mixed-use, or other ground-up developments.
• Familiarity with construction loan agreements, lender inspections, title procedures, and equity funding requirements.
• Experience with NetSuite, Procore, Yardi, MRI, Sage, AvidXchange, Nexus, or similar systems.
• Month-end close, project capitalization, reconciliation, or audit experience.

Benefits Vermilion Development Offers to You

• Competitive salary and bonus opportunities.
• Benefits package through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.
• 3 weeks of vacation annually.
• Life Insurance and Long-Term Disability.

EOE