Accounting Technician

Job Summary: Under general supervision, performs fiscal processing in the areas of payroll, cash receipts, purchasing documents, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and procurement cards.
Receive, review, process and prepare fiscal documents such as payroll checks, reports, purchase orders, vendor checks, receipts, invoices, and billing statements and responds to inquiries regarding such documents from other departments, vendors, customers, etc.
This position acts as the first level of support for all departments regarding software and procedural questions for the above areas.
Primary Responsibilities Scope of Responsibility: Incumbents may exercise judgment based on knowledge of basic accounting/bookkeeping principles and techniques, but decisions are made in accordance with established precedent and departmental policy.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Process payroll on a biweekly basis.
Works closely with the Payroll Coordinator to process biweekly payroll and related tasks.
Verifies Auditor’s Office and Water Meter Readers hours, reviews other departments hours entries and applies judgment to flag for reasonableness; follows up with responsible supervisors to verify, as necessary; Enters various adjustments, overrides, and corrections; balances various deductions; Prepares a payroll ledger for approval; Prints checks from the approved ledger and creates a direct deposit file; Disburses payroll reports to City departments; Prepares electronic images of reports for storage and subsequent retrieval needs; Cross trained in all aspects of processing payroll and responsible for performing a set of rotational duties each pay period.
Assists with employee onboarding for new Finance staff.
Provides UKG support.
Review departments’ hours to ensure that they are following the City’s policies and employees are being paid accurately: Responds to employees questions; Participates in supervisor, payroll processor and employee training, when needed; Assist with testing UKG service packs and upgrades.
Provides Other software support.
Assists with testing of new software and imports as assigned.
Enters cash receipts into the accounting system and verifies accuracy.
Prepares Auditor’s bank deposit; Enters and posts all departments deposits into the general ledger; Retrieves and compiles data, prepares related lists and reports for the supervisor’s review or for requested management reports; Completes the daily cash receipts reconciliation & review.
Processes purchase orders for departments.
Reviews purchase requisitions for accuracy and completeness, reviews necessary changes with department to comply with Finance guidelines and ensure accuracy, and converts these to purchase orders; Process change orders per department’s request, monitors compliance to City’s policies and contacts department, when necessary; Enters purchase orders for Auditor’s Office; Maintains utility and telephone master records in Vendor Payments, enters purchase orders for all departments and disburses reports to all departments.
Reviews receipts reports and contacts departments for unpaid items; Reviews reports and discusses open purchase orders with departments and cancels purchase orders.
Posts purchase order encumbrance activity and vendor invoices to the general ledger.
Performs accounts payable activities to pay vendor invoices.
Creates vendor master records, requests and enters vendor W-9 information; Reviews and reconciles invoices to purchase orders and processes invoices for payment; Print checks and check reports for Auditor’s Office; creates check file for City Commission and legal publication; Verifies check payments to invoices; Mails checks to vendors; Researches outstanding checks & attempts to resolve; Researches open items on vendor statements; Scans checks and supporting documentation into imaging software; Retrieves check documentation in response to various departments’ requests; Completes vendor credit applications.
Prepares and processes accounts receivable billings, posts receipts, customer service and initiates collections.
Creates customer master records; Sets up automatic billings for departments based on agreements and/or correspondence; Enters customer charges and imports departments charges for invoicing; Produces billing statements and related documents in order to settle customer accounts including review of accounts and determining balance due; Posts payments to accounts receivable in accounts receivable system and monitors accounts to ensure they are up to date and assesses penalties according to established guidelines; Issues notices of delinquencies and/or termination of accounts; Creates aging reports for departments; Enters approved adjustments; Reconciles customer accounts, when necessary: Researches bankruptcy notices; Reviews past due accounts, sends collection letters, responds to customer inquiries, and sends delinquent accounts to collections.
Performs customer service activities for the purchasing card program.
Reviews Auditor’s department purchases for documentation and general ledger changes: Answers departments’ processing questions for the procurement card system; Prepares and enters general ledger journal entries for inter-departmental billings, and daily, weekly and monthly banking activities.
Counts money and reconciles the till on a daily basis.
Provides backup for other Auditor’s Team members, as necessary.
Performs general office support activities.
Processes forms, application and other documents by reviewing forms for completeness, verifying information, performing necessary calculations, coding and entering data into a computer system; Makes copies of materials; Maintains an office filing system; Tracks and monitors the administrative office supply inventory and arranges for replenishment of items, as necessary.
Communicates and maintains working relationships with others in carrying out job functions.
Frequently interacts with the public, vendors, others in the work unit, and across Departments, both in person by tending to the front counter & through other forms of communication such as email & telephone conversations, to exchange basic fact information as requested or as necessary to satisfy the requests; interactions occasionally involve the exchange of detailed and/or technical information where the ability to explain concepts is exercised; Using knowledge of department operations and procedures, resolves most public informational requests without referring them to a supervisor or other staff; Receives and responds to complaints of both a routine and confidential nature requiring knowledge of departmental policies, procedures, activities, and rules regarding data privacy; may field escalated calls from less experienced staff; Refers issues and concerns to the appropriate party for resolution as necessary; Exercises courtesy in communicating with other members of the work unit to provide information relating to the work assignment and progress of work or to convey information about conditions or work-related needs.
Performs all job duties in compliance with safety guidelines and with an ongoing awareness of safety practices.
Knows and follows department and city rules as well as sound work and safety practices in order to accomplish the job objectives and avoid injury or loss; Wears proper protective equipment when policy requires or conditions indicate a need exists and utilizes proper body mechanics and ergonomics while performing work; When potentially unsafe conditions are observed, makes efforts to avoid or correct them if they are controllable and draws them to the attention of the responsible supervisor or safety representative in a timely manner.
Performs other duties and activities as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications Minimum Qualifications: Associate’s degree in accounting or business and two or more years of previous payroll, bookkeeping or clerical accounting experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job such as those listed above.
Knowledge, skills and ability include: Knowledge of specific processes, policies and procedures concerning fiscal control/processing operations; Knowledge of computer operations and data processing methods, information storage and retrieval techniques; Knowledge of bookkeeping, record-keeping and standard billing practices; Skill in basic mathematical computation; Skill in operating a computer terminal sufficient to enter, retrieve and manipulate data; Skill in communication, interpersonal skills as applied to interactions with coworkers, supervisor, the general public, etc.
sufficient to exchange or convey information and receive work direction; Ability to provide backup for other technicians in a variety of accounting work assignments.
Physical Demands Physical Demands & Working Conditions: Most work is performed in a normal office environment.
Work requires extensive use of a computer, telephone and other office equipment.
There is high attention to detail and meeting firm deadlines.
Work is generally light with considerable variety.
Daily work may involve moving between buildings and rooms.
The job may involve dealing with and calming individuals who are emotionally charged over an issue.
Activities include stooping, standing, walking, lifting, fingering, grasping, feeling, talking, hearing/listening, seeing/observing, repetitive motions.
Light Work: Physical demands are normally those associated with light work: Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently to move objects.
Some requirements in this job description may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health and safety of themselves or other employees.
All requirements are subject to modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities.
Requirements are representative of minimum levels of knowledge, skills, and experience required.
To perform this job successfully, the worker must possess the abilities and aptitudes to perform each duty proficiently.
This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an "at will" employment relationship.
The City Administrator retains the discretion to add duties or change the duties of this position at any time.
The City of Fargo offers a comprehensive benefit package, to include participation in the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System.