Principal Accounting/Financial Analyst

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT:

The City’s Auditing Division promotes an honest, effective, and fully accountable City government. It strives to provide independent, timely oversight of the City’s finances and operations to ensure that City programs are implemented legally, efficiently, and effectively. The Division functions as a safeguard against potential fraud or misuse of City resources. Auditing contributes to deadline-driven documents such as the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Schedule A, and the Per-Pupil Report, which play a crucial role in providing financial and other information to the City Council, City Manager, the investment community, the state and federal governments, and the residents of Cambridge. The Auditing Division uses electronic processing of accounts payable payments and journal entries in order to reduce paper usage and create an efficient method for tracking information electronically.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

This position works as part of the Financial Reporting Team and reports directly to the General Ledger Accountant. This team works together to provide timely, accurate, and efficient financial reporting for the City of Cambridge and also produces a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), A-133 Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards, and various State required reports. Responsibilities include daily/weekly/monthly reconciliations as well as a functional knowledge of accounting adjustments, audit procedures and financial statement preparation. Specific duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Assist in monitoring financial system, research and resolve accounting errors or discrepancies. Prepare and post journal entries as needed.
• Reconcile and post accounts payable journals.
• Prepare monthly capital and grant fund balance reports. Assist with month end tasks.
• Monthly reconciliation of general ledger cash balance to treasury cash balance.
• Review budget journals for accuracy and reconcile with approved council orders.
• Complete accounts receivable roll forward. Monitor balance sheets to ensure receivables are in balance.
• Prepare monthly reconciliations for fixed assets and payroll withholding accounts.
• Participate in all financial system implementations, upgrades and testing.
• Help all City Departments resolve any accounting, financial or system inquiries.
• Assist with fiscal year-end close and the preparation of all required financial statements.
• Assist in the compilation of the annual “Comprehensive Annual Financial Report” (CAFR) which may include but is not limited to: preparing adjusting journal entries in accordance with GAAP, maintaining a trial balance, populating footnotes, financial statements, and the statistical section of the report and other required information.
• Complete the State required ‘Schedule A’ report.
• Assist in the compilation of the A-133 Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA).
• Support the General Ledger Accountant and external auditors on various projects as needed.
• Complete duties of other team members in their absence.
• Perform other duties/projects as needed.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting or related discipline required.
• Minimum of two years of successful accounting experience, preferably in a public sector organization or school district.
• Highly organized and detail oriented individual able to handle multiple tasks while working in both a team environment as well as independently with minimum supervision.
• Extensive working knowledge of computerized financial systems.
• Working knowledge of PeopleSoft Financials and /or HRMS and MUNIS a plus.
• Proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite, particularly MS Excel and Word is required.
• Strong interpersonal skills and excellent communications skills, both written and verbal required.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Ability to access, input, and retrieve information from a computer using various software programs. Answer telephones and maintain multiple files. May require minimal lifting of up to 10 pounds. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: General office environment with air conditioning and fluorescent lighting. Noise level can be high as the office is active with phone calls and walk ins.