Senior Accountant

Background/ Anera Summary:

Since 1968, Anera has helped refugees and others hurt by conflicts in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan live with purpose and hope.

Anera, which has no political or religious affiliation, works on the ground with partners in Palestine (West Bank and Gaza), Lebanon and Jordan. We mobilize resources for immediate emergency relief and for sustainable, long-term health, education, and economic development. Our staff serve in their communities, navigating the politics that constrict progress to get help where it’s needed most.

That’s how Anera received more than $171 million in support of programs in 2023 alone, and it’s how we will keep building better lives until hope finds its way in the Middle East.

About the role

The Senior Accountant is responsible for the accurate recording and reconciliation of all donor-restricted and unrestricted funds in Sage Intacct, in accordance with US GAAP fund accounting standards (ASC 958). The role exists to ensure that every transaction is booked correctly — to the right fund, net asset class, and dimension — and that fund balances reconcile cleanly period over period.

This is a technical accounting role, not a compliance role. Donor compliance, agreement interpretation, and reporting to funders are owned by a separate Compliance / Grants Management department. The Senior Accountant partners with that team — taking their determinations on restriction type and conditions as inputs — but is accountable for the accounting execution: correct recognition, correct classification, correct release, and a reconciled set of fund balances.

The successful candidate is someone who is equally comfortable posting a multi-dimensional journal entry in Sage Intacct, building a net-asset reconciliation that ties to the general ledger, and explaining to a colleague why a particular entry belongs in one fund rather than another.

Key responsibilities

Recording and classification (the core of the role)

• Record all contribution, grant, and program revenue in Sage Intacct in line with ASC 958, ensuring each transaction is classified correctly as with donor restrictions or without donor restrictions.
• Book net asset release entries (reclassification from restricted to unrestricted) when the relevant funds are spent or time restrictions lapse, based on the restriction parameters provided by Grants Management.
• Ensure every entry carries complete and correct Sage Intacct dimensions (Fund, Activity Code, Location, Department, and any others in the framework) so that fund-level reporting works without manual rework.
• Review transactions entered by Accounts Payable and Payroll staff for coding accuracy before they post; act as the first-line reviewer for fund and dimension correctness.

Reconciliation

• Perform monthly reconciliations of all fund balances, tying restricted and unrestricted net asset balances in Sage Intacct to the general ledger and to supporting schedules.
• Maintain a fund-by-fund schedule showing opening balance, additions, releases, and closing balance for each restricted fund, and investigate and resolve any variances.
• Reconcile inter-entity and inter-fund activity across the organization’s legal entities.
• Identify, document, and clear reconciling items on a timely basis; escalate unresolved differences to the Controller.

Close and accuracy

• Support the monthly and annual close by ensuring all fund-related entries are complete and accurate before period lock.
• Prepare period-end fund accounting schedules and the net asset roll-forward that supports the Statement of Activities and Statement of Financial Position.
• Maintain clean, audit-ready documentation for every fund entry and reconciliation.

Audit and systems

• Provide fund accounting schedules, reconciliations, and supporting documentation to external auditors during the annual audit.
• Maintain and improve the fund accounting structure within Sage Intacct (dimension usage, recurring entries, allocations) in coordination with the Controller.

Oversight of head office overhead and administrative accounting

• Oversee the recording of the head office’s overhead and administrative transactions, which are entered day-to-day by an Accounting Officer / Assistant Accountant.
• Review the Officer’s / Assistant Accountant’s entries for accuracy and correct coding (account, fund, and dimensions) before posting, and provide guidance and feedback to build their accuracy over time.
• Ensure head office overhead and administrative costs are recorded in the correct period and reconcile to supporting documentation and the general ledger.
• Set and monitor the workflow for these transactions so that nothing posts without complete and correct coding, and uncertain items are escalated promptly.

What’s explicitly out of scope

To set clear expectations: this role does not own donor compliance, grant agreement interpretation, donor financial reporting, or indirect cost rate negotiation. Those responsibilities sit with the separate Compliance / Grants Management department. The Senior Accountant relies on that department’s determinations (restriction type, conditions, allowable costs) and is responsible for translating them into correct accounting in Sage.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• 5+ years of accounting experience including substantial hands-on nonprofit fund accounting under US GAAP (ASC 958).
• Demonstrated ability to record and reconcile restricted and unrestricted net assets, including net asset release mechanics.
• Hands-on experience with Sage Intacct or a comparable multi-dimensional / fund accounting system.
• Strong reconciliation discipline and comfort working to a monthly close calendar.
• Precision with detail and the ability to produce audit-ready documentation.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience supervising or reviewing the work of a junior accountant or accounting officer.
• Experience in an international NGO or multi-entity environment.
• Familiarity with multi-currency accounting.
• Experience working alongside a separate grants/compliance function.