They are more than just our accountants, they are an important member of our management team, fully immersed in our operations and providing rather unique, proactive advice, leadership, and personal service, which is sadly lacking in larger city accounting firms, at a country rate.
Amanda Seyfried
The core purpose of Finalert is to assist people in thriving every day. Our Core Values represent how we conduct ourselves, our work, and our relationships. As a firm employee, you will uphold our Core Values of putting people first, being great in everything you do every day, accepting change, feeling empowered by knowledge, and choosing accountability. Our Core Values are the guidelines by which we conduct ourselves both internally and externally on a daily basis.
The Experienced Senior Associate in Business Services and Outsourcing is responsible for completing and directing the full cycle general accounting function for small to mid-size businesses.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Completes general ledger reconciliation, including the entire balance sheet, and applies accounting knowledge by properly recording transactions in a general ledger; creates accounting records such as bill payments, client invoices, payroll, and other items; identifies and records adjustments; and produces accurate financial statements.
- Understands how line items/accounts work (e.g. capital accounts, various kinds of liabilities, etc. ); correctly distinguishes debits from credits; calculates/interprets KPIs for clients; finds positive and constructive trends and reports them to Finalert management. GAAP is well-versed and may be applied to basic financial accounts.
- Understands the finance and accounting functions generally performed by a business (e.g. sales, purchasing, A/R, etc.) and common best practices/processes for how they operate.
- Conducts basic financial statement analysis and understands the finance and accounting functions generally performed by a business (e.g. sales, purchasing, A/R, etc.) and common best practices/processes for how they operate.
- Prepares financial budgets and forecasts, as well as communicating variations between actual and budgeted figures.
- Develops an understanding of engagement economics (i.e., billing and time entry) and adheres to Business Services and Outsourcing best practises while planning basic engagements, which comprise onboarding and client delivery stages.
- Interacts with clients to obtain information and documents data needed to perform duties. Identifies and organises financial information from customers; generates common financial reports and other schedules as needed; formats reports so that Finalert management and clients can easily read and understand them. Examines client information for accuracy; using deductive reasoning to spot inconsistencies or gaps; and alerts supervisor to major client issues.
- Assists in the creation of proposals and other materials for clients that describe suggested solutions.
- Explains Business Services and Outsourcing’s value proposition and understands our target market/client profile.
- Manages workflow and ensures correct documentation and workpapers using our procedures, systems, technology, and resources.
- Evaluates work items and collaborates with members of the Business Services and Outsourcing and Business Service Center (BSC) teams. Produces high-quality work and prioritises tasks based on internal and external deadlines and project priority; recognises when to bring priority-setting problems to management’s attention – Accepts constructive input to influence future actions and takes personal responsibility for work products.
- Prepares schedules to assist clients with audit preparation and tax compliance.
- As needed, participates in advanced special projects – Other duties as assigned
Department: Compliance and Outsourcing
Project Location(s): New York
Education: - Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance or relevant field; or equivalent experience, required
Qualifications
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance or relevant field; or equivalent experience, required
- Experience:
- Four (4) or more years of experience performing general accounting transactions and functions required.
- Consultative or business advisory experience, preferred
License/Certifications:
- Pursuing or passed the CPA certification exam, preferred
Software:
- Proficient in the use of the Microsoft Office Suite, specifically Excel and Word.
- Experience utilizing industry standard accounting software required.
- Experience utilizing software such as Intuit’s Quickbooks Online (QBO), Microsoft NAV and Bill.com, preferred
Other Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:
- Excellent oral and written communication skills.
- Strong analytical and basic research skills.
- Solid organizational skills especially the ability to meet project deadlines with a focus on details.
- Ability to successfully multi-task while working independently or within a group environment.
- Proven ability to work in a deadline-driven environment and handle multiple projects simultaneously.
- Ability to interact effectively with people at all organizational levels of the firm.
- Knows how finance and accounting functions, technology for supporting these functions, and tax planning can differ by industry and business structure; knows what is required from a compliance perspective and what is considered a standard or best practice for the industry or business structure.
- Understands and explains tax planning considerations/concepts for various business entities; comprehends the information presented on different tax return forms.
- Recognizes opportunities for innovation, including: improvements for handling day-to-day matters, and developing an understanding of process improvements.
- Listens for and communicates client problems and challenges to management that may be opportunities to grow the business and relationships with clients. Proficient in technology packages clients are using to support their accounting/finance functions; learns new technology quickly.
- Capability to effectively guide a team of professionals and delegating work assignments as needed.
- Ability to travel up to 20% of the time.