ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT

JOB OPENING

CITY OF FARMINGTON

JOB POSITION #201: ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT

NUMBER OF VACANCIES: 1

DEPARTMENT: Administrative Services

PAY GRADE: J - Non-Exempt

SALARY RANGE: $19.15 - $29.77 / Hour

TYPE OF POSITION: Regular, Full-Time

WORK LOCATION: West Annex

DAYS WORKED: Monday - Friday

HOURS WORKED: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

APPLICATIONS WILL BE RECEIVED THROUGH: December 14, 2021

Resumes submitted without a City of Farmington application will not be considered in our job selection process.

JOB DUTIES

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

Performs a variety of accounting procedures in the Accounting Division.

Works under the supervision of the Enterprise Accountant.

Supervision is not exercised in this position.

Using excellent customer service skills, establishes and maintains effective working relationships with other employees, officials, and all members of the general public.

Operates a motor vehicle to assist in carrying out the business of the department and the City.

Maintains system of utility work orders for proper accounting and FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) compliance.

Verifies account numbers and work orders on reports and purchase requisitions.

Manages preparation of daily spreadsheets for month end balancing and reports, which includes: utility billing revenue, construction work-in-progress, plant-in-service, and customer utility deposit accounts.

Compiles revenue and statistical utility billing report for Enterprise Accountant.

Balances work orders to construction work-in-progress, plant-in-service, and other accounts in the general ledger.

Assists in preparing annual FERC report.

Prepares gross receipts sales tax, advalorem tax, withholding tax and water conservation fee tax reports.

Attendance at work is an essential function of this position.

Calculates asset retirement costs using Handy Whitman price deflator and tracks retirement and asset

removal costs in spreadsheet.

Closes 50 to 100 completed Electric work requests monthly. Creates and enters adjusting journal entries into the SunGard computer system after each work request is closed, moving the asset cost from work-in-progress to construction not classified in the Electric general ledger accounts.

Unitizes closed work requests (50-100 monthly), identifying and comparing major asset actual costs with cost estimates. Adjusting journal entries must be made after each work order is closed and unitized that capture all the cost of the asset in the Electric plant-in-service general ledger accounts, properly accounting for customer's contributed capital, removal costs, and year-to-date depreciation for the asset.

Various general ledger accounts (plant in service, work in progress, accumulated depreciation, construction not classified etc.) must be balanced each month.

Each work request must be analyzed to determine if capital assets are created or if the request is for maintenance work and the appropriate accounting entries must be made.

Daily balancing of utility billing and pooled cash (comparison of entries generated from Electric Customer Service with general ledger amounts). Daily balancing of cash accounts for all utilities.

Daily on-line banking duties on Wells Fargo Bank's CEO system include inputting ACH payments, preparing bank draft payments for utility customers, and positive pay verifications for all checks written on City bank accounts to verify check issuance.

Bi-weekly on-line banking duty in the preparation of the payroll direct deposit for City of Farmington employees.

Monthly duties include preparation of the CRS-1 Report (payment of gross receipts taxes for the City, compensating taxes, and State of NM withholding taxes.) Monthly revenue reports are generated from the SunGard system by utility service and jurisdiction and compared with taxes collected for the month from customers in the general ledger accounts. Calculation of compensating tax owed on construction materials.

Verification of revenue from tax exempt customers must be made each month by running a query on the SunGard system. The final CRS-1 report is filed on-line monthly and payment is made by ACH.

Navajo sales tax is tracked monthly and a tax return is prepared with payment by FPO (Field Purchase Order) quarterly.

Monthly the water conservation fee is calculated, return is prepared and payment is made by FPO.

Prepares annual application for the Electric Utility Ad Valorem tax. Monthly the expense is accrued.

Monthly franchise tax payments are calculated from the SunGard generated revenue report by jurisdiction for San Juan County, Rio Arriba County, and the City of Bloomfield. Payment is made monthly for San Juan County and semi-annually for Rio Arriba County and the City of Bloomfield.

Monthly utility statistics report are prepared for the three utilities, amounts from a revenue report based on meter reads from customer service is compared with general ledger revenue amounts. Consumption and meter counts are in this report that is used by several individuals in the Electric Utility and is available to the public. Also, a query must be ran each month that counts the number of canceled accounts and/or re-billings.

Monthly procedure of "WF Month End" is ran which assigns overhead amounts for Electric work requests and takes all costs (materials, labor, overhead, and other miscellaneous charges) and creates an entry for every City work request that charges various general ledger work-in-progress accounts and an associated contra work in progress account. Accuracy of this procedure is crucial.

Monthly Electric overhead entries, and wages and benefits are transferred from various Electric divisions to the Electric construction division. An adjusting journal entry is then made into the SunGard system.

Monthly warning tag revenues are transferred from the Electric Utility to the Water and Wastewater Utilities.

Monthly entries are made to accrue interest and amortization expenses for long-term debt.

Responsible for entering adjusting journal entries for the Enterprise Accountant.

Monthly depreciation is computed in the Continuing Property Records (CPR) module in SunGard for all City assets. The report is ran, amounts in the plant-in-service accounts in the general ledger are reconciled with amounts in the CPR system, and adjusting journal entries are made monthly into the general ledger.

Monthly prepares PNM Net Due reports.

Quarterly aged receivables report by utility are prepared with a graph.

Additionally, the accounting assistant files all work requests, all tax reports, adjusting journal entries and periodically boxes, codes and archives all Utility reports.

Annually the accounting assistant assists in the preparation of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).

Prepares monthly, quarterly, and annual utility reports as needed.

Runs reports using Cognos (Qrep) as needed.

NON-ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

May serve on various employee committees, as required and assigned.

The duties listed above are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to the position.

QUALIFICATIONS

This position is subject to the City of Farmington's Drug and Alcohol Testing Policy which includes: pre-employment testing, post-accident testing, reasonable suspicion testing, return to duty testing, and follow-up testing.

Graduation from an accredited two-year college or university with a degree in accounting, finance, business or public administration, or a closely related field, or any equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to perform the duties of the position.

Successful candidate must provide enough information for a thorough background check.

Valid New Mexico driver's license with acceptable driving record for the past three years.

Comprehensive knowledge of accounting theories and practices.

Comprehensive knowledge of City operating and expenditure accounts including FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) numbers and work orders.

Working knowledge of the State of New Mexico regulations on gross receipts sales tax.

Comprehensive knowledge of municipality accounting regulations as determined by the state.

Comprehensive knowledge of utility accounting and reporting regulations as determined by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Working knowledge of modern office practices and procedures.

Demonstrated analytical and technical/computer skills using government accounting systems, and proficient in the use of personal computers and software packages, including specific knowledge of Excel, Word, and Google email software.

Ability to learn new software systems and processes.

Strong oral/written communication and systems development skills.

Dedicated, but flexible team player that utilizes good judgment and discretion.

Ability to operate a 10-key adding machine by touch and to perform arithmetic computations accurately and quickly.

Ability to utilize IBM AS/400 computer terminal to input data.

Ability to meet deadlines, prioritize work, and be flexible with work assignments.

Ability to establish and maintain working relationships with co-workers, supervisors, other City personnel and the public.

Ability to operate tools and equipment listed.

TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT USED:

Ten-key / Internet / SunGard Software / Wells Fargo CEO (Commercial Electronic Office) Internet software / Personal Computer / Scanner / Shredder / Telephone system / Fax / Copier / Printers / Calculator / Software skills needed to perform daily duties include: Word, Excel, Adobe, Google, Cognos (Qrep), and SunGard governmental software.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms.

The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The work environment is a normal office setting. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet.

WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER, M/F/D/V.

Current Openings for ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT Jobs at City of Farmington