ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT

Regular, full-time position in the Administrative Services/Finance department.

Pay

$21.98 - $34.18 per hour.

Schedule

Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Responsibilities

• Performs a variety of accounting procedures in the Finance division, implementing departmental and divisional goals, standards, and objectives.
• 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, including utility billing revenue, construction work-in-progress, plant-in-service, and customer utility deposit accounts.
• Compiles revenue and statistical utility billing reports for the Enterprise Accountant.
• Balances work orders to construction work-in-progress, plant-in-service, and other accounts in the general ledger.
• Prepares various tax reports, including gross receipts sales tax, governmental sales tax, ad valorem tax, withholding tax, Navajo sales tax, and water conservation fee tax reports.
• Calculates asset retirement costs for the Electric Utility using Handy Whitman price deflator and tracks retirement and asset removal costs in spreadsheets.
• Unitizes closed work requests, identifying and comparing major asset actual costs with cost estimates.
• Makes adjusting journal entries after each work order is closed and unitized to capture all costs in the Electric plant-in-service general ledger accounts.
• Balances various general ledger accounts (plant in service, work in progress, accumulated depreciation, construction not classified) each month.
• Analyzes work requests to determine if capital assets are created or if the request is for maintenance work, making appropriate accounting entries.
• Performs daily balancing of utility billing and pooled cash, comparing entries generated from Electric Customer Service with general ledger amounts.
• Balances cash accounts for all utilities daily.
• Prepares the monthly CRS-1 Report for payment of gross receipts taxes, governmental taxes, compensating taxes, and State of NM withholding taxes.
• Generates monthly revenue reports from the Central Square system by utility service, broken down by service, jurisdiction, and rate class, and compares with taxes collected.
• Calculates compensating tax owed on construction materials and verifies revenue from tax-exempt customers monthly.
• Files the final CRS-1 report online monthly and makes payment by ACH.
• Tracks Navajo sales tax monthly and prepares a tax return with payment by FPO quarterly.
• Calculates the water conservation fee monthly, prepares the return, and makes payment by FPO.
• Prepares the annual application for the Electric Utility Ad Valorem tax and accrues the expense monthly.
• Prepares monthly franchise tax payments.
• Compiles monthly utility statistics reports for the four utilities.
• Runs the "WF Month End" procedure, assigning overhead amounts for Electric work requests and creating entries for various general ledger work-in-progress accounts.
• Transfers monthly Electric overhead entries, wages, and benefits from various Electric divisions to the Electric construction division and makes adjusting journal entries into the ERP system.
• Transfers monthly warning tag revenues from the Electric Utility to the Water and Wastewater Utilities.
• Makes monthly entries to accrue interest and amortization expenses for long-term debt.
• Performs monthly interdepartmental billing reconciliation, ensuring balance and following up on discrepancies.
• Enters adjusting journal entries for the Enterprise Accountant.
• Computes monthly depreciation in the Continuing Property Records (CPR) module in Central Square NaviLine, reconciles amounts, and makes adjusting journal entries into the general ledger.
• Prepares quarterly aged receivables reports by utility with a graph.
• Files all work requests, tax reports, adjusting journal entries, and periodically boxes, codes, and archives all Utility reports.
• Prepares additional monthly, quarterly, and annual utility reports as necessary.
• Generates reports using query software as needed.
• Documents and maintains procedures for job duties within the Finance division.
• Cross-trains on other positions and trains others to be a backup for this position.
• Maintains and adheres to safety procedures and handles confidential and sensitive material.
• Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with employees, officials, and the general public.
• May serve on various employee committees as required and assigned.

Requirements

• Subject to the City of Farmington's Drug and Alcohol Testing Policy, including pre-employment, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, return-to-duty, and follow-up testing.
• Pre-employment physical and/or drug/alcohol test required.
• Graduation from an accredited two-year college or university with a degree in accounting, finance, business, public administration, or a closely related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Extensive background checks required.
• Valid New Mexico driver's license with acceptable driving record for the past three years.
• Knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) statements, theories, and practices.
• Comprehensive knowledge of utility accounting, reporting regulations, operating and expenditure accounts, and work orders related to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is preferred.
• Working knowledge of the State of New Mexico regulations on gross receipts sales tax is preferred.
• Comprehensive knowledge of municipality accounting regulations as determined by the state is preferred.
• Working knowledge of modern office practices and procedures.
• Comprehensive knowledge of computer applications and software packages, including Central Square Public Sector, MS Excel, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Access, Adobe Acrobat Professional, Google email software, and other electronic document management systems.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, analytical and problem-solving, and customer service skills.
• Ability to utilize IBM AS/400 computer terminal to input data is preferred.
• Ability to establish priorities, work independently, and proceed with objectives with minimal supervision.
• Ability to meet deadlines, prioritize work, and be flexible with work assignments.
• Strong work ethic, displaying initiative, adaptability, and integrity.
• Ability to work under stress, manage a heavy workload under pressure with tight deadlines, and handle frequent interruptions.
• Ability to establish and maintain working relationships with co-workers, supervisors, other City personnel, and the public.

Skills

• Ten-key proficiency.
• Proficiency with internet software, Central Square Software, Wells Fargo CEO (Commercial Electronic Office), personal computers, scanners, shredders, telephone systems, fax machines, copiers, printers, and calculators.

Physical Demands

• Frequently required to sit and talk or hear.
• Occasionally required to walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms.
• Must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

• Normal office setting with usually quiet noise levels.