Accounting Team Leader

Position Responsibilities & Duties

• Develop and provide pro-active, specialized reporting to accounting and sales teams on promotional spending as a percent of sales, slotting expenses incurred, and returns and allowances dollars expensed.
• Generate periodic KPI reports for business leadership, highlighting trends and root causes of customer deductions.
• Provide ad-hoc reporting and analysis as needed to support business initiatives.
• Lead the Accounts Receivable Team:
• Establish clear team goals and performance expectations.
• Offer daily support through effective delegation, coaching, and feedback to ensure optimal team performance.
• Foster professional growth and development of team members through mentorship and training opportunities.
• Manage Deductions on Customer Accounts:
• Review escalated deductions to assess validity, and work with customers or brokers to recover invalid charges.
• Identify recurring deduction trends and collaborate across functions to implement preventive process improvements.
• Partner with the pricing team to enhance pricing condition accuracy and reduce deduction occurrences.
• Provide guidance and support to the AR team in resolving complex issues.
• Champion the New TPM System:
• Leverage expertise in the current Vistex system to actively support the successful rollout of the new TPM platform.
• Serve as a subject matter expert and super-user for the TPM system, offering training and ongoing support to team members.
• Minimize days outstanding of receivables
• Maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to support achievement of trade fund and deduction management goals.
• Monitor collection activity and outstanding balances to ensure total accounts receivable remains within acceptable thresholds and aging targets.
• Drive Cross-Functional Collaboration:
• Act as a liaison between Accounts Receivable, Sales, Pricing, and Customer Service to ensure alignment and timely resolution of deduction-related issues.
• Promote open communication and shared accountability for customer financial performance.
• Continuous Improvement:
• Identify inefficiencies in AR and deduction processes, and lead initiatives to streamline workflows and eliminate waste.
• Promote a culture of process improvement within the team through regular feedback, collaboration, and innovation.

Contacts

• Internal contacts: Sales, customer service, and logistics personnel.
• External contacts: Customers, brokers, buyers, and auditors.

Scope of Authority

• Assignments to this position are most often outlined and work in progress is reviewed occasionally. Completed work is reviewed periodically.

Essential Skills

• Thrives on driving continuous improvement.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with a customer service focus.
• Dedicated team player.
• Ability to manage projects and work under the stress of deadlines.
• Strong analytical skills with a demonstrated ability to analyze and interpret written business/statistical data.
• Strong understanding of accounting transactions.
• Excellent organizational skills and must have the ability to multi-task.
• The ability to work well with others with a positive/encouraging attitude.
• Works independently on assignments of standard difficulty.
• Serves as an HPWP champion.

Related Experience/Educational Level

• 2+ years experience in Accounting.
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting is preferred.
• Proficiency in MS Excel and Word.
• History of driving continuous improvement projects.

Licenses/Certifications

• None required.

Work Schedule

• This position is a 1st shift position.
• We have a hybrid office schedule. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are dedicated office days with Monday and Friday being flexible days to work at home if needed.