AP/AR Accountant

About the Role

The Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Purchasing Accountant performs accounting, purchasing, and clerical functions to ensure accurate and timely processing of financial transactions. This role manages the full cycle of accounts payable and accounts receivable activities, supports month-end close, assists with audit preparation, and handles purchasing operations.

Responsibilities

• Manage the full cycle of Accounts Payable, from receiving and verifying invoices to processing payments and maintaining vendor and staff relationships.
• Oversee Accounts Receivable processes, including issuing invoices, tracking payments, and following up on overdue accounts.
• Actively manage collections activities, including communicating with internal program teams and external customers, escalating delinquent accounts, and resolving billing discrepancies.
• Monitor and reconcile daily bank transactions, ensuring cash balances are accurate and discrepancies are addressed promptly.
• Apply customer payments to accounts receivable, research and resolve unapplied cash, short payments, and billing differences.
• Maintain organized and accurate records in compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements.
• Prepare journal entries to ensure the general ledger reflects accurate and up-to-date financial data.
• Assist with month-end close activities, including reconciling balance sheet accounts, preparing accruals, and supporting interagency reconciliations.
• Support financial reporting by preparing data for variance analyses, including budget-to-actual and trend analyses, and ad-hoc requests.
• Provide audit support by compiling schedules, gathering documentation, and responding to auditor inquiries.
• Participate in special projects such as process automation, ERP enhancements, and cross-functional initiatives to improve efficiency and accuracy.
• Support purchasing operations, including processing purchase orders, coordinating with vendors, verifying receipt of goods and services, and ensuring compliance with internal policies.

Requirements

• Three to five years of related experience in accounting or finance operations with proven hands-on Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable expertise, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Proficiency with accounting software (e.g., NetSuite) and advanced spreadsheets (e.g., Excel with pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, data validation).
• Strong mathematical skills, including the ability to compute rates, ratios, and percentages, and a solid understanding of journal entries and reconciliations.
• Excellent communication skills for working with vendors, funders, auditors, and internal teams.
• Ability to express oneself clearly and effectively, with superior interpersonal skills and the ability to collaborate with diverse personalities.
• Tactful, mature, and flexible with a proactive problem-solving mindset and willingness to adapt in a fast-paced environment.
• Exercises discretion and independent judgment in executing tasks, identifying issues, and proposing solutions.
• Sensitivity to cultural diversity.
• Subject to drug and alcohol screening, as well as aptitude and skills testing.

Skills

• Advanced Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, data validation).
• Accounting software (e.g., NetSuite).
• General ledger and financial reporting.
• Month-end close and audit support.
• Purchasing and vendor coordination.

Work Environment

• Not eligible for remote work.
• Works collaboratively with management and agency staff in a moderate-noise office environment.
• Regularly required to sit, talk, hear, and use hands; must be able to lift and carry up to 25 lbs.