Contract Interim Shared Services Accounting Lead

About the role

This is a Remote based role, but candidate is required to be located in the US Central Time Zone or Eastern Time Zone. This role serves as the functional lead for shared services accounting operations, with responsibility spanning accounts receivable (including billing, collections, and cash applications), accounts payable, travel & expenses, cash management, and tax and regulatory compliance.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily billing activity; review and approve invoices prior to posting and delivery to customers.
• Resolves highly complex and sensitive service-related billing issues.
• Works cross-functionally to review customer contracts and ensure proper billing set-up adhering to underlying system requirements and policy standards.
• Directs and monitors all aspects of customer collections, ensuring timely follow-up and resolution.
• Reviews and oversees customer payment processing and accurate application to customer accounts.
• Reviews and approves customer refund processing, with proper support and agreements attached.
• Reviews and approves bad debt write-offs, in accordance with policy.
• Performs quality assurance activities to review the accuracy of customer invoices.
• Resolves issues arising from actions or events involving administrative functions.
• Oversees accounts payable activity; reviews and approves supplier invoices, ensures proper coding, approvals routing, and maintenance of supplier records.
• Oversees T&E activity; reviews and approves submissions for proper coding and policy compliance.
• Oversees cash activity; reviews and approves transactions to ensure proper coding and accuracy.
• Oversees tax and regulatory notice activity; ensures all items are tracked, filed, and resolved in a timely manner, including escalations to outsourced tax advisory team.
• Leads and coordinates month-end close procedures; reviews and approves journal entries and account reconciliations submitted by team members, ensuring all deadlines are met and books are closed on time.
• Responds to all forms of inquiries from internal and external stakeholders pertaining to the job function.
• Facilitate day-to-day workflow coordination for a team of 4 shared services accounting professionals, serving as the primary point of escalation for operational questions and issues.
• Conduct weekly standing team meetings and individual check-ins (1:1s) to review workload, track progress, address questions, and ensure tasks are on track and priorities are aligned.
• Maintain team availability to proactively plan workload distribution and coordinate coverage, ensuring uninterrupted operations during planned absences.
• Identify and escalate any performance or conduct concerns to the VP, Corporate Controller in a timely manner; this role does not conduct formal performance evaluations.
• As needed, conduct process improvement measures on ad-hoc or case-by-case basis if obstacles or issues are encountered. Share process optimizations and error-elimination improvements with the VP, Corporate Controller.
• Coverage of internal and external audit requests related to accounts receivable, billing, collections, cash applications, accounts payable, T&E, cash, and tax and regulatory areas; gather and organize supporting documentation and liaise with auditors as needed.
• Support ad hoc projects and initiatives as assigned by the VP, Corporate Controller.

Requirements

• Intermediate knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles.
• Meets all team and individual deadlines and responsibilities, listens to others and values options, helps meet goals and promotes a team atmosphere.
• Maintains extreme confidentiality, both internally and externally, with all matters.
• Judgment to plan, prioritize and accomplish goals. Ability to think ahead and be proactive. Able to manage multiple concurrent projects.
• Meets commitments, works independently, accepts accountability, handles change, sets personal standards and stays focused under pressure.
• Communicates effectively both verbally and in writing, creates accurate and punctual reports, delivers presentations, shares information and ideas with others, has good listening skills.
• Tackles problems and takes independent action, seeks out new responsibilities, acts on opportunities, generates new ideas, practices self-development.
• Deals with others in a straightforward and honest manner, is accountable for actions, supports Company values, and conveys good news and bad.
• Adapts to new environments and changing requirements. Pivots quickly as needed. When coached, responds to need & seeks info from other sources.
• Shows commitment and dedication to shrink learning curve.
• Demonstrated ability to identify inefficiencies and implement process improvements and automation; able to document workflows, evaluate controls, leverage technology to reduce manual effort, and drive sustainable change across accounting operations.
• Experience supporting internal and/or external audit processes; familiar with audit request management, documentation standards, and working effectively with auditors.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business management, or other relevant subject areas, OR equivalent years of experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified.
• 5+ years of progressive accounting leadership experience required, including demonstrated experience coordinating or overseeing a shared services accounting team.
• Experience with process improvement and automation initiatives in a shared services or accounting environment strongly preferred; formal methodology (e.g. Lean, Six Sigma) strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting audit requests across AR, AP, T&E, cash, and/or tax and regulatory areas preferred.
• Advanced MS Excel skills required.
• Workday Financials experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with billing portals, such as Ariba, Coupa, etc., preferred.
• Experience with a professional services organization a plus.
• Experience with a private equity backed organization a plus.
• Experience with a middle market organization preferred.

Skills

• Intermediate knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles.
• Intermediate knowledge of process improvement and automation initiatives.
• Intermediate knowledge of audit request management and documentation standards.
• Intermediate knowledge of professional services organization operations.
• Intermediate knowledge of private equity backed organization operations.
• Intermediate knowledge of middle market organization operations.

Benefits

At Schellman, we strive to provide a flexible and balanced environment and therefore offer the opportunity to work remotely, unless otherwise stated in the job requirements. Connecting, collaborating and continuous education are also highly valued and therefore we require some travel annually for our Internal Service Delivery roles, which can include in-person training, team meet-ups, and strategy meetings. Service Delivery team members will also be required to travel based on business and client needs.

Pay

Compensation is competitive and commensurate with experience.

Schedule

The role is remote based, but requires the candidate to be located in the US Central Time Zone or Eastern Time Zone.