Accounting Technician - Payroll, Utilities, and Accounts Payable

General Purpose

Examples of Duties

Employee and Supervisor Support: Responds to complex payroll inquiries from employees and supervisors. Provides information on earnings, withholdings, retirement, insurance, and other payroll-related concerns.

Accounts Payable Duties

Invoice and Payment Processing: Receives, reviews, and processes invoices and claims for payment. Matches invoices with purchase orders, verifies account coding, and reconciles discrepancies. Enters invoices into the AP system, scans and attaches invoices, and audits batches for accuracy. Prepares and mails AP checks, ensuring proper documentation and compliance with policies. Generates and verifies Positive Pay files for bank submission.

Vendor and Record Management: Maintains and updates vendor records, ensuring W-9 documentation is current. Prepares annual 1099 forms for qualifying vendors. Removes obsolete vendors and reconciles monthly vendor statements, securing missing invoices and necessary departmental approvals. Monitors changes to tax law to ensure compliance.

Check Auditing and Compliance: Audits checks for accuracy, completeness, authorized signatures, and proper documentation. Applies independent judgment to address non-compliance issues. Maintains detailed void check logs and processes voids, stop payments, and check reissues due to loss, misdelivery, or expiration, coordinating with payees.

Credit Card Management: Administers the City’s credit card program, including card issuance, activation/deactivation, and credit limit adjustments. Monitors and reconciles transactions, ensures policy-compliant receipts and statements, and processes monthly payments. Enters transactions into the financial system and follows up with cardholders for timely submission.

Travel Policy Administration: Assists employees with travel requests, updates forms, and ensures compliance with travel and training expenditure policies. Reviews and processes completed requests, verifying accuracy and approvals.

Capital Asset Tracking: Monitors AP check runs to identify and record capital asset acquisitions. Audits and updates the asset tracking system, ensuring accuracy and coordinating with departments to verify assets.

Audit and Financial Support: Supports the annual audit by providing documentation such as check copies, AP reports, and capital asset data. Responds to inquiries regarding financial processes, internal controls, and compliance with best practices.

Utility Billing Duties

Utility Billing Expertise and Customer Service: Serves as the subject matter expert for utility billing. Resolves escalated customer inquiries (in-person, phone, or via Customer Service Center) regarding starting/stopping services, disconnects, payment arrangements, and delinquent accounts, providing information based on policy and past practice. Make decisions on service disconnections, reconnections, and payment arrangements. Acts as liaison with contracted garbage collection service, managing invoice payments, dumpster scheduling, and issue resolution.

Utility Billing and Meter Reading: Processes monthly billing files, loads software, and sends to Public Works (PW) for meter reads. Imports reads into billing software, evaluates for misreads or irregularities, sends re-read work orders to PW, and enters manual reads. Exports updated billing files to the online billing portal. Operates billing software to calculate charges, render bills, and coordinate mailing with mail service companies. Prepares and mails customer bills, processes final bills for closed accounts, and maintains billing system parameters for accurate calculations. Enters billing adjustments, work orders (on/off), and prepares requests for goodwill adjustments. Updates rate tables for rate increases and manages winter averaging calculations.

Account and Delinquency Management: Monitors utility accounts for delinquencies, partial payments, prepayments, and bankruptcy filings. Creates and mails disconnection notices, follow-up notices, and door hangers, updating for payments, exclusions, or arrangements. Performs in-house collections on closed accounts through phone calls, credit approvals, and correspondence. Researches terminated customers’ locations and coordinates delinquent accounts with collection agencies. Processes deposit refunds for terminated accounts or those with 12-month good payment history, and refunds credit balances on closed accounts. Imports daily payments from the online billing portal, updates payments in billing software, and runs monthly direct pay files for bank approval. Prepares shut-off lists, monitors payments and monthly payment arrangements, and manages vacant property lists with follow-up on vacant accounts. Enters billing changes for trash cans and updates paperless billing preferences.

Record Keeping: Maintains comprehensive digital records for utility customers, including billing and payment history, delinquency status, and account balances. Ensures compliance with records retention policies for utility data.

Cross-Functional Support: Provides backup assistance for other accounting functions, including accounts payable, cash collections, payroll, and accounts receivable, and answers routine inquiries from internal staff.

Other Duties as Assigned: Performs other related finance and accounting duties as assigned to support departmental goals and ensure continuity of operations.

Minimum Qualifications

Additional Qualifications/Information

Accounting and Bookkeeping: Proficient in accounting fundamentals, bookkeeping standards, and ethics, including general accounting techniques and budgetary principles.