What are the responsibilities and job description for the Staff Accountant position at Highgate?
Overview
The Staff Accountant is responsible for assisting the Director of Finance and Assistant Director of Finance in maintaining accurate and timely financial reporting; ensuring acceptable levels of internal control; ensuring compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations and Highgate Hotels Standard Operating Procedures; and safeguarding owners / investors assets. For this role, the emphasis is placed on the management of Payroll, Income Audit and Accounts Receivable processing and collections.
Responsibilities
- Monitor, prepare, and communicate financial reports in accordance with Highgate Hotels required due dates.
- Income Audit including entering information into the BiPortal on a daily basis.
- Maintain responsibility for the daily Accounts Receivable credit, billing, and collection process.
- Monitor payment requirements on groups or functions and process deposits.
- Approve or decline credit requests.
- Complete collection calls on each appropriate outstanding accounts and maintain collection files on each outstanding issue.
- Review and approve the City Ledger transfers daily and communicate to supervisor any deviation from established Accounting policies and procedures.
- Handle customer inquiries in a professional and timely manner, provide customers with accurate invoices, statements, and schedules.
- Process returned checks and credit card chargebacks.
- Conduct monthly credit meetings and maintain minutes (including returned checks / chargeback logs, credit trace reports, write-off, bad debt allowances, etc.)
- Partner with the Sales and Events Team by establishing customer credit, including but no limited to application processing, reference checks, credit limitation, direct billing list, and deposit requirements.
- Maintain an efficient collection process to include organized filing and tracing system, issuing letter, monitoring returned checks and charge backs, performing collection calls and preparing bad debt write-offs.
- Update daily revenue reports both for internal distribution and corporate distribution.
- Monitor guest ledger, advance deposit ledger and any other related ledgers to ensure proper internal control.
- Keep management aware of any unusual operation or financial occurrences and / or significant deviations.
- Reconcile invoices against ledgers or schedules to ensure accuracy of invoicing.
- Assist in the monthly close process by posting journal entries that are related to daily / monthly responsibilities.
- Ensure overall guest satisfaction by attentive listening and then immediately resolving guest issues or elevating to the Director of Finance or General Manager.
- Cross-Train in other areas within the Accounting Department including accounts payable.
- Ability to identify root causes of issues that may affect staff or guests and provide actionable and measurable solutions to improve efficiency, overall work environment, and / or guest experience
Qualifications
