Accounting Specialist - YMCA of the Triangle

POSITION SUMMARY: 

Under the direction of the Sr. Accounting Manager, the Accounting Specialist will provide critical support to the Finance department, ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of financial transactions. This position is essential for maintaining the integrity of the financial records and will support activities within general ledger, accounts receivable, and accounts payable. The Accounting Specialist will be responsible for managing daily, weekly, and monthly accounting activities, including reviewing and reconciling account postings for accuracy. The role also requires strong organizational skills and the ability to work autonomously while maintaining a collaborative approach with internal teams. The Accounting Specialist will contribute to the accuracy and efficiency of the month-end close process and help support financial reporting.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: 

List the broad categories of duties for this position. 

General Ledger Accounting: 

• Collaborates with cross-functional teams, including the product team, VP of Financial Planning and Analysis, Customer Success and IT, to create and maintain general ledger accounts in financial systems, ensuring accurate and consistent categorization of products sold in the CRM sub-system. 

• Monitors and reconciles daily cash deposits against the CRM sub-system, analyzing discrepancies and resolving issues in partnership with branch staff. 

• Cross-trains to support the electronic import of general ledger activity from the CRM sub-system into the financial general ledger system, ensuring all transactions are recorded accurately and promptly. 

• Assists in month-end general ledger close processes, analyzing accounts for discrepancies, ensuring compliance with accounting policies, and providing insights into any unusual variances. 

Accounts Receivable Accounting: 

• Processes daily customer refunds in CRM sub-system, ensuring accuracy and compliance with policies. 

• Exports customer refund data weekly, analyzing for discrepancies and resolving issues in collaboration with Customer Success and Accounts Payable. 

• Investigates chargebacks and EFT returns, ensuring they are posted to customer accounts in a timely manner.  

• Works closely with internal teams to resolve discrepancies on customer accounts and propose solutions to prevent recurrence. 

• Processes customer account adjustments, collaborating with Customer Success to resolve issues and create solutions for recurring problems. 

Accounts Payable Accounting: 

• Collaborates with Accounts Payable to resolve returned payments and performs monthly AP and P-card reconciliations to ensure accurate and timely processing. 

• Assists in creating and improving accounting processes to streamline accounts payable activities and ensure compliance with YMCA policies. 

Additional Key Functions: 

• Prepares and distributes Taxes, Insurance, and Common Area Maintenance (TICAM) reports, collaborating with Properties & Facilities to make informed expense decisions, ensuring compliance with lease agreements and YMCA accounting policy. 

• Works with the Personify Product Team, VP of Financial Planning and Analysis, and IT to properly code new products using Power BI, applying judgment to categorize transactions accurately. 

• Ensures compliance with accounting standards and best practices by maintaining proper record retention and handling of confidential banking and customer information, recording of journal entries, and ensuring the accuracy of financial data. 

• Manages daily cash activity and bank reconciliations, ensuring transactions are recorded correctly and in accordance with company policies. 

• Monitors daily Merchant activity for customer credit card transactions and chargebacks, creating solutions to resolve discrepancies and prevent future issues. 

• Proactively identifies areas for process improvements and suggests adjustments to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of accounting operations. 
• Assists with auditor requests by preparing requested documentation and ensuring that all financial records are up to date and compliant with regulatory standards. 

QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Ideal candidate will have a 4-year accounting or business degree 

• Ideal candidate will have a minimum 2 to 5 years of experience in an accounting support role  

• Experience with general accounting responsibilities, including general ledger, accounts receivable, and accounts payable 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills 

• Strong customer service orientation, creative problem solving, interpersonal and diplomacy skills, collaborative work style 

• Ability to operate as a team player juggling multiple priorities  

• Must have total commitment to the mission of the YMCA and uphold its values and ethics. 

• Must already have a work authorization that would permit them to work for the YMCA of the Triangle Area in the United States. 

WORK ENVIRONMENT & PHYSICAL DEMANDS: 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use a computer for extended periods of time and be able to communicate using a computer and phone/smart device. 

• The employee frequently is required to sit and reach, and must be able to move around the work environment. 

• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 30 pounds. 

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust. 

• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. 

• Ability to drive a vehicle and travel to events as needed/required 

• Occasional travel; occasionally overnight, may be necessary.