GENERAL DEFINITION

This is supervisory accounting work directing a staff providing financial support and accounting services in a section of the City's Central Finance Office. Employees in this class direct accounting and clerical personnel engaged in performing grants accounting and administration, monitoring and controlling the City's computerized accounting systems, and performing financial editing, posting and analysis of City accounting transactions. Work involves providing technical direction in resolving problems encountered in the provision of financial and accounting services to departments. Contact with departmental administrative and fiscal officials to explain and coordinate procedures is significant to the work. The employee is supervised by a technical supervisor.

ALLOCATING FACTORS:
(The following conditions must be met for a position to be approved for this class.)

• Work must be performed within the Central Finance Department's Accounting Division.
• The position must supervise an accounting and clerical staff performing a City-wide accounting or accounting support function.

TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF WORK (ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY)

• Plans, assigns and reviews the activities of a group of grant accounting personnel engaged in the identification of grant opportunities; evaluates staff recommendations to modify departmental grant accounting operations; reviews financial documents prepared by subordinates; examines the analysis of problems pertaining to accounting procedures, vendor payment and similar matters and recommendations for resolution of problems prepared by subordinates; reviews the provision of federal grant programs to determine whether such grants pertain to city operations; determines the cost effectiveness of grant programs; contacts departmental officials on feasibility and applicability of grants to departmental operations; advises appropriate officials of the essential provisions of such grants; discusses the fiscal impact of grant proposals on the city budget with appropriate superiors.
• Ensures proper execution of the procedures related to computerized financial accounting systems; researches and resolves output problems; consults with central computer agency on complex problems; verifies proper execution of programs to ensure they were run completely and accurately; supervises staff responsible for these technical functions; maintains the integrity of the city-wide financial accounting management information system; generates ad hoc reports using report generator utilities; maintains files pertinent to the city-wide financial accounting management information system; ensures the proper transference of data from one fiscal year to the next; oversees the security of data files; develops users' manuals and interacts with the central computer agency to keep abreast of their published standards manual; attends user group meetings; supervises the batching, entry and verification of a large volume of data concerning city-wide accounting transactions; instructs the operators as to the appropriate system to enter information; reviews work in progress and upon completion for conformance with established policies and procedures; spot-checks reports for accuracy and completeness.
• Supervises, through subordinate accounting and clerical supervisors, the financial editing of all City accounting transactions, including the receipt, review and processing of expenditures, encumbrances and contracts; supervises, through subordinate supervisors, the analysis and posting of all accounts payable or receivable transactions for a City-wide accounting operation; supervises and participates in the preparation of reports and statements on the status of accounts, funds receivables, and revenues; provides technical assistance to subordinates; coordinates and monitors the work of the units engaged in processing accounting transactions; identifies problems in the work flow; establishes new or modifies existing procedures to facilitate the processing and recording of financial transactions.
• Works with data processing personnel to computerize municipal revenue and accounts payable systems; supervises the creation and maintenance of files; ensures that staff remain abreast of applicable municipal accounting and administrative laws and regulations; establishes priorities and deadlines as necessary.
• Monitors, reviews, and documents the work of accounting and financial support staff; monitors and documents the quality and level of their work; supervises accounting data processing work, monitoring and controlling computerized accounting systems and diagnosing production problems for the City's centralized accounting bureau in the maintenance of financial accounting information.
• Reviews pronouncements of changes in generally accepted accounting principles and accounting literature to ensure that the section is operating efficiently and adhering to generally accepted accounting principles.
• Performs related work as required.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGES, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

KNOWLEDGE OF:

• the standards, guidelines, and requirements for governmental accounting as set forth in the statements of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.
• the principles, standards and practices of the accounting profession including pronouncements of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Government Finance Officers Association.
• principles, practices, and techniques of accounting as they refer to Municipal bonded indebtedness and bond sales.
• principles and practices of governmental accounting and grants administration.
• principles and practices of office management.
• the computerized accounting data base utilized by a large municipality including file structure , data entry methods, data processing hierarchy, and data retrieval capabilities.
• computer software for government and general accounting and financial reporting.
• principles and practices of Public Administration and their application to a large centralized accounting operation.

SKILL IN:

• examining and analyzing financial records.
• preparing a variety of computerized accounting statements and reports.

ABILITY TO:

• supervise the work of a staff of accounting and clerical personnel.
• learn legal regulations and City directives governing the Municipal Accounting System.
• utilize computer software for accounting and financial reporting.
• establish standards and special account procedures and forms.
• prepare and interpret a variety of accounting statements and reports.
• analyze and examine financial reports and records.
• analyze and interpret organizational and procedural problems and to make cogent recommendations.
• establish and maintain effective working relationships with associates and departmental officials.

MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

(The following statement represents the minimum training and experience standards which will be used to admit or reject applicants for tests. Applications submitted by candidates for this class will be reviewed based on training and experience requirements as approved on 11/96.)

EDUCATION:

• Completion of a bachelor's degree in accounting at an accredited college or university.

AND
GENERAL EXPERIENCE:


• Three years of accounting experience.

AND
SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE:


• Two years of accounting experience in a municipal central accounting agency at the advanced performance level.

Or any equivalent combination of education and experience determined to be acceptable by the Personnel Department that has included the specific experience described above and that has included a bachelor's degree in accounting as an educational minimum.

PHYSICAL AND MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required of a position in this class.

PAY RANGE: EP23
Class Established: 9/1986

Latest Spec. Revision:
  CSC - 11/1996 ; Ad Board - 3/1997

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