GENERAL DEFINITION

This is second level supervisory work directing the activities of an accounting staff responsible for either maintaining the general and subsidiary ledgers for all city funds and preparing financial statements and reports concerning these ledgers or the preparation and maintenance of city-wide and departmental specific accounting procedures on an on-line computerized database, performing outreach accounting services to assist departments in their general accounting needs and performing technical financial analyses related to the Comprehen- sive Annual Financial Report. Work involves developing and implementing accounting procedures and systems to accommodate changing reporting requirements. Providing technical direction in resolving problems encountered in maintaining and analyzing the general and subsidiary ledgers is significant to the work. Contact with departmental officials is necessary to obtain information so that accounting transactions and reports are handled properly. The employee in this class reports to an administrative superior.

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

• Must supervise a unit of Financial Accountants at the second supervisory level.
• Must be located in the Central Finance Department.

• Supervises the activities of accountants engaged in analyzing, verifying, and recording information into the general and subsidiary ledgers; provides technical advice resolving problems encountered in maintaining and analyzing the general ledger; provides direction as to the appropriate method for handling new transactions following generally accepted accounting principles; approves transfers of funds; supervises the annual close out of general and subsidiary ledgers and the transfer of balances to next year's ledgers.
• Supervises specialized accounting analyses related to financial report publications; supervises and assists in the compilation of the extensive footnote disclosures to the financial report as promulgated by the Government Accounting Standards Board; provides direction for determining which quasi-governmental organizations should be consolidated into the city's financial report and ensures that proper communications are established to make known the city's specific needs; supervises the consolidation of this external financial activity into the city's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report; reviews Governmental Accounting Standards Board, Financial Accounting Standards Board and Governmental Finance Officers Association pronouncements; confers with superiors and subordinates to determine the impact and applicability of such pronouncements on the City's accounting procedures and methodologies; supervises the compilation and maintenance of standard city-wide accounting procedures on an on-line mode for inquiry by all City agencies; supervises and assists in the production of a city- wide Accounting Manual describing the Finance Department's policies on accounting issues; prioritizes requests for on-site assistance from departments and assigns to a staff of accountants who will provide advice to agencies; monitors the preparation of specialized departmental accounting standards; provides technical direction to subordinates in the development of automated accounting systems.
• Supervises the preparation of monthly reports and statements on the accounts and the preparation of the City-wide Annual Financial Reports; ensures adherence to generally accepted accounting principles in the preparation of these reports and statements; provides technical direction as to the methodology to use in preparing reports and related financial statements; reviews work for accuracy.
• Responds to changing pronouncements and accounting and reporting requirements by designing new accounting systems, implements new computer programming on the mainframe and personal computer to manage these systems; assigns the work responsibilities of subordinates and designs and programs accounting systems to increase productivity and accuracy; monitors workload; prioritizes assignments; provides technical advice and interacts with departments when necessary to obtain cooperation and/or information.
• Determines procedures to be revised; ascertains the workload of the unit to determine if the staff can handle the workload or whether it should be referred to another unit.
• Reviews pronouncements of changes in generally accepted accounting principles and accounting literature to ensure that the unit is operating efficiently and adhering to generally accepted accounting principles.
• Performs related work as required.

KNOWLEDGE OF:

• the principles, practices and procedures used in the analysis, development, implementation and maintenance of accounting systems, methods and procedures.
• the standards, guidelines and requirements for governmental accounting as set forth in statements of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.
• the principles, standards and practices of the accounting profession including pronounce- ments of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Government Finance Officers Association.
• the principles and practices of office management.
• the principles and practices of governmental accounting.
• the capabilities and limitations of computer software for general accounting and financial reporting.
• supervisory methods and techniques.
• the principles and practices of public administration and their application to a large centralized accounting operation.

ABILITY TO:

• interrogate, extract and transfer financial data from and between different types of stored electronic media.
• supervise the work of a staff of professional, technical and clerical personnel.
• learn legal regulations and city directives governing the municipal accounting system.
• analyze work flow processes and prepare documentation describing efficient and proper internal accounting control procedures.
• establish standards and special accounting 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 department officials.

EDUCATION

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

  AND
  GENERAL EXPERIENCE
  

• Five years of accounting experience.

  AND
  SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE
  

• One year of experience supervising the activities of a staff of accountants engaged in reviewing, recording and analyzing a high volume of accounting transactions for a city-wide accounting operation.

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 a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related area 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: EP24
Class Established: 8/1986

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

RJ/rj/deb