TEMPORARY Accounting Technician

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

The duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to this class.

• Performs a variety of accounts payable duties associated with college co-curricular and athletic activities, student clubs, scholarship recipients and other college-specific accounts; reviews requisitions and purchase order requests, verifying proper account codes and required approvals; prepares purchase orders and sends to vendors following approval; reviews invoices and requests for payment to verify accuracy, completeness and adherence to District policies and terms of contracts; submits to manager for approval of payment; prints checks and mails or distributes to vendors, coaches and others; matches accounts payable invoices and enters into the system; verifies all statements and invoice balances.
• Assists students at the cashier window; accesses student accounts and answers a variety of questions about account balances, financial aid and work study checks received and payments made; researches balances with Admissions & Records and Financial Aid staff to answer student questions; takes payments for account balances, transcripts and other transactions in cash, by check or by credit cards; records transactions in student accounts; processes payments for Associated Student Body cards, parking permits and other items and posts transactions; issues receipts for all payments received; balances cash and credit card payments received; researches credit card transactions for refund issues or chargeback transactions; closes out and balances cash drawers at business office closing.
• Performs a variety of accounts receivable duties; prepares bills for agencies sponsoring students including the Veterans Administration, Workforce Investment Board, international students, police agencies, private companies and others based on sponsorship agreements; uploads student data from the District ERP system to generate sponsor invoices; deposits and posts payments received to student accounts; monitors all incoming payments made by the Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of G.I. Bill recipients; reviews and coordinates with the VA and campus Veteran's Office adjustments and changes needed to correct invoicing and collection of tuition and fees; provides prompt reporting on funding of tuition and fees to the VA in the event of changes in student financial aid status; creates and initiates payments of debts owed in compliance with VA, Treasury and VA Debt Management requirements; ensures readiness for VA audits; vouchers any refunds back to sponsors.
• Performs cash management duties; reconciles daily cash payments and prepares bank deposits; performs monthly cash vault reconciliations subject to manager review; counts and verifies deposits of parking and library fees and athletics receipts.
• May provide day-to-day lead work guidance and direction to student aides performing cashiering duties; assigns, schedules and monitors work for completeness, accuracy and conformance with District, department and legal/regulatory requirements and standards; provides information, instruction and training on work procedures and technical, legal and regulatory requirements.
• Assists in the disbursement of financial aid; determines student accounts with outstanding balances and nets award amounts against those balances; runs reports in District ERP system of approved financial aid checks and provides to bank; voids and reissues stale dated checks incorrectly issued, lost or stolen; maintains logs of checks issued and direct deposits made; assists with monthly reconciliations; bills/rebills students for payments due based on dropped classes and no shows; runs aging reports to balance and reconcile accounts.
• Audits student accounts to determine any errors in awards, account adjustments and student payments; verifies refunds have been properly made and credits accurately calculated.
• When assigned to the Reedley Food Services department, prepares requisitions for food staples, perishables, vendor baked goods, snacks, drinks, cooking and service supplies and other items and processes invoices for payment; prepares and maintains accounting records involving a variety of transactions and accounts; participates in estimating costs for private catering orders/events and invoices customers; balances cash receipts, reconciles to cash register transaction records and prepares bank deposits; maintains meal plan accounts and posts purchases and adjustments to accounts; orders and maintains an inventory of consumables, tools and other items; correctly prepares and processes student and provisional payrolls.
• Demonstrates sensitivity to and understanding of historically minoritized groups and participates in professional development activities to increase cultural competency to enhance equity-minded practices within the District.

OTHER DUTIES

• Processes student payment worksheets for residence hall students; reviews, reconciles, audits and maintains student accounts; notifies students of balances due; prepares and maintains dorm/cafe worksheets.
• Assists District Payroll staff in performing payroll support duties; matches time slips with absence forms; sorts and enters absences into the payroll system; runs reports to verify accuracy; prepares responses to employment verification requests; picks up payroll checks from the county treasury and sends to campuses for distribution.
• Performs a variety of clerical and administrative support duties including answering the telephone and collecting and distributing the mail, maintaining office calendars, typing correspondence and form letters and maintaining an inventory of office supplies.
• Performs related duties as assigned.

Employment Standards / Minimum Qualifications

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Knowledge of:

• District policies, procedures and practices governing purchasing, accounts payable processing, cash handling and receipting and related financial transactions.
• Basic bookkeeping methods and practices.
• Business math.
• Federal, state and District rules, regulations, policies and procedures governing the award of financial aid at a level of detail necessary to perform assigned duties.
• Use and operation of applicable modules of the District's enterprise accounting and finance and student accounting systems.
• Federal Privacy Act regulations regarding the release of private employee and student information.
• Customer service practices and etiquette.
• Principles and practices of sound business communication including English usage, spelling, grammar and punctuation.
• Modern office practices, procedures and equipment including appropriate software applications.

Skills and Abilities to:

• Make highly detailed comparisons, calculations and tabulations of financial data and review accounting and related documents accurately and rapidly.
• Carry out work independently, ensuring a high degree of accuracy.
• Organize, set priorities and exercise sound judgment within established guidelines.
• Interpret, apply and explain rules, regulations, policies and procedures and apply them in a variety of procedural situations.
• Operate a computer using spreadsheet and other standard business software; operate other standard office equipment.
• Maintain a variety of financial records and files.
• Maintain confidentiality of documents and records.
• Effectively engage and support historically minoritized groups by addressing issues of equity and improving culturally responsive service-oriented practices.
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Understand and follow written and oral instructions.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with all those encountered in the course of work.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Graduation from high school or GED equivalent supplemented by college coursework in accounting and at least two years of progressively responsible experience performing financial or statistical recordkeeping, paraprofessional accounting or bookkeeping; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.

Completion of sixty college units including fifteen units in accounting OR an associate degree in accounting, business or a related field is desirable.

LICENSES, CERTIFICATES AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Certain assignments may require a California driver's license and the ability to maintain insurability under the Districts vehicle insurance program.

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DEMANDS

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

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this class, employees are regularly required to sit; talk or hear, both in person and by telephone; use hands repetitively to finger, handle, feel or operate computers and standard office equipment; and reach with hands and arms. An employee is frequently required to stand and walk; and lift up to 10 pounds and occasionally up to 25 pounds.

Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

Mental Demands

While performing the duties of this class, employees are regularly required to use written and oral communication skills; read and interpret data, information and documents; analyze and solve problems; use math and mathematical reasoning; learn and apply new information and skills; perform highly detailed work on multiple concurrent tasks with frequent interruptions; and interact with managers, employees, students and others encountered in the course of work.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential duties of this class. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Employees work in a typical office environment and the noise level is generally quiet to moderate.

The employee may be required to travel to locations other than assigned work site and to adjust to work schedule changes and requirements to work overtime.

Assessment Process

Only the most qualified applicants will be invited to interview for the assignment.