Career Opportunity

Accountant III – Finance Department - SFPUC - (1654) – (140806) TPV

Recruitment: RTF0140805-01118860

Published: November 01, 2023

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal.

About:

• Application Opening: 11/1/2023
• Application Filing Deadline: 11/20/2023
• Annual Salary:$113,386 - $137,800
• Recruitment ID: RTF0140805-01118860

TYPE OF APPOINTMENT: PROVISIONAL (TPV)
This is not a permanent appointment. A provisional appointee must participate and be successful in a Civil Service examination for this classification and be selected through an open competitive process in order to be considered for permanent appointment. Provisional appointments may not exceed three (3) years.

WHO ARE WE?
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)
Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,300 employees operating across eight counties serving more than 2.7 million customers in the San Francisco Bay Area – 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Our Mission: To provide our customers with high quality, efficient, and reliable water, power, and wastewater services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.

Our Vision: We are an innovative utility leader, recognized for excellent results in service, safety, stewardship, and inclusiveness.

We are an award-winning and industry-leading utilities organization committed to our customers, community interests, and the environment. To learn more about our organization, please visit our website at https://www.sfpuc.org/.

We are proud of our infrastructure and programs, but most importantly, we value our highly qualified and dedicated workforce which ensures that this vision becomes a reality.

To learn more about working at the SFPUC, visit our career site at https://www.sfpuc.org/about-us/careers-sfpuc

Role description

Job Description 

The SFPUC Accounting Services division is hiring for two positions. 

Under general direction, the Accountant III performs complex and enterprise fund accounting responsibilities inclusive of processing accounting and financial records in connection with budget preparation, procurement/purchasing activities, and payroll analyses; perform complex and difficult accounting work; assist in providing directives and training to enhance operation efficiencies; develop and maintain data extracts, reports and interfaces; support fiscal year-end closing activities and analyses; maintain current knowledge of applicable ordinances, rules, regulations, and policies; prepare and present reports to peers, management or external stakeholders; interpret and explain existing accounting, auditing financial records and fiscal policies and procedures; collaborate with internal and external departmental personnel, management, external/internal auditors and the general public on fiscal and accounting matters; and. perform special projects and other duties as assigned. The Accountant III may supervise a moderate group of fund accountants and account clerks.

Essential duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

• Perform complex accounting functions consistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) standards, auditing procedures, and City policies and procedures in connection with budget preparation, purchasing activities, payroll analysis, and grants management.
• Validate and process various accounting documents and transactions in conformance with established procedures and controls.
• Review, reconcile, and validate accounting records of receipts, disbursements, and encumbrances to ensure fiscal accuracy and control.
• Perform Federal, State, and Private Grants monitoring and managing activities, including grant proposal, sponsor and award set-up, grant budget set up and modification, eligible expenditures and revenues analysis, grant reimbursement preparation, grant reconciliation, match and sub-recipients monitoring and reporting, and grant close out.
• Review, analyze, and approve various Construction Contract transactions, including contract set-up, contract modifications, progress payments, release of retentions and escrow accounts, stop notices, liens, and liquidated damages.
• Coordinate, define, develop, and maintain financial data extracts, reports, and interfaces.
• Review, prepare, reconcile, and supervise the preparation of complex financial reports.
• Direct and supervise personnel through planning, assignment, and delegation of accounting work, including training, coaching, and staff performance evaluation.
• Analyze and recommend new or updated fiscal policies, procedures, and internal controls and re-align business practices to improve operations.
• Maintain and stay current on knowledge of applicable ordinances, rules, regulations, policies, and standards affecting accounting and financial transactions.
• Support identification, creation, and maintenance of accounting codes and structures to ensure accurate recording, reporting, and control in PeopleSoft.
• Monitor fund budget and expenditures and collaborate with the Budget and Divisions to resolve spending issues.
• Lead in year-end closing activities, such as revenues and expenditure accruals, including estimates and retentions, PO and work order closeout, and encumbrance carryforward.
• Prepare and pre-audit accounting documents, transactions, and audit schedules in conformance with established procedures and controls.
• Lead in internal and external audits, such as sales and use tax audits, post-audits, and financial statement audits.
• Support the upcoming PeopleSoft post system enhancements and upgrades impacting the program, such as Chartfields restructures and converting a single business unit to multiple business units and the year-end close process improvements within various PeopleSoft modules.
• Perform the job duties for special projects and other tasks as assigned.

How to qualify

Education and Experience:

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university, preferably with major course work in accounting, finance, business administration, or related field. Such education must include eighteen(18) semester units or twenty-four ( 24) quarter units of coursework in accounting. AND

Four (4) years of professional accounting which includes analysis or problem solving. Experience must include: Working with an automated financial system, (preferably a government system) performing difficult and responsible accounting, as well as preparing financial records and reports. OR

2. City and County of San Francisco Employees with four (4) years of professional accounting experience including experience as a 1652 Accountant II.

Substitution:

A Master's degree in accounting, business administration, computer information systems, public policy, or a closely related field may be substituted for one year of work experience.

One year of full-time employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours (2,000 hours of qualifying
work experience is based on a 40-hour work week). Any overtime hours that you work
above 40 hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time
employment.

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date
unless otherwise noted.

Desirable Qualifications:

• Strong work ethic, interpersonal, oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent analytical, reconciliation, and organizational skills.
• Self-starter, a team player, and detailed oriented.
• Advanced computer skills and advanced spreadsheet (e.g., Excel) experience.
• Able to retain and work with minimum supervision and take initiative.
• Flexibility and adaptability.
• Ability to prioritize multiple and competing assignments to meet due date.

"The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.”

Verification:

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process..

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications. Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

What else should I know?

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About The Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and updated. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Job Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the job analyst, Rocio Mendoza, by email at rmendoza@sfwater.org.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.