Supervisor, Accounting Department

Position Summary: Responsible for the general accounting functions and financial accounting system of the Owatonna Public Utilities.  Assists the Director, Finance & Administration in all aspects of financial responsibilities including but not limited to treasury functions, budgeting, audit, general ledger transactions and reconciliations, and tax accounting.  Develops and coordinates necessary and appropriate accounting and statistical data for company departments.  Acts as liaison to Customer Service regarding billing system functions and problems as they relate to the accounting department.  Supervises and schedules activities in the accounting department.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Oversees, directs, and reviews Accounting Department staff and their performance to maintain high quality and productivity.  Provides coaching, instructions, and feedback to ensure performance expectations are understood and met, including corrective action when needed.

Serves as designee for the Director, Finance and Administration as needed and performs necessary tasks to ensure continuity of operations.

Prepares procedures and systems necessary to maintain proper accounting records and to afford adequate controls.

 Oversees the preparation and accuracy of all reports prepared by the Accounting Department and responsible for verification of accuracy, completeness, and consistency of accounting information received.

Assists the Director, Finance and Administration in the development of the annual short and long-term budgeting process; administers and reviews all financial budgets as directed; monitors progress and changes and is responsible to provide support to the Leadership team in the development of their budgets.

Generates month-end journal entries, analyses, and reports.  Creates, analyzes, and presents financial reports in an accurate and timely manner.  

Reviews financial results, identifies reasons for budget variances, and ensures accounting practices adhere to FERC and GASB principles.

Creates and assembles monthly Commission financial reporting package and leads Finance Committee discussion regarding financial results.

Investigates problems, develops, and implements resolutions and conducts testing of new processes.  Recommends improvement ideas.  

Ensures all processes are accurately documented.  Delegates responsibilities as appropriate. Prepares the Accounting department annual budget and monitors budget throughout the year.  

Researches the year-to-date budget vs. actual variances and works with supervisors to identify areas needing attention and implement corrective actions.

Balances selected accounts monthly.  Reviews reconciliations performed by accounting department personnel.

Responsible to ensure completion of surveys requested of the accounting department by governmental or other organizations as requested; collaborates with other local utilities to gather and assemble rate information and completes and distributes a rate comparison report twice yearly.

Coordinates internal cost of service studies as needed and determined by the Director of Finance and Administration.  

Accumulates information from other departments, utilizes cost of service spreadsheet template to assemble data, analyzes results, and makes recommendations on rate changes.

Serves as liaison with external auditors.  Prepares audit work papers and ensures the accuracy of work papers created by other staff members. Responsible for the procedures and controls of the various financial systems and tasks including but not limited to general ledger, purchasing, inventory, project, payroll, Work in Progress (WIP), and rate setup.  

Works with Inventory Control Specialist to coordinate annual inventory counts involving multiple departments. As needed, develops, and prepares statistical data reports and queries.  Trains users on how to obtain information from the financial systems. Performs special projects as needed.

 Competencies:

Problem Solving – Utilizes consistency in approach for problem solving.  Spends time to determine the core problem and the root cause then creates solutions to solve for these.  Considers broad, organizational impacts of solution.  Asks for other perspectives in finding the right solution.  

Managing People – Sets expectations and fully supports team to ensure success.  Stays consistent in desired outcomes and expectations.  Inspires team players to work towards larger goals.  Motivates through reward and  recognition while holding accountability.  Plans activities and resources to ensure success.  Constantly communicates status or projects and works to stay on schedule.

Interpersonal – Great attitude and outlook, positive demeanor.  Being fair, but consistent.  Remains calm and respectful in all difficult situations.  Understands the value of building rapport.  Maintains confidentiality.

Communication – Communicates message clearly in a manner that creates interest and motivation.  Speaks in an organized fashion in public forums to clearly get point across.  Creates clear message and associated points in writing.

Team Work – Assigns work and trusts members to be accountable for completion.  Allows team members to work tasks to conclusion.  Engages in dialogue to determine priorities and outcomes.  Manages from a team perspective.

 Quality – Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness.  Looks for ways to improve and promote quality.  Applies feedback to improve performance.  Monitors own work to ensure quality.  

Results – Able to articulate and drive need for timely, high-quality results. Internally driven to achieve; sets high personal standards. Institutes systems to monitor progress, assure sustainable results. Anticipates, diagnoses, works through roadblocks.  Adapts to varying work situations and is flexible in their approach to resolving challenges.  Continually seeks to improve work results and methods.

Safety – Demonstrates a commitment to safety of self and others by following company safety rules, guidelines, procedures and ensures compliance of them.  Uses equipment and materials properly while demonstrating good housekeeping. Reports potentially unsafe conditions and will suspend the job if necessary. Meets full requirements of 100% participation in safety training. 

 Qualifications:  

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactory.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required.  Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education: Bachelor's degree in accounting or related field; Associate’s degree required.

Experience:    Bachelor’s degree – five (5) years accounting experience or Associate’s degree – ten (10) years accounting experience. Supervisory experience is a plus.

 Language Ability:  Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations.  Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.  Ability to present information and answer questions from managers, clients, customers, and the public effectively.

Reasoning Ability: Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.   Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.    

Mathematical Skills: Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume.  Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry.  

 Computer Skills: Proficient at Microsoft Excel with working knowledge of Microsoft Office 365 software, Outlook, Word, Teams, PowerPoint.  Working knowledge of an ERP system. Working knowledge of NISC utility software is a plus.  

Additional:  Must possess strong attention to detail by nature with no tolerance for financial carelessness. Working knowledge of utility industry is desirable. Certificates and Licenses:  CPA is a plus.    Tools and Equipment used:  Computer, basic office equipment.  Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.   See Physical Job Analysis form for details.

Position Essential Physical Requirements: 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.    See Physical Job Analysis form for details. The duties listed above 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. The Position Guide does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and employee and is subject to change by the employer as the needs of Owatonna Public Utilities and the requirements of the job change.     

Salary Range: $100,770.65 ($48.45/hr.) - $132,592.96 ($63.75/hr.) 

CONTACT:

507-451-248

marge.madson@owatonnautilities.com

www.owatonnautilities.com