Under direction, performs a variety of difficult and complex technical accounting duties involved in performing responsible financial record keeping and reporting duties in support of the City's payroll function; reviews and processes payroll for the City; answers questions and provides information and assistance to the other staff and the general public; and provides lead direction within area of assignment.

The following duties are typical for this classification. Incumbents may not perform all of the listed duties and/or may be required to perform additional or different duties from those set forth below to address business needs and changing business practices.

Perform a variety of difficult and complex technical accounting duties in support of the City's payroll function.

Receive, review, verify, and process payroll records, documentation, and related paperwork; audit documents for completeness, accuracy, and conformance with policies and procedures; input payroll information.

Apply and implement City policies, provisions, and state and federal laws regarding the payroll function; recommend procedures and applications to incorporate periodic changes to such policies, provisions, and laws.

Audit and prepare journal transactions for payment of payroll liabilities including taxes, insurance premiums, retirement contributions, and garnishments; prepare and file with the appropriate agency the quarterly 941 tax returns and state quarterly returns, monthly reports for Public Employees Retirement System, and annual W-2s.

Prepare reports, forms, and records regarding payroll taxes, insurance payments, and voluntary deduction payment transfers; ensure appropriate employee forms and taxing agency reports are submitted in a timely manager.

Maintain payroll records including employee leave accruals and balances.

Respond to employee inquiries and provide general accounting related information; respond to requests from outside agencies including credit unions, retirement system, insurance companies, vendors, contractors, and auditors.

Maintain current knowledge of applicable City policies and state and federal laws and regulations.

Utilize various computer programs and applications; enter and maintain data; generate reports from a database or in-house system; create spreadsheets and generate reports using spreadsheet software; create documents using word processing software.

Provide back up support for other accounting functions as required; provide assistance in performing other accounting related duties to meet deadlines; participate in special projects as assigned.

Train assigned employees in their areas of work including proper methods, procedures, and techniques; verify the work of assigned employees for accuracy, proper work methods, techniques, and compliance with applicable standards and specifications.

Perform general clerical and office support duties in support of department operations.

Perform related duties as required.

The following generally describes the knowledge and ability required to enter the job and/or be learned within a short period of time in order to successfully perform the assigned duties.

Knowledge of:
Operations, services, and activities of a payroll program area.
Principles and practices of payroll preparation, reporting and maintenance.
Methods and techniques of calculating various payroll deductions.
Principles and practices of payroll accounting.
Technical accounting principles and practices used in difficult and complex financial record keeping and reporting.
Procedures, policies, rules, and practices affecting the development, maintenance, and control of fiscal record keeping systems.
Governmental accounting principles and procedures and municipal accounting system requirements and procedures.
Principles and practices used establishing and maintaining files and information retrieval systems including those used in the maintenance of confidential and sensitive materials.
Methods and techniques of coding, verifying, balancing, and reconciling accounting records.
Account auditing principles and practices.
Principles and practices of data collection and accounting, financial, statistical, and administrative research and report preparation.
Mathematical principles.
Business letter writing.
English usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Methods and techniques of effective customer service.
Office procedures, methods and equipment including computers and applicable software applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, and databases.
Pertinent federal, state and local laws, codes and regulations.

Ability to:
Perform a full range of difficult and complex technical payroll accounting duties involving the use of independent judgment and personal initiative.
Oversee preparation of City-wide payroll and ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Understand the organization, operation, and services of the City and of outside agencies as necessary to assume assigned responsibilities.
Understand, interpret, apply, and ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, codes, and regulations.
Understand, interpret, apply, and ensure compliance with administrative and departmental policies and procedures.
Plan and organize work to meet changing priorities and deadlines.
Perform a variety of accounting, fiscal, and statistical record keeping duties including to maintain a variety of complex records and files.
Prepare clear and concise accounting, financial, statistical, and administrative reports.
Prepare and reconcile journal entries and financial and accounting records.
Review financial records, reports, and related documents, identify discrepancies, and resolve problems related to assigned are of responsibility.
Perform mathematical calculations with speed and accuracy.
Type and enter data at a speed necessary for successful job performance.
Operate office equipment including computers and supporting word processing, spreadsheet and database applications.
Work cooperatively with other departments, City officials, and outside agencies.
Effectively represent the City to outside individuals and agencies to accomplish the goals and objectives of the unit.
Work in a team based environment to achieve common goals.
Coordinate multiple projects and complex tasks simultaneously.
Meet the physical requirements to safely and effectively perform the assigned duties.
Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing.
Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.

Education and Experience Guidelines

Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be:

Education/Training:

Equivalent to the completion of the twelfth grade supplemented by college level course work in accounting, finance, or a related field.

Experience:
Four years of increasingly responsible clerical and technical accounting experience including three years of full-time, complex payroll processing experience with a large multifunctional organization. Experience in a centralized, public agency with 24-7 scheduling is desirable.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT

The conditions herein 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 job functions.

Environment:
Work is performed primarily in a standard office setting.

Physical:
Primary functions require sufficient physical ability and mobility to work in an office setting; to stand or sit for prolonged periods of time; to occasionally stoop, bend, kneel, crouch, reach, and twist; to lift, carry, push, and/or pull light to moderate amounts of weight; to operate office equipment requiring repetitive hand movement and fine coordination including use of a computer keyboard; and to verbally communicate to exchange information.

Unrepresented
C24
Last Update: 03/2019
JD 11/2018