Accountant II

The City of Alexandria is located in Northern Virginia and is bordered by the District of Columbia (Potomac River), Arlington, and Fairfax counties. With a population of approximately 150,000 and a land area of 15.75 square miles, Alexandria is the seventh largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Alexandria has a vibrant waterfront and is a unique and historic place to live and work. About one-quarter of the City's square miles have been designated as a national or local historic district. We proudly embrace our racially and culturally diverse community. If you are interested in working for the dynamic City of Alexandria, we invite qualified candidates to apply for the Accountant II position.

An Overview

The City of Alexandria’s Finance Department is looking for an innovative, adaptable, and collaborative Accountant II to join our opening team for the new West End Finance Office (WEFO) Branch. This is an opportunity to shape the culture of a new team in a brand-new facility in the West End of Alexandria. For the first time, the Finance Department is combining treasury and revenue administration functions in one team to provide the taxpayer with “one stop shopping” and a seamless customer experience. As a specialist on the WEFO team, the Accountant II is responsible for ensuring that the City’s proprietary tax systems - PCI’s Revenue Billing System (real estate and vehicle personal property tax), Avenity’s RevenueOne (business taxes), and United Public Safety (parking tickets) - reflect all transactions in an accurate, complete, and timely manner. This includes oversight of the daily balancing process, the safeguarding and accounting of all receipts and paperwork, the accurate deposit of funds, and interface of receipts to the City’s general ledger. A significant aspect of this work also involves use of the City’s cashiering system (PCI’s Revenue Collection System), the City’s online payment systems (Virginia Interactive), the City’s banking and lockbox system (Truist), and the City’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, Tyler Munis. The Accountant II at the WEFO will work under the general supervision of the Tax Branch Manager and will serve as the backup Assistant Manager, to include direct interaction with taxpayers at the public counter as necessary.

The WEFO will be located at the Redella S. “Del” Pepper Community Resource Center, within the Mark Center development in Alexandria’s West End. This newly renovated facility is anticipated to include employee amenities such as a cafeteria, gym, and onsite parking, as well as featuring frequent transit access at the Mark Center Transit Center and a convenient location next to I-395 and Seminary Road. This position may occasionally be required to work at the department’s Revenue or Treasury locations at Alexandria City Hall, based on staffing needs. After an initial learning period, the Accountant II may be able to telework one day per week.

What You Should Bring

The ideal candidate is a collaborative, detail-oriented financial professional who possesses a strong understanding of local government tax assessment and collection and is passionate about providing Alexandria residents, businesses, and visitors with great customer service. Additional knowledge, skills, and abilities include:

• Knowledge of state and local law concerning real estate tax, personal property tax (car tax), parking tickets, and various business taxes including license, property and trustee taxes, such as meals tax and transient lodging tax;
• Knowledge of bank lockboxes, third-party payment portals, tax service companies, and eChecks;
• Knowledge of financial system implementation and maintenance in a large organization;
• Ability to perform complex reconciliations and identify, diagnose, and resolve financial issues;
• Ability to utilize various complex financial systems for data entry, reporting and analysis;
• Ability to prepare accurate, complete, and timely financial reports;
• Ability to manipulate large amounts of data using Microsoft Excel;
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing, and to remain calm when working with the public; and
• Excellent attendance and proven ability to meet deadlines timely.

The Opportunity - Examples of Work

• Resolves complex tax assessment and payment posting issues, such as bank and tax system reconciliation problems, by analyzing account balances, payment/assessment adjustments, and transactions;
• Reads and comprehends State and City Code and regulations relating to tax assessment, accounts receivable, and treasury functions;
• Assists the Tax Branch Manager with training staff and managing cash handling and taxation policies and procedures;
• Assists the Tax Branch Manager with tax refund review processes to ensure fiscal accountability;
• Requests and confirms the accurate completion of journal entries in the general ledger;
• Assists counter staff and responds in person, on the phone, via email, or via traditional mail to customer issues that cannot be resolved by other staff;
• Researches and prepares correspondence for the Finance Director or designee in response to customer complaints and disputes;
• Collaborates with Financial Business Process team to identify, diagnose, and resolve issues in the City’s tax administration systems;
• Prepares required documentation and working papers for the City’s external auditors and performs ad hoc reviews of accounts in the City’s tax administration systems; and
• Performs related work as required.

About The Department

The City of Alexandria's Finance Department is a fast-paced, diverse, and customer service focused operation that is responsible for the assessment, collection, and enforcement of all City taxes, the management of cash flow and investments, accounting for and reporting the City’s financial position, processing payroll, executing a fair and competitive procurement environment, assessing all real and personal property in the City, managing the City’s risk and safety programs, and managing the City’s pension plans. The Finance Department has seven divisions and in fiscal year 2023 is operating with a total budget of $15.0 million and 111 FTE positions.

The goal of the Finance Department is to treat all employees, citizens, and business owners professionally, with fairness and compassion.

Minimum & Additional Requirements

Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or a closely related field from an accredited college or university and two years of applicable experience; or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience utilizing payment processing and/or tax assessment software systems in a large organization; experience with local tax administration in the Commonwealth of Virginia; cash handling experience; customer service experience.

Notes

This position requires the successful completion of pre-employment background checks including but not limited to a criminal background check. The selection process for this position may include a phone or virtual interview, in-person interview, and/or written examination.

The starting salary range for this position is $60,283.86 to $80,752.36 (Step 8 of 20), based on qualifications and experience. The incumbent can eventually be awarded up to $106,087.54 (Step 20) with tenure and job performance.