WHAT DOES AN ACCOUNTING TECHNICIAN DO?
Published: Nov 04, 2024 - The Accounting Technician prepares complex financial documents, reconciles accounts, and processes disbursements in compliance with federal regulations. This role involves coordinating with various agencies, providing stakeholder services, and maintaining confidentiality under the FOIA and Privacy Act. This position audits, maintains account files, and ensures accurate transactional records and compliance throughout the account lifecycle.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Accounting Technician
1. Accounting Technician Duties
- Cash Receipts Management: Identify and credit incoming premium cash receipts to appropriate customer account files in FACETS, process miscellaneous receipts, vendor refunds, and recoveries.
- Unidentified Checks Analysis: Research, analyze, and resolve unidentified checks to be applied to the correct system.
- Accounting Technician Support: Provide guidance and support for Accounting Technicians processing and researching cash receipts.
- Interdepartmental Collaboration: Research, analyze, and resolve issues related to cash receipts in collaboration with Enrollment and Billing departments, Sales, and Accounting; provide follow-up support.
- Systems Testing Support: Support the testing and implementation of system modifications to improve the processing of payments and enhance department efficiency.
- Process Improvement: Identify other process improvements and collaborate with Supervisor on assessment and potential implementation.
- Documentation Management: Organize and maintain files related to processing of premium payments and vendor refunds/recoveries per retention schedule to support research and audits.
- Financial Statements Preparation: Prepare financial statements for complex businesses such as investment-holding corporations or related group companies.
- Corporate Tax Returns: Prepare corporate tax returns for complex businesses and complete complex schedules like S(7) investment income, S(552) apprenticeship tax training credits, and S(33) taxable capital.
- Miscellaneous Tasks: Perform all other related tasks crucial for skills application and organizational functioning.
2. Accounting Technician Details
- Compilation: Complete compilation working paper files, personal and corporate income tax returns.
- Accounting Analysis: Complete ongoing accounting analysis following established internal procedures.
- Bank Reconciliation: Complete bank reconciliations and prepare other technical accounting working papers.
- Query Response: Respond to queries identified by other team members and update files.
- Financial Reporting: Prepare working paper files, including management financial reports, amortization tables, and other reports as requested by clients of the BDO team.
- Payroll Assistance: Prepare or assist with client payroll.
- Receipts Processing: Process Foundation receipts, including grant activity, cash, and non-grant pledges (Accounts Receivable).
- General Ledger Entries: Post general ledger entries as directed, including those related to Foundation endowment activity.
- Credit Card Reconciliation: Reconcile credit card activity on a quarterly basis.
- Transaction Verification: Work with Foundation credit card holders to ensure all receipts for transactions are received to reconcile against credit card statements on a monthly basis.
3. Accounting Technician Responsibilities
- Year-End Engagements: Efficiently prepare year-end engagements, including compilations and notices to readers for clients in various industries.
- Tax Preparation: Efficiently prepare tax returns for clients in various industries.
- Bookkeeping: Perform bookkeeping tasks for a variety of organizations.
- Client Relationship Management: Build positive working relationships with clients and effectively respond to requests and suggestions.
- Business Development: Participate in business development initiatives and identify new business opportunities with existing clients.
- Team Communication: Effectively communicate with team members regarding progress updates and ongoing issues.
- Invoice Management: Create and disseminate invoices for all pledges.
- Record Maintenance: Maintain digital and hardcopy financial records.
- Audit Assistance: Assist the Accounting Supervisor with the annual financial audit of the Foundation.
- Professional Communication: Ensure prompt, professional communication with internal Foundation fund managers and external vendors regarding all financial business matters related to the Foundation.
4. Accounting Technician Job Summary
- Data Input: Scan or input voluminous financial data from financial documents such as bank statements, credit card statements, investment account statements, checks, deposit tickets, wire transfer reports, ACH reports, debit memos, cash-in tickets, money orders, teller receipts, FedEx invoices, phone record invoices, Western Union, QuickBooks, Excel, flight itinerary documents, SARs, CTRs, Signature Pages, Subpoenas, and Paychex journals into financial investigations system software.
- Statement Reconciliation: Reconcile statements, and prepare queries, charts, or reports for extraction into various outputs such as .csv files, Adobe PDF, Microsoft Excel, Word, or Crystal Reports.
- Data Uploading: Upload data to common software like I2 Analyst Notebook or other database programs such as Access.
- Report Extraction: Extract reports for use in other software applications to assist USAO/AUSA.
- Data Summarization: Prepare pivot tables summarizing information in Excel spreadsheets.
- Document Examination: Gather and examine a wide array of financial documents from various sources, including financial statements, accounting records, operating reports, billing records, invoices, data processing materials, bank records, and other documents related to the transactions, events, or allegations under investigation or in connection with post-judgment Financial Litigation Unit asset investigations.
- Data Review: Use financial reports and automated systems to review data and transactions.
- Collaborative Compilation: Work with paralegal specialists, automated litigation support specialists, and others to compile financial documents and physical evidence, creating detailed charts, graphs, and summaries for use in court documents and proceedings, including motions and trials.
- Inquiry Response: Answer inquiries regarding case-related information as maintained in the database.
5. Accounting Technician Accountabilities
- Financial Document Preparation: Prepare a variety of complex financial documents for trust fund account transactions and routine account maintenance.
- Account Reconciliation: Reconcile accounts and determine adjustments required to bring accounts into balance.
- Disbursement Processing: Process Individual Indian Money (IIM) account disbursements and ensure all disbursements are correctly encoded per authorization, in accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
- Stakeholder Communication: Provide beneficiary contact services to internal and external stakeholders by answering telephone calls, greeting visitors, and directing them appropriately.
- Coordination with Agencies: Coordinate work with Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Area programs, State, municipal, and tribal agencies in connection with IIM and tribal accounts.
- Outreach Support: Serve as a representative of the Office of Special Trustee (OST) and provide support for outreach activities.
- Account File Management: Establish and maintain individual jacket files on all accounts throughout the life cycle of the account.
- File Auditing: Audit files to ensure all transactions are processed in accordance with regulations and OST policies.
- Regulatory Compliance: Ensure compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Privacy Act, and regulations to maintain the confidentiality of trust funds, documents, and records.
- Information Gathering: Obtain additional information from other agencies/organizations.
- Status Information Maintenance: Maintain internal status information on the disposition of designated information, files, and assets.
- Data Accuracy Assurance: Ensure information is accurate and perform analytical computations necessary to process data.
- Administrative Assistance: Provide administrative information and assistance concerning cases or files to other agencies or organizations.