Accounting Assistant I - Corporate Collections at City of Edmonton

Are you a detail-oriented financial professional looking to take on a vital role in the financial health of the City? As our next Accounting Assistant, you will directly impact our operations by effectively managing debt collection, account reconciliations, and strategically managing collection blocks across all city departments. Your decisions will be essential in evaluating accounts for potential write-offs and facilitating collection agency accounts, all while providing exceptional customer service to citizens and businesses. If you are ready for a role with significant responsibilities and the opportunity to make a positive impact, we want to hear from you.

What will you do?

• Responsible for generating aging reports from SAP to identify accounts by age
• Analyze reports, add comments, and follow up with customers
• Identify accounts based on materiality and take necessary action
• Reconcile GL accounts related to AR, such as 204000 auto post accounts
• Interpret and apply instructions and guidelines to resolve disputes
• Post account changes to notes, adjustments, and journal entries for customer and related business area accounts
• Generate monthly reports and perform monthly reconciliation (i.e., aging report, dunning block report, collection agency report)
• Prepare monthly and year-end reporting
• Receive and review a variety of system-generated reports, financial documents and statements
• Inform the customer of the outstanding amount based on the customer account
• Clarify the service provided and relevant dates
• Provide background and a description of the service(s) provided
• Ability to know all the City services that are being serviced within AR
• Ability to identify and relate the contractual obligations where a contract is in place
• Able to diffuse and de-escalate difficult customer interactions to facilitate active listening
• Responsible for providing coverage to the Customer Master role, ensuring proper maintenance of the record on a timely basis, completely and accurately
• Demonstrate empathy, patience, and respect when interacting with callers
• Other related responsibilities

Qualifications

• A recognized accounting certificate from a recognized post-secondary institute
• Minimum one (1) year of related experience in an office environment

Assets

• Minimum one (1) year of customer service experience
• Demonstrated competency in the use of spreadsheet and word processing applications

Skills required for success

• Knowledge and understanding of provincial and federal legislation regarding accounts receivable collections
• Knowledge of corporate and departmental policies, procedures, bylaws and processes in the performance of accounts receivable collections
• Competency in the use of Microsoft Word and Excel, and Google applications & others financial software
• Collection experience and handling difficult customer interactions would be an asset
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to work independently and accurately with attention to detail in a customer-focused service environment
• Able to apply professionalism, courtesy, positivity, problem-solving, and respect when applying established policies and procedures to all internal and external interactions
• Detail-oriented and well-organized to deliver large volumes of work within defined timelines
• Demonstrates excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Embrace the Cultural Commitments of Safe, Helpful, Accountable, Integrated and Excellent, and foster an environment that encourages others to do the same
• Alignment to our Cultural Commitments and Leadership Competencies ( https://bit.ly/4brRrXm )
• Embracing a culture of equity, diversity, reconciliation and inclusion
• Applicants may be tested

Work Environment

• Note: This position may be eligible for a hybrid work arrangement with the flexibility to work from both home and the worksite as per the Letter of Understanding between the City of Edmonton and Civic Service Union 52
• The weekly hours of work for this position are currently under review and may change at a future time. Any changes will be made in accordance with the City of Edmonton/Civic Service Union 52 collective agreement and the incumbent will be notified in advance

The City of Edmonton values applicants with a diverse range of skills, experiences and competencies, and encourages you to apply. We strive to provide reasonable access and accommodations throughout the recruitment process. To request an accommodation, please contact [email protected] . Learn more about our benefits https://bit.ly/COEbenefits .

Up to 1 permanent full-time position

Hours of Work: 40 hours per week

Salary Range: $29.924 - $37.552 (Hourly); $62,481.310 - $78,408.580 (Annually)

Recruitment Consultant: KE/SB

Edmonton rests in the heart of Treaty Six territory in Alberta and the homelands of the Metis Nation