Senior Financial Analyst

Starlight Investments; Ontario; On-site; CAD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Starlight Investments, a leading company in the real estate sector, is seeking a Senior Financial Analyst to oversee financial management and reporting for Canadian and U.S. residential portfolios. The role requires a strong analytical background, a university degree in accounting or finance, and proficiency in financial reporting tools. This position offers exposure to all levels of management and the opportunity to play a key role in financial decision-making processes that drive business effectiveness.

Qualifications

• 1-3 years of related work experience, preferably in residential real estate.
• Thorough understanding of accounting principles and GAAP.
• Intermediate to advanced Microsoft Excel skills.

Responsibilities

• Ensure accuracy and completeness of portfolio accounting.
• Assist with external audits and financial statement preparation.
• Support investor reporting and property financial management.

Skills

Analytical skills

Organizational skills

Time management skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Education

University degree in accounting or finance

CPA designation or in active pursuit

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Outlook

Job description

Reporting to the Controller, Finance, the Senior Financial Analyst will be akey member afinance team that oversees Canadian and U.S residential portfolios, responsible for financial management, reporting and accounting for various portfolios owned by Starlight and/or large institutional investors. The role will act as akey business partner to the asset management, investments and leasing teams to help provide insightful, timely and accurate financial and operational information to assist with optimizing decisions surrounding the operation of the properties which ultimately allows Starlight to maximize returns for our investors. The role will have exposure to all levels of management and develop and leverage relationships with all internal stakeholders including asset management, investments, leasing, shared service finance teams including treasury, property accounting ( CORE ), tax and other business lines as required to successful execute their responsibilities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Financial Analysis and Accounting

• Ensure the accuracy, timeliness and completeness of portfolio accounting, including fund and property financial results prepared by the third-party property managers and CORE team to understand and highlight key trends / opportunities to improve financial results.
• Review and analyze monthly reporting provided by CORE , through BI , to understand key variances and communicate to internal stakeholders (primarily senior management and asset management team) for each property including ensuring commentary reflects the underlying performance of the assets and is complete and accurate.
• Review of consolidated account reconciliations required to support external and internal reporting disclosures.
• Assist with external financial statement preparation and internal reporting requirements.
• Support the team with managing the external audits for each Fund as required, including the preparation of working papers and relationship management with audit firm contacts to ensure timely audit completion.
• Ensure Canadian residential property and fund results are closely monitored through liaising with CORE and asset management to ensure month-end results are complete and accurate. Highlight any key risks based on financial review to internal stakeholders including asset management, finance leadership and senior management.
• Manage process improvement projects to streamline accounting processes, as required.
• Maintain General Ledger, including journal entries and analysis as required to ensure the integrity of financial and operational information.
• Utilize business intelligence tool and other standardized reporting frameworks to prepare working papers for monthly reporting to assist auditors complete quarterly/year-end reviews/audits and tax return preparation

Investor Reporting and Financial Reporting

• Work collaboratively to assist with the standardization and preparation of quarterly investor reporting materials including financial statements, operational performance updates, market trends and other performance indicators including commentary on financial results.
• Assist with the preparation of budgets and analysis for budget inputs for the properties.
• Assist with other financial management initiatives or ad-hoc projects, as required.

Acquisition and Financing Management

• Perform acquisition, disposition and refinancing accounting.
• Provide support on financial aspects of property acquisitions, dispositions, and property financing activities, as required.
• Assist with other business transactions to provide financial support, as required.

Cash and Debt Management

• Assisting with the management of cash availability, including review of cash position reporting prepared by the Starlight shared service treasury team to ensure accurate cash reporting and forecasting
• Assisting with the management of the partnership’s debt portfolios, including ensuring all loan provisions are appropriately complied with

Requirements

• University degree in accounting or finance, CPA designation or in active pursuit.
• Thorough understanding of accounting principles and GAAP .
• 1–3years of related work experience, preferably in residential real estate
• Intermediate to Advance Microsoft Excel skills
• Microsoft Word and Outlook
• Strong organizational, analytical and time management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Detail oriented, self-motivated and resourceful, with strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Proactive and self-directed with demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of ateam
• Able to prioritize, multi-task and able to work in achanging, fast-paced environment
• Able to deal with confidential information and demonstrate reliability and dependability

Task orientated, able to work well under pressure and business focused. Overtime during busy periods may be required.