Payroll Technician (Accounting Technician II)

Western Municipal Water District; California; On-site; USD 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Western Municipal Water District is seeking an Accounting Technician II to support payroll administration, bank reconciliations, and financial record maintenance. You will process bi-weekly payroll, handle benefits calculations for CalPERS and Empower, and assist with the general ledger under supervision.

The ideal candidate brings 4 years of accounting/payroll experience, strong Excel skills, and solid communication abilities to a collaborative finance team in Riverside County.

Qualifications

• 4 years of progressive responsibilities in an accounting/payroll environment.
• Experience with ADP HCM systems and payroll processing.
• Strong data accuracy and adherence to policies.

Responsibilities

• Process the District’s bi-weekly payroll, review reports, and approve payroll-related inputs.
• Prepare and process journal entries and bank reconciliations for monthly close.
• Monitor and calculate employee benefits related to CalPERS, Empower, and leave accruals.
• Maintain accounting records with attention to accuracy and compliance.

Skills

Payroll processing

Bank reconciliations

Financial record maintenance

Excel

Communication

Education

High School Diploma

Associate's degree in accounting or related field

4 years accounting/payroll experience

CA Class C Driver's License

Tools

ADP HCM

Job description

Join one of the Inland Empire's Top Places to Work in this exceptional professional level

opportunity in the Finance Department!

At Western Water, we're looking for a journey-level Accounting Technician II dedicated to supporting finance and accounting functions to fill this position. We're searching for a professional to perform routine to moderate accounting and financial duties related to the processing of payroll, bank reconciliations, and maintaining other financial records, who is committed to excellence, can think creatively, and enjoys working with a dedicated group of professionals.

If you're a collaborative individual with strong interpersonal skills, then this is your opportunity to join an exceptional agency that provides essential water and wastewater services to western Riverside County.

Who we are

Western Water stands out:

• Western Water is one of the largest public agencies in Riverside County providing water and sewer services to nearly one million people through approximately 24,000 retail accounts and eight wholesale water agencies/ cities.
• We see ourselves as more of a business than a bureaucracy.
• We view our customers as essential partners in ensuring long-term water reliability for our region; and
• Together, the Western Water team is focused on being the definitive leader in water and sewer services, upholding the highest level of stakeholder trust.

Western Water's vision is to integrate the best-in-business processes and business systems while developing a leading-edge workforce that continuously creates greater efficiency and value for our customers.

Western Water’s values include:

• Service Excellence
• Efficiency
• Water Supply Reliability
• Fiscal Responsibility and Value
• Public Trust, Accountability and Transparency
• Environmental Stewardship
• Employee Empowerment
• Innovation

Are you looking to take your career to the next level at an agency committed to the vision and values above? If you have professional experience and skills focusing on the areas outlined in this announcement,

The Position

Accounting Technician II is the journey-level class in the series. Incumbents are responsible for processing, reviewing, and reconciling various financial records of moderate difficulty and complexity, with the primary focus being Payroll Administration. In this role you will be responsible for processing the District’s bi-weekly payroll, review and approve reports as needed, excellent communication both verbally and written, oversee and calculate District employee benefits related to CalPERS, Empower, etc., Monitor District leave benefits, and additional duties as needed. Incumbents work under general supervision of the Accounting Services Supervisor while exercising independent judgment within established systems and procedures.

The Ideal Candidate

Western Water is looking for a journey level Accounting Technician II with strong interpersonal skills to assist with day-to-day processing of payroll, bank reconciliations, benefit calculations & reporting, and the general ledger.

Serving customers is paramount to all that we do. For that reason, you must be responsive, collaborative and accountable to our internal and external customers, vendors, and agency partners.

Western Water expects you will build comprehensive knowledge and experience in financial and accounting processes that support a special district providing reliable water and sewer services to retail and wholesale customers throughout western Riverside County.

Strong organizational skills will be critical to your success, as are the abilities to learn, coordinate and assist the activities of the finance team. Highly qualified candidates must be able to work effectively both independently and as a collaborative team professional.

Personal Competencies/Characteristics:

• A relationship-builder who is proactive in establishing and leveraging partnerships with key internal and external stakeholders.
• A skilled professional with a heightened sense of emotional intelligence.
• Open, approachable, and action-oriented; exercises good judgment; treats others with respect.
• Collaborative approach to working with others; able to bring people together and leverage common interests to perpetuate the vision of Western.
• Outstanding communication skills with an internal and external customer-centric mindset.
• A self-starter who exhibits high initiative and a strong work ethic; embraces the opportunity to make a difference.

If you're ready to join a results-oriented team, able to see the bigger picture, have a heightened sense of emotional intelligence, and ready to learn about the finance and accounting related issues facing special districts--we'd love to hear from you.

Incumbents within the Accounting Technician series report to the Accounting Services Supervisor.

Western Water employees are expected to work overtime, weekends, evenings and holidays as required to accommodate the agency needs, in addition to responding as a Disaster Emergency Service Worker.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

The Accounting Technician II is the journey level class in the series. The duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to this classification. This includes the following:

• Performs a variety of technical work in the review and processing of financial records.
• Prepares, reviews, and processes the District’s bi-weekly payroll by entering transaction data and making payroll adjustments, including CalPERS contributions.
• Verifies and ensures payroll checks are calculated in accordance with legal requirements, District policies and procedures, and labor contract provisions.
• Maintains and reviews documents to ensure accuracy, examines supporting documentation to establish proper authorization and conformance with District policies, agreements, contracts, and state and federal requirements.
• Monitors Western Water's leave benefits by running and auditing various reports to track accruals and usage. Produces and distributes reports to District management.
• Prepares and processes journal entries related to Payroll or Payroll reconciliation.
• Prepares and processes monthly bank reconciliations.

Ability to:

• Understanding of governmental accounting practices, as applied to municipal organizations.
• Demonstrate consistent accuracy and timeliness of work products.
• Math and mathematical reasoning.
• Knowledge of the basic chart of accounts structure.
• Adherence to Western Water's personnel rules, policies and labor contract provisions with the ability to exercise sound independent judgment within general policy guidelines.
• Provide transparent, high quality and fiscally responsible services, while meeting the needs of Western and its customers.
• Adhere to office procedures including record management policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with Western Water's record retention policy.
• Utilize exceptional customer service and communication skills both verbally and in writing, with the ability to cultivate professional business partnerships and inspire team collaboration.
• Use modern office equipment including computer software applications related to the field of work. Highly proficient in Microsoft Office products including Excel, Word, Outlook.
• Proper English usage, punctuation, grammar, and spelling.
• Tracks, processes, and maintains numerous documents where accuracy and detail are critical.
• Receives and responds, both verbally and in writing, to routine inquiries from District personnel and outside organizations.
• Explain key processes and business requirements within the department, specifically payroll.
• Ability to work independently with general supervision.

EXPERIENCE, EDUCATION, AND LICENSING/CERTIFICATION

Any combination of experience and education that provides the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying, along with the specific licenses/certifications as outlined below:

Job Title

Accounting Technician II

Education

~ Equivalent to High School Diploma

~ Associate's degree in accounting or related field may substitute for one year of experience.

Required/Desired Experience

4 years of progressive responsibilities in an accounting/payroll environment.

Desired: Governmental agency accounting experience in payroll processing. Experience using ADP Human Capital Management (HCM) systems, including payroll support, time and attendance, and reporting is highly desirable.

Required License / Certification

CA Class C Driver's License

Desired Licenses/Certifications

PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

Physical: Employees are regularly required to use repetitive motion for keyboard use and writing; frequently grasp, reach overhead, hold and reach; sit for long periods of time; occasionally walk, use staircases, stand, kneel, stoop and bend; occasionally lift and carry up to 25 pounds or 60 pounds with assistance; constantly use overall vision; and frequently hear and talk, in person and on the phone.

Mental: Employees should possess the ability to speak, read, and write English, in addition to exercising math and computer aptitude as required. Employees work under pressure with frequent interruptions while communicating and interacting with a variety of Western Water personnel, the public, and others encountered in the course of work. The ability to explain, interpret, and apply related rules, regulations, policies and procedures; and work on multiple concurrent assignments, often within tight timeframes using good business judgment is necessary.

Environmental: Employees primarily work in a temperature-controlled office environment subject to typical office noise and settings. Incumbents are expected to use principles of effective safety practices including the use of equipment in a proper and safe manner, use of preventative personal ergonomic techniques, and maintaining safe personal and common workspaces.

Western is a tobacco free campus prohibiting smoking and the use of smokeless tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and unregulated nicotine products in any Western Water vehicle and building, which includes any building owned and occupied, or leased and occupied, by Western Water, including, Headquarters, the Operations Center, and any remote facilities owned, leased and/or operated by Western Water.