Accountant Assistant

Under direct supervision of a professional accountant, prepares complex financial and statistical reports and summaries; applies accounting controls in an established complex accounting system; and extracts and compiles data from varied and complex record systems upon request of professional accountants.
TYPICAL TASKS

• Prepares periodic reports or reimbursement claims in conformance with contractual requirements of outside funding sources by compiling fiscal data from a variety of records, including personnel records, contractual funding data, and computer printed budgetary reports;
  
• Breaks down and reconstructs detailed budget expenditures and encumbrances data into categories and formats requested by the state or other outside funding agencies;
  
• Maintains detailed records for scheduled reports;
  
• Determines appropriate budget category for assigning expenditures, revenue and general ledger transactions;
  
• Researches, compiles and produces accounting reports and summaries for special projects at request of accountants;
  
• Instructs staff in methods of correcting accounting system errors;
  
• Checks for cleared or returned warrants and other imbalance items in county-wide system;
  
• Consults with bank personnel on accounting imbalances;
  
• Maintains control of tax refunds;
  
• Prepares journal vouchers and other accounting system input documents;
  
• Assists others in finding imbalances;
  
• Performs daily checks on computer system(s), verifying its overall accuracy by comparing incumbent’s records to data in the computer system reports, locating report errors, and correcting input for data processing;
  
• Revises and authorizes release of daily computer expenditure reports and warrants to appropriate departments or selections;
  
• Confers directly with accountants regarding new accounting and related fiscal procedures;
  
• Notifies accountants of imbalances which may be the result of accounting system problems;
  
• Maintains logs of computer entries and locates returned documents, verifies computer corrections and routes reports to appropriate departments;
  
• Inputs various types of transaction documents via terminals into accounting system;
  
• May explain to other clerks and departmental representatives computer or accounting system procedures and correct ways to prepare computer input;
  
• Reviews transaction documents before entry into the accounting system;
  
• Performs related work as required.

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS
Sufficient education, training and work experience to demonstrate the ability to perform the above tasks and the attainment of the knowledge and abilities listed below:

Experience Note: The knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform this function are normally acquired through: Graduation from high school plus completion of one year of college level elementary accounting courses and approximately three years of experience compiling and maintaining a wide variety of complex fiscal or statistical data and controls, at least one year of which should have been at a level equivalent to Santa Clara County’s Account Clerk II classification.

Knowledge of:

• Advanced clerical principles and procedures, elementary accounting principles and methods;
  
• Current Electronic Data Processing systems;
  
• Office practices and procedures, including record keeping systems.

Ability to:

• Maintain and control complex financial or statistical data and records;
  
• Prepare accurate accounting reports and summaries from complex instructions;
  
• Learn and apply departmental clerical accounting controls and procedures;
  
• Reconcile accounts and reconstruct a complex accounting records trail in order to locate and correct errors or reasons for imbalance;
  
• Independently adapt or devise methods to verify and double-check complex and changing data from scattered sources;
  
• Perform arithmetical computations rapidly and accurately;
  
• Type simple forms and schedules;
  
• Operate office appliances, including calculators, and in some positions, bookkeeping machines;
  
• Maintain effective work relationships.

In some positions, knowledge of general clerical data processing input procedures and ability to learn and apply data processing input procedures for a complex automated accounting system are required.
VETERANS PREFERENCE INFORMATION: Any veteran who has submitted a copy of their DD214 form, and received a discharge of other than dishonorable, from the armed forces showing service in any branch of the United States military will be given a preferential credit of five percent (ten percent for those identified as disabled veterans), after attaining a passing examination score for a numerically scored examination, as applicable by Memorandum of Understanding.

THE EXAMINATION PROCESS: The examination process may include one or more of the following: application review, application appraisal, preliminary competitive rating, performance test, written test, and/or oral interview examination.

This recruitment may require completion of Supplemental Questions in order to evaluate your education, training and experience relative to the required knowledge and abilities for the position you are applying for.

Your responses to the questions may also be reviewed and scored in a Competitive Rating evaluation process based on pre-determined rating criteria. Your answers should be as complete as possible, as no additional information will be accepted from applicants once the Competitive Rating evaluation has begun.

*New Hires shall be subject to a pre-employment criminal background check.

DISASTER SERVICE WORKERS: Under California law, all County employees are designated as Disaster Service Workers (DSW). In the event of a catastrophic event, County employees may be expected to fulfill emergency action assignments. As DSW’s, they may be assigned to assist in any disaster service activity that promotes the protection of public health and safety and preservation of lives and property.

INFORMATION ON PERS CONTRIBUTION:
For new members, salaries above a limitation imposed by federal law (that limit per IRS is $118,775 for 2017): (1) neither the County nor the employee makes contributions to PERS on the portion of salary that exceeds the limit, and (2) the portion of the salary that exceeds the limit is not used by PERS to calculate the retirement benefit. If you were a member prior to January 1, 2013, the limit is $270,000 for 2017.