Sheriff's Senior Accounting Assistant

Description

WHAT WE OFFER

The County of Ventura offers an attractive compensation and benefits package that includes:

• A general salary increaseof 3.5% effective December 22, 2024.

• Educational Incentive

• An educational incentive of 2.5% for completion of an associate's degree, 3.5% for completion of a bachelor's degree, OR 5% for completion of a graduate's degree.

• Bilingual Incentive

• Based on agency need, proficiency levels by exam are $.69 per hour (Level I), $1.00 per hour (Level II), or $1.32 per hour (Level III).

• Vacation Leave Accrual Rate

• New regular, full-time employees shall accrue approximately 14 days of vacation a year for the first 10,400 hours or 5 years of service; vacation accruals increase at 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 20 years of service topping out at 26 days a year and 400 hours of vacation hours banked.

• Vacation Leave Redemption

• After 14,560 hours of continuous County service an employee may elect to "cash in" or redeem up to 80 hours of vacation accrued in the same year after using 80 hours of vacation in the preceding 12 months.

• Sick Leave-Full time regular employees accrue 3.08 hours of sick leave per pay period with an advance at hire of 40.04 hours which will be balanced at the completion of 13 bi-weekly pay periods.

• Deferred Compensation

• Eligible to participate in the County's 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or the Section 457 Plan. This position is eligible for up to a 3.00% match on your 401(k) contributions.

• Health Plans

• Full time employees are given a flexible credit allowance to offset the purchase of medical, dental, and/or vision insurance for you and your dependents.

• Employee only - $502 per biweekly pay period

• Employee plus one dependent - $730 per biweekly pay period

• Employee plus family - $905 per biweekly pay period

• Flexible Spending Accounts

• Choice of participation in pre-tax benefit for IRS approved dependent care and health care expenses.

• Pension Plan

• Both the County and employees contribute to the County's Retirement Plan. If eligible, reciprocity may be established with other public retirement systems, such as PERS.

• Holidays

• 12 paid days per year which includes a scheduled floating holiday.

• Additional Benefits

• Tuition Reimbursement, Disability Plans, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Wellness Program.

Under general supervision, a Senior Accounting Assistant provides complex clerical support in the maintenance and processing of financial records and data entry/retrieval in manual and automated systems; functional areas of responsibility include cash receipts and disbursements; accounts receivable/billing; accounts payable/payroll; fixed asset accounting; and revenue distribution.

Senior Accounting Assistant is the advanced journey level in the Accounting Assistant series; positions at this level perform the most complex duties and responsibilities assigned to the series, exercising a significant level of independent judgment in the performance of their duties; work assigned to this advanced level requires a specialized technical or functional expertise beyond the journey level, such as processing complex transactions which require a specialized knowledge of multiple operational factors; positions may also be assigned functional, technical and lead supervisory duties over lower level staff when such assignments are a formal organizational responsibility, supervising at least three subordinate staff members.

AGENCY/DEPARTMENT:Sheriff's Office

• Financial Administration Bureau

Senior Accounting Assistant is represented by the Service Employees' International Union (SEIU) and is eligible for overtime compensation.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

OPENING DATE:Monday, April 15, 2024

CLOSING DATE:Continuous may close at any time; therefore, the schedule for the remainder of the process will depend upon when we receive a sufficient number of qualified applicants to meet business needs.

Examples Of Duties

The following duties are considered characteristic but not inclusive and are examples only. Specific assigned duties may differ depending on the needs of the department/ agency.

• Plans, leads, schedules, assigns, reviews and monitors the work of clerical staff in assigned program area;

• Receives, reviews and verifies credit card bank statements, claims, invoices, and payroll documents for authorization of expenditures, accuracy of amounts and accounts charged, and conformance to rules and procedures;

• Collects inmate funds from bookings and deposits inside the County jail;

• Receives cash, warrants and checks from individuals or revenue sources; applies credit to the proper subsidiary ledger account; balances the cash register and forwards deposits to the proper accounting area for deposit with County Treasurer;

• Edits daily operational reports for discrepancies or rejects; prepares adjustment entries to reconcile with the master control accounts;

• Researches outstanding warrants and claims; follows up with the parties involved and takes corrective actions to resolve the problems; prepares journal vouchers to adjust the accounts accordingly;

• Performs complex calculations (e.g., general ledger and bank statement reconciliations inmate fund ledgers, revenue/costs distribution, vendor sales tax by examining the individual case records, data and integrating multiple rules and regulations;

• Pre-audits the work of others (e.g., time and work reports, child support payments, payroll, welfare payroll) to ensure proper coding, account classification, cost and fund distribution, and compliance with state or federal guidelines and procedures;

• Balances the subsidiary ledger totals to the Auditor-Controller's financial status reports; prepares periodic detail and summary reports on account status as requested;

• Performs posting functions by hand or on the computer by inputting accounting to appropriate accounts, journals, or ledgers;

• Provides oral and/or written reports to supervisors as required by abstracting data from various agency accounting and statistical records;

• Compiles, verifies, and calculates the appropriate charges to clients/users for services/goods rendered; prepares invoices to provide details on charges;

• Troubleshoots on Ventura County Financial management System document errors;

• Assists the supervisor in the compilation of workload statistics and supplemental reports requested by state, federal and local agencies;

• Sorts, batches and files financial, statistical, or fiscal data/records;

• Provides receipts by filling out a receipt form or endorsing checks in order to provide payee with proof of payment;

• Logs and codes data according to prescribed accounting procedures; retrieves documents from files and sets up new files as requested;

• Verifies the signatures of persons authorizing the expenditures by maintaining and reviewing the index files;

• Compares data on the documents with back-up information in order to substantiate claims; and

• Performs related duties as assigned.

Typical Qualifications

These are entrance requirements to the exam process and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on an eligible list.

EDUCATION, TRAINING and EXPERIENCE:Any combination of education and experience which has led to the acquisition of the required knowledge, skills and abilities. An example of qualifying education and experience includes:

Four (4) years of experience in financial, statistical, or fiscal record keeping; or two (2) years as an Accounting Assistant II with the County of Ventura.

Three (3) units of college-level accounting coursework OR twelve (12) units of college-level general coursework may be substituted for up to one (1) year of the required experience.

If you are substituting education for experience (up to one year), verification of the college-level coursework is required. Transcripts or grade reports from an accredited college or university which reflect passing grades in the required subject areas must be submitted to Sheriff's Human Resources no later than 5:00 p.m. three (3) business days after the recruitment closes to continue in the process. You may attach a copy to your online application, or you may mail or deliver a copy to Sheriff's Human Resources Bureau, 800 South Victoria Ave., Ventura, CA 93009-3700, Attn: Melissa Kurtz.If transcripts are not submitted, your application will be screened out and you will not be allowed to continue in the process - no exceptions.Unofficial transcripts are acceptable.

Degree(s) from a foreign institution require an academic credential evaluation to determine the U.S. equivalency.

If the name on this documentation is different from the name on your application, include documents that show the name change (e.g., a marriage certificate).

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES:Thorough knowledge of: operations, services and activities of a comprehensive fiscal program; basic bookkeeping and record keeping principles, practices, and techniques; the operating financial accounting system; the codes, forms, procedures, rules and regulations applicable to the processing and recording of fiscal transactions; the department/agency account structure and operational requirements; principles of lead supervision and training; pre-audit methods and procedures; electronic data processing equipment uses and limitations.

Skill in: the operation of a 10-key adding machine or calculator; use of computers and related technology including software applications specific to the work performed.

Ability to: plan, lead, assign and review the work of staff; make arithmetic calculations with speed and accuracy; learn codes and classifications used in account maintenance; use computer printouts and prepare data in the proper format; understand and apply rules and regulations related to fiscal record keeping and accounting functions; understand the relationship among accounting records and documents; recognize discrepancies or problems in accounts and make corrections; research a problem or question to a successful conclusion; prepare financial summaries and maintain ledgers and journals; communicate effectively both verbally and in writing; and establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.

Recruitment Process

FINAL FILING DATE:Continuous and may close at any time; therefore, it is in your best interest to apply as soon as possible. Your application must be received by County of Ventura Human Resources in Ventura, California, no later than 5:00 p.m. on the closing date.

To apply on-line, please refer to our web site at www.ventura.org/jobs. If you prefer to fill out a paper application form, please call (805) 654-5129 for application materials and submit them to County of Ventura Human Resources, 800 South Victoria Avenue, L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009.

Note to Applicants: It is essential that you complete all sections of your application and supplemental questionnaire thoroughly and accurately to demonstrate your qualifications. A resume and/or other related documents may be attached to supplement the information in your application and supplemental questionnaire; however, they may not be submitted in lieu of the application and supplemental questionnaire.

INFORMATION FOR TRANSFER CANDIDATES:If presently permanently employed in another merit or civil service public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a merit or civil service style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible. If interested, please clickhere(Download PDF reader)for additional information.

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE - qualifying: All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this examination at the time of filing. The supplemental questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications and acceptability for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire will result in the application being removed from consideration.

APPLICATION EVALUATION - qualifying: All applications will be reviewed to determine whether or not the stated requirements are met. Those individuals meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the screening and selection process.

WRITTEN EXAMINATION - 100%:An un-proctored, on-line, internet-based job-related written examination will be conducted to evaluate participating applicants' knowledge of accounting, accounting math, leadership, and computers for successful performance on the job. Examinees must earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list.

VALIDATING PROCTORED WRITTEN EXAM:Offers of employment may be conditional to the candidate until taking and passing an on-site, proctored exam similar to the un-proctored, internet-based exam.

Candidates successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year. The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill future Regular Full-Time and Part-Time (including Temporary and Fixed term), Intermittent, and Extra Helpvacancies.There are currently two (2) Regular vacancieswithin the Sheriff's Office

• Financial Administration Bureau.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: Prior to actual appointment from the eligible list, the successful candidate will be required to pass a thorough background investigation, conducted by the Sheriff's Human Resources Bureau which may also include a polygraph examination. Background investigation findings may be a basis for removal from the eligible list. To speak to a Sheriff's Office representative concerning the background investigation process, call (805) 654-2375.

For further information about this recruitment, please contact Melissa Kurtz by e-mail at melissa.kurtz@ventura.org.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.