Lease Accountant at King County, WA

About the Department

Are you an accountant that wants to make a big, countywide impact on the community you’ve chosen to call home? If that’s not enough reason to join our team, how about a career with fascinating accounting puzzles to solve, surrounded by brilliant professionals that you can partner with to make sure the County’s lease and subscription activities are reported correctly in the audited financial statements? The Capital Asset Accounting (CAA) unit in the Financial Management Section (FMS) has an outstanding opportunity for a Lease Accountant (Accountant). This position is knowledgeable on accounting for leases, partnerships, and software subscriptions under Statements of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board #87, #94, and #96. CAA is an essential component of the County’s efforts to maintain its top-notch bond ratings and access to municipal bond credit markets that enable the County to embark on large projects and programs in our goal to make King County a Welcoming Community Where Every Person Can Thrive!

We are looking for someone who is passionate about providing excellent customer service and continuously creating new ways to improve business processes. The Financial Management Section is part of the larger Finance and Business Operations Division portfolio of county-wide services. Operating as an internal service fund, FBOD’s vision is “Count on Us” reflecting the division’s deep-seated commitment to customer success, equity, employee engagement, resource stewardship, and operational excellence. You will join a supportive team that will partner with you in these efforts; FBOD is an open, ethical, highly engaged, and collaborative community based on trust, transparency, and mutual respect. FBOD believes in the importance of quality of life, embracing diversity and equity, and making a difference. If these values align with your own, submit your application now and come join us for a rewarding career.

The Lease Accountant is proficient on the nuanced but exciting area of governmental accounting dealing with leases, public-public and public-private partnerships, and software subscriptions. They work together with colleagues in FMS and county agencies to record and maintain the county’s leases, subscriptions, and public/public and public/private partnership activity. The County has a broad portfolio of leases, subscriptions, and partnerships which give rise to intangible assets under the accounting standards. Accounting for these activities requires maintaining collaborative relationships with agencies who conduct the 60+ lines of business across the government, knowledgeable in the rules of accounting for these activities in governments and working closely with other accounting units in Financial Management that lead preparation of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.

Scope of Job Duties
 

• Consult with agency colleagues and FMS team members to provide support on matters of lease, partnership, and subscription accounting.
• Assess and analyze lease agreements, if meets standards for GASB 87, 94, and 96.
• Compile information for disclosures around leases, subscriptions, and partnerships in the Notes to the Financial Statements.
• Ensure the note disclosures reconcile to the fund statements and other Notes.
• Maintain the lease and subscription subsidiary ledger, adhering to established internal controls to maintain reliability of the subledger data.
• Gather supporting documents for journal entries to reflect lease activity in the general ledger.
• Provide reconciliation support of lease accounting subsidiary ledger to the General Ledger.
• Contribute to business process improvement and standardization using technology and other tools.
• Build relationships with agency finance managers and others reinforcing the FBOD “Count on Us” vision, showing how FBOD leads the way in developing solutions for our customers.
• Interact with internal and external auditors; provide information and access to accounting records; develop and provide responses to audit inquiries and recommendations.

Minimum Qualifications

 Experience compiling and preparing financial statements or auditing to lease accounting concepts including present value of future cash flows, lease options, amortization, impairment, termination, and discount rates. The level of experience to be successful in this position is typically obtained through 1-2 years of work experience as an accountant or similar professional.

• Ability to interpret and explain laws, instructions, accounting pronouncements, and County objectives and policies to broad audiences.
• Ability to think strategically and be analytical when understanding problems and anticipating potential issues while seeing the big picture.
• Ability to support continuous improvement efforts within the unit through leading and participating in continuous improvement projects.
• Strong communication, interpersonal, writing and customer service skills
• Intermediate level of technology proficiency using MS Office Productivity tools in your daily work
• Ability to manage your time and adapt to changing priorities, work on multiple priorities and projects simultaneously, meet quick deadlines, and produce timely and quality work products.
• Ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds.

Preferred Qualifications
 

• Bachelor's degree in accounting or related field, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO), Certified Government Finance Manager (CGFM), or other related degree or certification.
• Experience as a financial statement preparer under generally accepted accounting principles for state and local governments in the United States (GAAP).
• Experience with LEAN processes and principles
• Experience with SharePoint, MS Teams and other collaborative online tools
  
  
  
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Position Information:

• Work Site Details:  The team works in a hybrid model, with days in the office as well as telecommuting. The ratio of remote to onsite work will be dependent on business needs and is subject to change. The primary onsite location is King Street Center, 201 S. Jackson, Seattle, Washington 98104. Please reach out for additional details at the contact below.
• Location Requirement: Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements. 
• Work Schedule: This position is non exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and therefore is overtime eligible. Employees are paid on a bi-weekly schedule, every other Thursday, comprising a  40-hour workweek; normally 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. 
• Union Representation: This position is 117 represented.

The selection process consists of different phases: screening interview, virtual interview, and if successful, pre-hire reference checking. For some positions, additional phases may also include skill testing, writing samples or additional interviews. Candidates will be updated on the status of their application via the email address used to apply.

Each phase is set for a specific day. Different times will be available for those days only. Please reach out to the contact below to confirm dates. Rescheduling interviews may not be possible and may remove you from consideration if unavailable. 

If you have any questions or concerns while applying, please contact: Michael Castro, Recruiter Email: [email protected]

Other Qualifications

Forbes named King County as one of Washington State's best employers.

King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer

No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class. Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.

To Apply

If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.