Staff Accountant

Staff Accountant

 Legal Action’s Administrative Office

(Milwaukee)

Legal Action of Wisconsin (Legal Action), Inc. is seeking to fill one full-time Staff Accountant position. This position is under the direction of the firm’s Controller. The Staff Accountant will be assigned responsibilities to perform or help oversee the daily operations of the firm’s accounting department.

Legal Action is heavily grant funded.  Therefore, the Staff Accountant we desire has experience with grant accounting and recording expenses and revenue at the grant level in the general ledger.  However, it is not required:  We will train the incumbent as necessary.

Legal Action is a large, vibrant non-profit law firm funded by the federal Legal Services Corporation, the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, and other sources. Legal Action provides free, critical legal aid to about 10,000 – 12,000 low-income persons annually in the southern 39 counties of Wisconsin with offices in Milwaukee, Madison, Racine, Oshkosh, Green Bay and La Crosse. In addition, Legal Action operates a statewide farmworker project. Legal Action attorneys and paralegals have expertise in a range of substantive areas, but most of our work is in the areas of housing, public benefits, removing barriers to employment, consumer law, and family law. Legal Action attorneys and paralegals specialize in specific areas of poverty law, maintain a direct service caseload on behalf of individual clients, and engage in structural change advocacy.

Legal Action believes that equal justice under law can only be achieved through the collaboration of a diverse staff. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, and people with fife experiences or educational backgrounds that add to the firm’s diversity and our capacity to provide high-quality legal aid.

OFFICE LOCATION

The Staff Accountant is housed in Legal Action’s administrative offices in Milwaukee.  This office is located at 633 West Wisconsin Avenue and is comprised of approximately 41 attorneys, 19 paralegals, and 18 other administrative, professional I.T., and other support staff.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Staff Accountant Performs routine accounting duties that require thorough knowledge and application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, practices, and concepts that support the firm’s operations and management, as follows:

Accounts Receivable

• Performs daily financial transactions including verifying, classifying, computing, posting and recording account receivables, including grants and other receivables, and reconciling the accounts receivable ledger.
• Reviews and monitors grant revenue actual to budget and alerting CFO and Controller of any material
• Reviews expenses by funding sources and properly invoice funders for incurred expenses.

Accounts Payable

• Performs accounts payable functions by ensuring that all invoices submitted for payment are recorded accurately for the period, and coded to the proper grant, department, purpose, location, etc., and reconcile the accounts payable ledger.

Journal Entries and Account Reconciliation

• Makes proper journal entries and maintains the general ledger.
• Prepares reconciliation of balance sheet accounts (including bank accounts and others).
• Participates in month-end closing and monthly financial reporting process.

 Grant Accounting

• Tracks and records all grant activity including revenues, expenses, accounts receivables and deferred revenue on grant reports.
• Creates financial statements in the accounting software for each grant including reconciliation of the revenue and expenses.
• Prepares grant budgets for discussion and presentation to the organization’s management and funding sources.
• Prepares funding source financial statements and client service reports to the oversight
• Effectively works with management and communicates on all aspects of the grant

Month-End/Financial Statements

• Assists with preparing accurate, timely financial statements in accordance with our established schedule and with input from the rest of the accounting department, including comparative budget to
• Assists with preparing forecasts and projections of cash flow and other performance

Year-End

• Assists in the preparatory work for each financial audit including preparation and review of accounting schedules, preparation of journal entries, and communicate with auditors during
• Prepares grant, government, and service reports, from Client database Legal Server and assists in tracking year to date expenses.

Compliance

• Maintains physical inventory system including updating spreadsheets, inventory database, tagging new items and processing disposal forms including auditing assets as required by grant
• Spots errors and suggest ways for improving
• Ensures compliance with GAAP
• Ensures proper record retention is upheld for all financial

 Other

• The Staff Accountant will also be expected to perform other duties related to the administration of the program which are not related to the substantive legal work of the

 QUALIFICATIONS

Required Qualifications:

1. Education: Bachelor’s degree in accounting, or related field, from an accredited university.
2. Experience: 2 or more years of accounting experience of accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll and account
3. Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, and other Microsoft
4. Proficient and working knowledge of accounting software packages and payroll
5. Proven ability to consistently attend to details and check for accuracy of information.
6. Demonstrated ability to undertake all work with a professional attitude.
7. Ability to handle confidential information professionally and ethically.
8. Analytical and problem-solving skills: Ability to make responsible and appropriate decisions within the limits of standard policy and
9. Demonstrated ability to be flexible in work style and approach in response to the demands of the
10. Ability to function as an effective team member with other employees through cooperation and shared work to get the work done.
11. Able to set priorities considering what’s important and plan accordingly based on the time
12. Commitment to working cooperatively and collegially with all employees who have varied backgrounds and experiences and a commitment to improving the diversity and inclusion of our employees.

Desired Qualifications:

1. Experience with Abila MIP.
2. Grant accounting
3. Non-profit accounting experience.

COVID-19 VACCINATION POLICY

At Legal Action of Wisconsin, health and safety is a top priority. We require all new, unrepresented employees and interns, law clerks, volunteers, and contractors from employment agencies or consulting firms to have completed their COVID-19 vaccinations and booster and to provide medical proof from Wisconsin’s Immunization Registry or from a medical provider of their fully vaccinated status as a condition of employment with Legal Action of Wisconsin within 28 days of their first day of employment. Individuals may request a medical or religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine requirement.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

This position involves sedentary work, including sitting and/or standing at a desk while working at a computer for an extended period. This position also exerts up to 10 pounds of force on a regular basis to lift, carry, push, or otherwise move objects. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and/or laptop keyboard and use a telephone. Specific vision abilities required for this job include close vision requirements due to computer work. Occasional reaching, bending, kneeling, and stooping involved to retrieve assorted items and materials are required. This position works in an environmentally controlled office environment with moderate noise from phones, printers, and light office traffic.

Legal Action employees may be required to wear a mask that always complies with CDC recommendations when in a Legal Action office or when representing Legal Action in a professional capacity.

SALARY

The salary scale for this position has 40 steps, where each step represents one year of relevant work experience.  Step 2 is the minimum salary step for this posting because this position requires at least 2 years of experience.  Step 2 annual salary is $49,415.  An incumbent at Step 5 (with 5 years of experience) at hire would earn an annual salary of $53,316; Step 10 earns $59,818; Step 20 earns $72,562; and Step 30 earns $84,266.  Employees advance one step on their anniversary date unless they are on a performance improvement plan.

SPANISH OR HMONG LANGUAGE FLUENCY PREMIUM

In addition, Legal Action’s Salary Administration Plan includes additional pay ($2,400 or $4,800, depending on demands for the language in the position) for those employees who are fluent in Spanish or Hmong.

FRINGE BENEFITS

LAW offers a generous fringe benefits package, including employer-paid health and dental insurance for employees and eligible dependents. (Some employees are required to contribute to the health insurance premium for their spouse, if the spouse has group health insurance provided by their employer.) LAW also provides life and long-term disability insurance, a profit-sharing retirement plan, salary deferral options for retirement planning, low-cost employee paid vision coverage, starting leave benefits which include four weeks of vacation per year, four days of personal leave per year, generous sick leave accrual, and four weeks of paid parental leave for eligible employees at the start of employment and increasing with longevity.

SCOPE OF AUTHORITY

The Staff Accountant does not direct, supervise, or manage the work of other accounting staff. The Staff Accountant performs their duties with some oversight and direction while still working in collaboration with others and the supervisor.

GOVERNANCE

LAW’s personnel policies and other operating policies and procedures, which are subject to unilateral change by the LAW Board of Directors. This position is subject to a probationary period of up to six months.

SUPERVISION

This position will be supervised by Joseph Benson, Controller.