Principal Accountant - City of Birmingham

TARGET CLOSE DATE:

08/08/2025

PAY GRADE:

Grade 27

TYPE:

Full time

JOB SUMMARY:

The City of Birmingham is seeking well-qualified, motivated Principal Accountants to provide strategic direction and oversee the daily financial operations for a department. Principal Accountants may perform or oversee the performance of a variety of duties, including, but are not limited to, the maintenance of accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), banking, general ledger (GL), grant, and/or budgetary accounts, while ensuring compliance to federal, state, and local guidelines and laws (e.g., Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)). In doing so, Principal Accountants may produce and substantiate financial statements and oversee the internal and external audit of financial records. Work is performed in an office setting and may involve the direct supervision of others, including Accounting Assistants, Accountants, and Senior Accountants.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

The City of Birmingham provide competitive pay and comprehensive benefits packages to include medical and dental insurance, employer-sponsored retirement plan (pension), generous paid holidays, sick and vacation leave, and more. The pay range for this position is listed below:


Birmingham $62,857 - $97,531

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

The following are job-related qualifications that are required for employment consideration for this position:

Option A:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration.

• Experience leading the accounting functions for a department or organization such as preparing general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, financial statements, payroll, or budgets.

• Experience with periodic financial reporting (e.g., balance sheets, income statements, transaction process reports, daily cash reports) for oversight, compliance, and/or to fulfill legal requirements.

Option B:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration.

• Experience as a Senior Accountant in the Merit System.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

The following are job-related qualifications deemed desirable by the City of Birmingham. These qualifications may be considered by the hiring agency when reviewing applications and inviting candidates to participate in subsequent steps in the selection process.

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting.

TYPICAL JOB DUTIES: 

• Oversees the Accounts Payable (AP) and/or Accounts Receivable (AR) process by entering requisitions and payments, generating invoices and account statements and reconciling funds using accounting software in accordance with professional standards to maintain finances for a department or jurisdiction.

• Oversees internal and external audits of financial records by acting as the point of communication, distributing audit-related tasks, and implementing changes identified during the audit consistent with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) and auditor transaction testing techniques to maintain compliance with professional standards and regulations.

• Oversees the maintenance of banking records by researching banking and account information to provide recommendations to the department or jurisdiction regarding which banking institutions to utilize.

• Prepares, monitors, and administers departmental or organizational budget by reviewing spending trends, expenditure reports, analyzing financial data and ensuring expenditures are within annual budgetary limits.

• Performs the financial closing process at the end of an accounting period (i.e., monthly, quarterly, yearly) by analyzing account balances and performing balance sheet reconciliations to ensure compliance with federal, state and local guidelines and laws.

• Oversees the maintenance of the general ledger (GL) by reviewing and approving journal entries, auditing the GL for accuracy, creating journal entries and general ledger adjustments, and reconciling the general ledger to other financial records to ensure completeness of information and compliance with federal. state and local guidelines and laws.

• Oversees the maintenance and reporting of confidential governmental financial records according to federal, state, and local guidelines and laws (e.g., Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)) by reviewing financial data and reports and preparing documentation related to financial activities to ensure organizational compliance.

• Monitors agencies’ use of grant funds by verifying compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) to ensure that grant funds are used for their intended purpose.

• Oversees the accounting and processing of employee payroll by reviewing and reconciling payroll data and preparing reports related to payroll activities in accordance with professional standards to ensure accurate payroll calculations and compliance with federal, state and local laws and guidelines.

• Engages in activities designed to ensure professional development, awareness of developments in the field, and knowledge of relevant practices, rules, laws, policies, and/or guidelines.

• Prepares requests for proposals and bid specifications for the jurisdiction or department(s) by reviewing current departmental needs and budget information in order to obtain bids from vendors for products or services.

• Supervises staff by assigning and distributing work, directing staff in their job duties, monitoring progress of work, providing feedback and/or training.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

Job is primarily sedentary involving sitting for long periods of time, but may involve occasional walking or standing for brief periods.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Work is conducted almost exclusively indoors in an office setting. Work involves use of standard office equipment, such as computer, phone, copier, etc.

EEO STATEMENT:

The Personnel Board of Jefferson County provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment with the Personnel Board of Jefferson County, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.  Each Merit System member city/agency operate its own equal employment opportunity policies available on the individual city/agency website.

ACCOMMODATION:

NOTE:

This job posting may close before, or be extended beyond, the listed Target Close Date based on the employment needs of the Merit System. More detail regarding this job is available by clicking Apply.

DISCLAIMER:

This job posting is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of the job duties, responsibilities, or skills and abilities required to do the job and may be changed at the discretion of the Personnel Board at any time.