Sr. Payroll Accountant

Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is about more than power. We’re about the power of relationships. Our employees have the opportunity to work together to ensure electricity is delivered reliably and affordably to the millions of people living in our service territory. We have been voted one of Arkansas’ Best Places to work by Arkansas Business and we are looking for a member of our team who is passionate about our mission to keep the lights on!

We have a core ideology here at SPP that we stand by: Do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way.

We believe in supporting our employees through a fantastic benefits package:

• Competitive pay with bonus opportunities
• Excellent insurance package including three great medical plans to choose from, employer-paid short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
• Relocation assistance
• Flexible working environment for positions that are eligible where employees have the flexibility to work from home and come in where collaborative in person work is needed.
• Fantastic contributions to your retirement through a 401(k) savings plan with employer-match benefits and a defined benefit plan fully funded by SPP

As our Sr. Payroll Accountant, you will:

Primarily be responsible for oversight and ongoing review of accounting and financial transactions and processes, including payroll, non-routine/complex account and financial statement analysis, month end closeout duties, review and approval of general ledger journal entries, account reconciliations, and other accounting and finance functions, processes, and projects requiring advanced analytical, technical, planning, organization, and communication skills.  This position will provide support primarily for management and staff of the Accounting/Finance department and work with other SPP departments as necessary.

Essential Functions 

• Perform ongoing detailed analytical review of GL accounts and financials
• Review and approve accounting/payroll/financial transactions prepared by staff accountants and payroll analysts, providing support, guidance, and assistance as necessary
• Perform month-end closeout duties including account reconciliations
• Provide support for the annual financial audits of the company and the benefit plans
• Play an active role in the development, implementation, modification, and documentation of accounting processes/procedures
• Provide support as necessary for the required quarterly/annual financial reporting to regulatory entities and lending institutions
• Assist in the production of the monthly internal reporting, providing variance analysis and similar information as necessary
• Collaboration with other SPP departments and departmental management on department and corporate initiatives as required
• Assist Supervisor of General Accounting, Manager of Accounting, the Controller, and other SPP staff with financial analysis and ad hoc assignments as needed
• Perform one or more of the following complex/non-routine accounting processes and transactions:
  • Payroll processing:
    • Oversee the timely and accurate delivery of payroll processes and procedures for multiple states, reviewing important information each pay period (i.e. base wages, headcount, salary changes, benefit changes, etc.) to ensure accurate payment to employees
    • Work collaboratively with the Human Capital, Accounting and Finance teams to timely and accurately process, update and report payroll, troubleshooting payroll issues as necessary
    • Maintain proactive knowledge of federal, state and local payroll laws and regulations in order to ensure company compliance in each state where employees are located
    • Function as primary back-up for payroll processing
  • Engineering support:
    • Work with engineering to identify incoming customer deposits and reclassify to the applicable liability account
    • Prepare customer refunds by verifying customer deposits, costs, and unbilled revenue amounts with engineering’s records and calculate interest amounts, as applicable
  • Markets:
    • Perform validations and postings for weekly markets and monthly transmission billing
  • Fixed Assets:
    • Provide support for the fixed asset process

To be successful as the Sr. Payroll Accountant, we're looking for: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or business-related field or 2 years relevant experience above experience requirements.
• 5 years of job-related experience in accounting processes and transactions as listed above.
• Proficient in Microsoft Excel and Word in performing and preparing financial analysis, financial statements and reports,