Claims Coordinator (Store Support Center, Lenexa, KS)

About Ace Retail Holdings

Ace Retail Holdings (ARH), the division of Ace Hardware Corporation that owns and operates the Great Lakes and Westlake Ace Hardware chains, is one of the largest hardware retailers in the United States.  ARH has been in operation for over a century and operates over 220 neighborhood stores located throughout the United States.  Great people make ARH stand out in our industry, and we are looking for individuals who strive for personal and professional growth, and who want to work with a company dedicated to serving our customers and communities.

Service, Passion, Respect, Integrity, Teamwork and Excellence

Job Title:    Claims Coordinator
Department:    Defectives Processing
Reports To:    Manager, Accounts Payable
Exemption Status:    Non-Exempt (Hourly)
    
About Ace Retail Holdings
Ace Retail Holdings (ARH), the division of Ace Hardware Corporation that owns and operates the Great Lakes and Westlake Ace Hardware chains, is one of the largest hardware retailers in the United States.  ARH has been in operation for over a century and operates over 220 neighborhood stores located throughout the United States.  Great people make ARH stand out in our industry, and we are looking for individuals who strive for personal and professional growth, and who want to work with a company dedicated to serving our customers and communities.

General Job Summary
The Claims Coordinator is responsible for processing defective goods in JDA, submitting necessary paperwork to vendors, and ensuring timely credit is received and processed in Accounting.  The Claims Coordinator will provide direct support in areas of financial reporting including creating monthly journal entries, preparing balance sheet account reconciliations, and providing assistance to the Accounts Payable (A/P) department.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Claims
•    Provide support to stores that goes above and beyond.  This may include (but is not limited to) answering questions related to the defective goods and warehouse claims processes, working with store teams to obtain necessary information to submit claims to vendors, and ensuring all defective goods are accurately returned using the correct code at POS.
•    Maintain the defective PO process in JDA for all Ace Policy A items. This includes verifying that defective records generate properly.
•    Check daily reporting to determine all Ace Policy B and C items that have been returned defective. Submit all necessary claims paperwork to vendors for eligible Policy B and C items. Follow up with vendors as needed to ensure that credit is received in a timely manner.
•    Aid Merchandising with vendor recalls and buybacks. This may include building instructions for stores, adjusting inventory, monitoring inbound credits, and following up with the vendor as needed.
•    Work with Accounting team to properly allocate incoming credits to the correct GL account. 
•    Contact direct-pay vendors to obtain credits for shortages and damaged items.
•    Maintain accurate record-keeping of all claims submitted to verify that all expected credits are received.
•    Monitor total dollars of claims and on-hand adjustments to look for stores that may fall significantly above or below the chain average.  Determine root cause and work with store team, Loss Prevention and Operations to correct any procedural issues.
•    Review system reports and verify all items that are adjusted are under the correct reason code and that a matching warehouse claim has been filed if applicable.
•    Provide monthly presentation to stakeholders regarding contract fulfillment status and collections.

Balance Sheet Reconciliations
•    Prepare monthly balance sheet account reconciliations and adjustment journal entries as necessary for assigned accounts.

Assist A/P Department
•    Provide assistance to the A/P Department with coding and processing credit memos.

Minimum Skills, Requirements and Qualifications
•    Associates Degree in Accounting or 2+ years’ experience in Accounting or related field.
•    Proficiency MS Excel including the ability to collect and organize large amounts of data using pivot tables, vlookups and other Excel tools.
•    Must be a self-starter with strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills along with excellent organizational, written and verbal communication skills.  
•    Ability to define problems, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form. 
•    Ability to apply commonsense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.
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