Description

Position: Staff Accountant

Department: Finance

FLSA Status: Full-Time, Exempt

Reports to: Director of Finance

Direct Reports: None

Date Issued: November 2022

Date Revised: N/A

Location: Washington, DC

The Mission

Polaris is leading a data-driven social justice movement to fight sex and labor trafficking at the massive scale of the problem – 25 million people worldwide deprived of the freedom to choose how they live and work. 

For more than a decade, Polaris has assisted thousands of victims and survivors through the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, helped ensure countless traffickers were held accountable and built the largest known U.S. data set on actual trafficking experiences. With the guidance of survivors, we use that data to improve the way trafficking is identified, how victims and survivors are assisted, and how communities, businesses and governments can prevent human trafficking by transforming the underlying inequities and oppression that make it possible.

About Opportunity

Polaris is seeking a Staff Accountant on a full-time basis. Under the direction of the Director of Finance, the Staff Accountant will be a member of the Finance team and will support staff across the organization. The Staff Accountant is responsible for overseeing payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivables, credit card administration. Ensure accuracy in the general ledger accounts and will assist the Director of Finance in producing accurate and timely financial reports.

Responsibilities

Payroll

• Verify timesheet logs for all staff;
• Ensure all timesheets are approved by supervisor;
• Submit bi-weekly payroll to the payroll provider;
• Enter payroll data in the accounting system in a timely and accurate manner;
• Maintain and update payroll records and reconciliation reports;
• Research and resolve all payroll discrepancies;
• Reconcile payroll monthly.

Accounts Payable

• Prepare and process all invoices and reimbursements for all vendors and staff reimbursements; 
• Ensure payables comply with budgetary guidelines and GAAP;
• Update and maintain files and documentation thoroughly;
• Reconcile payable as required, i.e., credit statements and AP ledger. 

Accounts Receivable

• Create invoices for all federal, foundation, contractual and other agreements on a timely basis;
• Perform accounts receivable reconciliations and investigate and resolve any irregularities; 
• Maintain W-9 tax information for all customers; and
• Maintain customer agreements, contracts and files.

General Ledger and Financial Reporting

• Journal entry preparation when required;
• Perform balance sheet account reconciliations; 
• Maintain fixed assets and prepaid schedules;
• Assist with preparing monthly internal financial statements;
• Assist with month-end and year-end close; and
• Assist with preparing external audit schedules as needed.
• Commitment to the National Human Trafficking Hotline mission and Polaris values ; 
• Other duties as assigned by supervisor. 

This job description provides a summary of the major duties and responsibilities performed by individuals in this position. Incumbents may be asked to perform other tasks not specifically written in this job.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Deep passion! Mad skills! Low ego!
• Bachelor’s degree preferred or minimum 2 years of work experience in lieu of degree;
• Experience processing payroll for staff of 60 . Including FT and PT staff;
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of GAAP;
• Ability to compile, analyze, evaluate and interpret data and transactions;
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail;
• Experience with cloud based accounting software;
• Customer service oriented; and
• Proactively problem-solves and effectively communicate with team members.

Preferred Qualifications

· Knowledge of principles and practices for contracts/grant administration and monitoring;

· Familiar with Intacct accounting software and Paylocity; and

· Experience working in a non-profit environment.

Working Conditions

• Typical office setting

Physical Requirements 

• Prolonged sitting, chiefly at a computer terminal;

• Occasional bending, stooping and stretching;

• Requires eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity sufficient to operate a computer, telephone, calculator, and other office equipment;

• Requires normal range of hearing and eyesight to record, prepare, and communicate in writing, in person and by phone.

Organization Background 

VALUES: Polaris is grounded in a set of values and organizational beliefs and strives to model and embody these values in all that it does. 

We work with humility and a spirit of service. We serve a mission that is bigger than ourselves, and we recognize that we cannot do this work alone. We foster a caring community of mutual support, and we actively pursue collaborations and partnerships to expand our reach. 

Victims’ and survivors’ experiences ground our efforts. We honor the dignity, agency, and resilience of victims and survivors of slavery, both past and present. We serve, work alongside, and stand in solidarity with those who have been most affected by modern slavery. 

We strive for inclusion and equity. We engage different perspectives to inform our decisions, actions, and positions. We create opportunities that empower individuals of diverse backgrounds and circumstances. We acknowledge the structural inequities that lead to human trafficking and modern slavery, which drives us to create just and equitable solutions. 

We approach our work with courage. We promote a culture of inquiry, innovation, risk-taking, and continuous learning. We are resilient and evolve when faced with obstacles or failure. We recognize that what is typical or traditional is not always optimal. 

We create positive impact and achieve results. We leverage and cultivate the strengths of our staff, and we work with discipline, integrity, and a commitment to excellence. We embrace a measurement culture to track our progress. We view impact holistically, considering multiple sectors and the effects on individuals’ lives, as we pursue systemic and social change to eradicate modern slavery

DIVERSITY STATEMENT:

Polaris designs and implements data-driven strategies to prevent and disrupt human trafficking, and restore freedom to survivors. Achieving this ambitious goal requires both trafficking-specific systemic interventions and broader cultural and structural shifts that reduce the inequities that lead to human trafficking. While Polaris alone cannot build a more diverse, just, equitable, and inclusive society, both the success of our work and our organizational values require modeling in the workplace the change we want to see in the world.

This means cultivating a workforce, organizational culture, and priorities that respect and celebrate a dynamic, multi-disciplinary team made up of individuals with different identities, lived experiences, and backgrounds. Within both our team and across every part of our work, we strive to integrate and elevate the full range of survivor voices.

This is a living commitment. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are values to be manifested daily, in the work we do, the decisions we make, and the way that we treat each other and the people we seek to serve. This means creating space where staff can be included, heard, valued, and set up for success, and where everyone feels empowered to bring their full, best selves to work. We will not check boxes and consider it done. We will push new innovations and different ways of thinking, and treasure the community built and strengthened by each of our contributions.