What are the responsibilities and job description for the Accounting Reconciliation Specialist - Temporary position at Chemical Light, Inc.?
We are looking for a temporary Accounting Reconciliation Specialist to assist with a reconciliation project involving several thousand historical transactions in our Unreconciled Receipts and Unreconciled Payments general ledger accounts.
This is an accounting investigation and reconciliation role, not a bookkeeping/data-entry position. We need someone who understands debits, credits, T-accounts, A/R, A/P, clearing accounts, and cash transaction flows—and can determine why an accounting transaction became orphaned or unreconciled.
What You'll Do
For unreconciled transactions, you will:
- Trace the transaction and related accounting entries.
- Reconstruct what should have happened versus what actually happened.
- Determine why an amount remains in a clearing account.
- Identify the underlying accounting issue and appropriate resolution.
- Document your findings and resolution.
- Escalate items where the correct accounting treatment cannot be determined.
The objective is not simply to make an account balance go away. We want to understand why the item is there and correct the underlying issue.
Qualifications
We're looking for someone with a strong understanding of:
- Debits, credits, and T-account flows
- General ledger and balance sheet reconciliations
- A/R and A/P
- Cash receipts and payments
- Clearing and suspense accounts
- Bank reconciliations
- Researching historical accounting discrepancies
Strong Excel skills are preferred.
Odoo experience is helpful but not required. CPA certification is not required.
Position Details
- Temporary accounting reconciliation project
- Several thousand transactions
- Approximately $25–$30/hour, depending on experience
- Odoo ERP training will be provided
Individual applicants only. Respectfully, we are not interested in recruiters, staffing agencies, consulting firms, or other third-party placement services.
Examples of the Accounting You'll Be Investigating
The examples below are simplified but illustrate the type of accounting logic required for this position.
Example 1 – Correct Flow
A $1,000 customer invoice is created:
Account ---------------- Debit ---------- Credit
Accounts Receivable ---- $1,000
Sales ------------------------------------- $1,000
The $1,000 customer payment is created and applied to the invoice:
Account ---------------- Debit ---------- Credit
Unreconciled Receipts -- $1,000
Accounts Receivable ----------------------- $1,000
The corresponding bank receipt is reconciled against the payment:
Account ---------------- Debit ---------- Credit
Cash -------------------- $1,000
Unreconciled Receipts --------------------- $1,000
The result is straightforward: Accounts Receivable is cleared, Unreconciled Receipts is cleared, Sales has a $1,000 credit, and Cash has a $1,000 debit.
Example 2 – Payment Applied, but Bank Receipt Reconciled Directly to A/R
A $1,000 customer invoice is created:
Account ---------------- Debit ---------- Credit
Accounts Receivable ---- $1,000
Sales ------------------------------------- $1,000
A $1,000 customer payment is created and applied to the invoice:
Account ---------------- Debit ---------- Credit
Unreconciled Receipts -- $1,000
Accounts Receivable ----------------------- $1,000
However, instead of reconciling the bank receipt against the existing payment, the bank transaction is posted directly against Accounts Receivable:
Account ---------------- Debit ---------- Credit
Cash -------------------- $1,000
Accounts Receivable ----------------------- $1,000
The resulting balances include:
Account ---------------- Debit ---------- Credit
Unreconciled Receipts -- $1,000
Accounts Receivable ----------------------- $1,000
Cash and Sales are correct, but the transaction flow is not. There is a $1,000 debit stranded in Unreconciled Receipts and an offsetting $1,000 credit in Accounts Receivable.
The job is to recognize that these balances are related, determine why the normal accounting flow was broken, research the underlying transactions, and determine the appropriate correction.
Example 3 – Amounts Don't Match
A $1,000 customer invoice is created:
Account ---------------- Debit ---------- Credit
Accounts Receivable ---- $1,000
Sales ------------------------------------- $1,000
A $1,000 customer payment is recorded:
Account ---------------- Debit ---------- Credit
Unreconciled Receipts -- $1,000
Accounts Receivable ----------------------- $1,000
But the related bank transaction was only $950:
Account ---------------- Debit ---------- Credit
Cash ---------------------- $950
Unreconciled Receipts ----------------------- $950
This leaves:
Account ---------------- Debit ---------- Credit
Unreconciled Receipts ----- $50
Before correcting anything, you need to determine why.
Was there a processing fee? A deduction? A partial deposit? An incorrect payment amount? A separate transaction? Are these even the correct transactions to match? If your first instinct is to make a journal entry simply to eliminate the remaining balance, this position is probably not the right fit.
Salary : $25 - $30