Project Accountant

Project Accountant

Baltimore area

Position Summary

The Project Accountant is responsible for managing the financial activities associated with assigned projects, ensuring accurate billing, cost tracking, financial reporting, and compliance with company policies and project requirements. This position works closely with Project Managers, Finance, Operations, vendors, and clients to monitor project financial performance and resolve accounting issues.

The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, organized, analytical, and able to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain accurate financial records for assigned projects from initiation through completion.
• Monitor project budgets, costs, commitments, and actual expenditures.
• Prepare and process project invoices, including progress billings, time-and-material invoices, and other contractual billings.
• Review project contracts, purchase orders, change orders, and billing terms to ensure accurate invoicing.
• Track accounts receivable and assist with collection of outstanding project balances.
• Reconcile project costs, billing, and general ledger accounts.
• Review and code invoices, expenses, payroll, and other project-related transactions.
• Prepare monthly project financial reports, including budget-to-actual and cost-to-complete analyses.
• Assist Project Managers with forecasting project revenue, costs, and profitability.
• Monitor project profitability and identify financial variances or potential issues.
• Coordinate with Project Managers to ensure timely approval and processing of invoices and expenses.
• Assist with month-end and year-end close activities.
• Investigate and resolve billing discrepancies, account variances, and project-related accounting issues.
• Ensure project accounting practices comply with company policies, contractual requirements, and applicable accounting standards.
• Support internal and external audits by providing project financial documentation and analysis.
• Maintain organized and complete project accounting files and documentation.
• Perform other accounting and financial duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
• 5 years of accounting experience, preferably in project accounting, construction, engineering, professional services, or a similar project-based environment.
• Strong understanding of accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, and financial reporting.
• Experience with project billing, budgeting, forecasting, and cost accounting preferred.
• Strong Excel skills and experience with accounting or ERP systems.
• Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and competing deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with project managers, clients, vendors, and internal departments.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with construction or project-based accounting.
• Familiarity with job-cost accounting and work-in-progress (WIP) reporting.
• Experience with change orders, retainage, subcontractor billing, and project contracts.
• Knowledge of accounting software such as Sage, Viewpoint, Procore, Deltek, NetSuite, QuickBooks, or similar systems.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including PivotTables and financial reporting.
• Experience with project forecasting and profitability analysis.