Torchora
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operations accountant

title: Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Operations Accountant
salary: $55,000 - $95,000
categories: [Accounting, Finance, Operations, Corporate Finance]
description: A comprehensive overview of the key responsibilities, required technical skills and professional background for the role of a Operations Accountant.
Clear, recruiter-style summary of the Operations Accountant role: responsible for transactional accounting, reconciliations, month-end close, financial controls (SOX), process improvement, ERP support, and cross-functional collaboration. Ideal for candidates with strong GAAP knowledge, ERP experience (NetSuite/SAP/Oracle), advanced Excel and data analysis skills, and a proactive approach to operations and finance integration.

🎯 Role Definition

An Operations Accountant ensures day-to-day financial integrity across operations by owning transactional accounting processes, month-end close activities, reconciliations, intercompany settlements, and operational reporting. This role bridges operations and finance, partnering with procurement, supply chain, billing and treasury teams to drive accurate financial results, control compliance (SOX/GAA P), and continuous process improvement. The ideal candidate is technically strong in ERP systems, Excel and data analysis, experienced in GAAP and revenue accounting, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Staff Accountant
  • Accounts Payable / Receivable Specialist
  • Financial Analyst (junior)

Advancement To:

  • Senior Operations Accountant
  • Accounting Manager / Finance Manager
  • Senior Financial Analyst (Operations)
  • Treasury or Revenue Accounting Lead

Lateral Moves:

  • Cost Accountant
  • Internal Controls / SOX Analyst
  • Billing & Revenue Accountant

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead month-end and quarter-end accounting close for operational general ledger accounts, creating and posting complex journal entries, accruals and reversals to ensure timely and accurate financial statements in accordance with GAAP.
  • Perform detailed account reconciliations for cash, bank, intercompany, prepaid, accrued liabilities, fixed assets and inventory-related balances, investigate variances and drive resolution with operations teams.
  • Own accounts payable and accounts receivable processes for assigned entities or cost centers including invoice review, approvals, payment runs, collections support, and aging analysis to optimize working capital.
  • Reconcile daily cash activity and execute bank reconciliations, support cash posting and cash application processes, and work with treasury to maintain accurate cash balances and cash forecasts.
  • Manage intercompany accounting and settlements: prepare intercompany invoices, reconcile intercompany balances, resolve mismatches, and ensure compliant intercompany accounting and documentation.
  • Support revenue recognition and billing operations under ASC 606 (or other applicable standards): review contracts, analyze transaction streams, prepare journal entries and ensure correct revenue timing and disclosures.
  • Prepare and analyze operational financial KPIs and variance analysis (budget vs. actual, month-over-month and year-over-year), present findings to finance and operations stakeholders, and recommend corrective actions.
  • Maintain fixed asset ledger: process capital additions and disposals, calculate and post monthly depreciation, perform reconciliations and support asset audits.
  • Execute inventory accounting activities including periodic adjustments, cycle count variance reconciliations, cost of goods sold (COGS) analysis and journal entries to reflect correct inventory valuation.
  • Implement and enforce internal controls and SOX control testing for operational processes; prepare documentation, remediate control gaps, and liaise with internal and external auditors during audits.
  • Drive continuous process improvement initiatives to streamline transactional workflows, reduce month-end cycle time, and increase automation through ERP configuration, Excel macros, VBA, or scripting tools.
  • Support ERP (NetSuite, SAP, Oracle etc.) configuration and transaction flow reviews: investigate system-driven balances, propose system enhancements and assist in user acceptance testing for finance-related modules.
  • Prepare and distribute standardized and ad-hoc operational and financial reports to senior leadership, operations managers and external partners, ensuring data accuracy and timely delivery.
  • Manage vendor relationships and resolve supplier invoicing, reconciliation and payment disputes in partnership with procurement and accounts payable teams.
  • Coordinate payroll accounting entries, benefits accruals and payroll reconciliations with payroll providers and HR to ensure accurate labor cost accounting.
  • Create, maintain and update accounting policies, procedures, and standardized operating procedures (SOPs) for operational accounting activities and ensure team adherence.
  • Lead or participate in cross-functional projects (ERP upgrades, billing migrations, shared services implementations) by providing accounting subject matter expertise and ensuring that process changes meet accounting standards.
  • Support tax and statutory reporting by providing operational accounting schedules, responding to inquiries, and preparing workpapers for indirect taxes, VAT/GST reconciliation and local filings where applicable.
  • Conduct root-cause analysis on recurring discrepancies and partner with operations to implement corrective action plans, training or system changes to prevent recurrence.
  • Assist in budgeting and forecasting processes by providing historical operational spend analysis, preparing working capital forecasts and contributing assumptions for planning cycles.
  • Own month-end close checklist items for assigned business units, coordinate with other accounting and operational teams to ensure dependencies are met and close milestones are achieved.
  • Provide mentorship and on-the-job training to junior accounting staff, delegate tasks effectively and ensure quality control of work outputs.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • GAAP and financial statement accounting expertise, including month-end close and consolidation fundamentals.
  • Strong experience with ERP systems (NetSuite, SAP, Oracle ERP Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics) and knowledge of ERP transaction flows and configurations.
  • Advanced Microsoft Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, macros/VBA) for reconciliations, analysis and automation.
  • Proficiency in SQL for querying transactional data and supporting ad-hoc analyses; familiarity with Power Query or similar ETL tools.
  • Experience with revenue recognition standards (ASC 606 / IFRS 15) and practical application to billing and contract-based revenue.
  • Hands-on experience with accounts payable, accounts receivable, intercompany accounting and fixed asset accounting.
  • Familiarity with SOX control frameworks, internal control design, testing and remediation activities.
  • Experience using financial reporting and BI tools (Power BI, Tableau, NetSuite Analytics) to build dashboards and deliver insight.
  • Strong month-end journal entry preparation, accrual accounting and reconciliation skills.
  • Knowledge of treasury and cash management processes including bank reconciliation and cash forecasting.
  • Experience supporting internal and external audits, preparing schedules and audit workpapers.
  • Skills in process mapping, documentation and continuous improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma or similar).
  • Familiarity with tax reporting impacts of operational transactions (sales tax, VAT/GST, withholding considerations).
  • Basic scripting or automation experience (Python, R, VBA) to reduce manual workloads.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional attention to detail and strong analytical reasoning to identify root causes and propose practical solutions.
  • Clear and concise communication skills for interacting with operations, vendors, auditors and senior finance leaders.
  • Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
  • Proactive problem-solving mindset and ability to work independently with limited supervision.
  • Collaborative team player who can build relationships across functions and explain accounting impacts to non-finance stakeholders.
  • Adaptability and comfort with change when systems, processes and priorities evolve.
  • Customer-service orientation when supporting internal stakeholder inquiries and vendor issues.
  • Leadership and coaching capability to train junior colleagues and drive accountability within the team.
  • Ethical judgment and high level of integrity when handling confidential financial data.
  • Time management and prioritization skills to shorten close cycles and meet reporting deadlines.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration (or equivalent transferrable experience).

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance with CPA, ACCA, CMA or part-qualification preferred.
  • Advanced coursework or certification in ERP systems, data analytics or process improvement (e.g., NetSuite certification, SQL training, Lean Six Sigma).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Business Administration
  • Economics
  • Information Systems (with accounting focus)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–6 years of progressive accounting/finance experience with at least 1–2 years focused on operations or transactional accounting.

Preferred: 4–7+ years experience in operations accounting, shared services, or corporate accounting environments with demonstrated experience in ERP systems, SOX controls, intercompany accounting and month-end close ownership.

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