Associate - Property Accountant

Posting Duration: This posting will close at the end of March and will only be extended if we need to see more candidates to fill the position.

Position Summary:

This role is responsible for providing support for property accounting and financial reporting for Forum's managed properties on an ongoing basis. As an integral member of the Accounting team, you will be responsible for accurate, useful and informative reporting to internal and external users of financial statements. The ideal candidate will have prior real estate industry experience and possess exceptional problem-solving skills with excellent attention to detail. You are hardworking, and adept at learning new things. This role requires an ability to work independently with multiple projects on tight deadlines.

Essential Functions:

• Engage with third-party property management accounting team to ensure Forum's accounting policies are appropriately reflected in their accounting systems
• Oversee month end close process to ensure reporting deadlines are achieved
• Responsible for maintaining the quality and efficiency of the monthly accounting and financial reporting process including oversight of the account reconciliation process
• Prepare and/or review financial information for external auditors if necessary
• Develop and maintain documents and monitor compliance with GAAP and Internal Control policies
• Review and prepare financial reporting to management including the preparation and/or review of variance and trend explanations
• Interpret and analyze financial results for reasonableness
• Assist with preparation and review of property budgets and/or forecast if necessary

Additional Responsibilities/Duties:

• Adhere to standard operating procedures for property accounting
• Identify and implement opportunities for process improvement
• Communicate effectively with Asset Management team and third party providers, including communicating financial policies and procedures
• Ensure that processes are followed to comply with sales/use and other local tax reporting and payment
• Other duties as needed or required

Other Skills & Attributes Required:

• Highly organized, with exceptional project and time management skills and an ability to coordinate with others to meet tight deadlines
• Excellent grammar, verbal and written communication skills and have a positive, upbeat attitude
• High attention to detail with ability to proofread and error check
• Ability to produce high-quality detailed work in a timely fashion with little supervision
• Good situational judgment
• Takes ownership to personally resolve problems (or find someone who can)
• Listens well, asks clarifying questions, and checks for agreement with team members
• Dependability and strong sense of accountability
• Works with team to analyze common issues, dig for root causes, and adjust services or processes to prevent issues from occurring in the future.

Education & Technical Skills:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or related work experience required
• 3+ years of experience in Accounting, including a strong knowledge of GAAP
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Suite: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook
• Experience in Yardi a plus, but not required
• Real estate experience strongly preferred
• Property management experience a plus

Supervisory Responsibilities: None at this time

Competencies: To perform this job successfully, the individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

1. Innovation: Develops innovative approaches and ideas; displays original thinking and creativity; generates suggestions for improving work; meets challenges with resourcefulness.
2. Achievement Focus: Demonstrates persistence and overcomes obstacles; measures self against standard of excellence; recognizes and acts on opportunities; sets and achieves challenging goals; takes calculated risks to accomplish goals.
3. Analytical Skills: Collects and researches data. Designs workflows and procedures. Identifies data relationships and dependencies. Synthesizes diverse information. Uses intuition and experience to complement data.
4. Quality: Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; looks for ways to improve quality; applies feedback to improve performance; monitors own work to ensure quality.
5. Problem-Solving: Develops alternative solutions; gathers and analyzes information skillfully; identifies problems in a timely manner; resolves problems in early stages; works well in group problem-solving situations.
6. Dependability: Commits to doing the best job possible; follows instructions, responds to management direction; keeps commitments; meets attendance and punctuality guidelines; responds to requests for service and assistance; takes responsibility for own actions.
7. Judgment: Displays willingness to make decisions; exhibits sound and accurate judgment; supports and explains reasoning for decisions; includes appropriate people in decision-making process; makes timely decisions.
8. Communications: Exhibits good listening and comprehension; expresses ideas and thoughts well in written form; expresses ideas and thoughts well verbally; keeps others adequately informed; selects and uses appropriate communication methods.
9. Teamwork: Balances team and individual responsibilities; contributes to building a positive team spirit; exhibits objectivity and openness to others' views; gives and welcomes feedback; puts success of team above own interests.

In addition to the above job-specific competencies, all Forum employees are expected to demonstrate these Forum core competencies:

1. Adaptability: Accepts criticism and feedback; accustomed to a culture of rapid and constant change and easily adjusts to changing priorities and conditions; manages competing demands.
2. Innovation: Develops innovative approaches and ideas; displays original thinking and creativity; generates suggestions for improving work; meets challenges with resourcefulness.
3. Collaboration: Recognizes and cultivates strong interpersonal relationships and cross-functional collaborations; generates value and uses motivation to influence and create change; seeks not to control but to inspire; facilitates dissemination and sharing of knowledge and information.
4. Accountable: Keeps and follows-through on commitments; readily takes ownership of achieving results by exhibiting responsibility and initiative; displays open, proactive communication that builds trust.
5. Initiative: Asks for help when needed; looks for and takes advantage of opportunities; seeks increased responsibilities; takes independent actions and calculated risks; undertakes self-development activities; volunteers readily.
6. Respectful: Displays integrity and honesty; maintains professional demeanor and composure in tense situations; exhibits fairs and generous behavior; readily owns up to mistakes and admits when wrong; strives to "get it right"; displays loyalty even when tough to do so.

Forum Values:

• Blaze the future. Take initiative. Push what's possible. Own your path but stay nimble. Embrace change and always challenge the status quo. (Entrepreneurial)
• Dare to be clear. Certainty is impossible, but clarity is essential. Eliminate the noise and focus your strategy to achieve something better, something great. (Clear)
• Stay open. Have the courage to make yourself vulnerable. Communicate honestly and respectfully. Share mistakes and trust one another. (Vulnerable, Transparency)
• Make it better together. Go all in. Get messy. Welcome new ideas and share yours freely. Be a sponge. Bump heads. Take it out. Listen. Learn. Repeat. (Collaborative)

Physical Demands:

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl and talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision.

Travel may be needed.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position.

Compensation Information: Base salary range is $50,000 to $75,000. This range is estimated for this role; actual pay may be different.

Benefits for full-time employees include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance, employee assistance program, Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, 401(k) with company match program, 12 paid company holidays, self-managed PTO, anniversary milestone program/awards, gift matching program.