Staff Accountant

About Jumpstart
Jumpstart is a national early education organization that works toward the day every child in America enters school prepared to succeed. Through extraordinary attention in yearlong one-to-one relationships, Jumpstart inspires children to learn, adults to teach, families to get involved and communities to progress together. Headquartered in Boston, Jumpstart pairs 3,500 trained adults one-to-one with preschool children in need of assistance.  During the 2007-2008 program year, Jumpstart is serving 13,000 children across 20 states, in partnership with 300 early learning centers and nearly 70 universities and colleges throughout the country. Jumpstart’s national sponsors include American Eagle Outfitters, AmeriCorps, Pearson, Sodexho and Starbucks. Jumpstart has earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator and is the recipient of the Fast Company/Monitor Social Capitalist Award (2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007) and the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy’s Directors Award. In 2006, the organization launched Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, an annual campaign to bring national attention to early education while setting a world record for the number of adults and children reading the same book in a single day.


Position Overview
The Staff Accountant is responsible for assisting with the financial accounting operations of the organization with much of the work focusing on the preparation of financial statements. This position will report directly to Jumpstart’s Controller and is based out of the organization’s national headquarters in Boston, MA.
 
Specific Responsibilities
1.  Financial Accounting
• Maintain general ledger and subsidiary journals, including cash receipts, cash disbursements, payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable, using standardized automated accounting system
• Reconcile accounts payable, accounts receivable, and petty cash accounts on a monthly basis and  reconcile payroll to 941s on a quarterly basis
• Allocate costs to departments/sites based on cost allocation plan
• Prepare financial reports, analysis, and draft policies and procedures
• Maintain cash flow statement, reconciling accounts receivable and budgeted expenses
• Provide audit support


2. Operations
• Maintain and transmit payroll transactions to payroll vendor on a bi-weekly basis, as required
• Manage all accounts, including interest bearing investments
• Identify, secure and manage insurance relevant to the organization’s needs
• Provide a high degree of customer service to corps support
• Participate in the organization’s budget process as needed


3. Accounts Payable/Purchasing
• Ensure compliance with Jumpstart internal control procedures and other policies and procedures (PO process, AMEX process, etc.)
• Manages vender relationships and resolution of billing issues
• Manages internal Purchase Order Log
• Train staff members at all sites on Purchasing Policies and Procedures


Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting
• Experience in a similar position preferred; nonprofit background a plus
• Preferred working knowledge of Financial Edge accounting software
• Knowledge of the general ledger
• Excellent Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel
• Highly organized and flexible in a dynamic environment
• Extreme flexibility and adaptability with a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit to accommodate large responsibility and shifting priorities
• Commitment to Jumpstart’s mission and values of quality, challenge, diversity, respect, and kindness