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Project Accountant

Costa Mesa, CA | Full-Time | Onsite/Hybrid

About the Firm 

We are a focused electrical consulting engineering firm providing electrical power, lighting, and fire alarm design services for a diverse portfolio of projects. Our work spans healthcare, K-12 education, multifamily, and commercial facilities, with healthcare and education representing our fastest-growing markets.

Sr. Project Accountant Primary Objective: 

We are looking for a Senior Project Accountant and Coordinator who will serve as the operational hub of each project, ensuring a seamless transition from proposal and contract execution through project management and final closeout. The role is responsible for coordinating project workflows, maintaining accurate documentation, and supporting project teams throughout the project lifecycle.

In addition, this position plays a critical role in the company's financial operations by managing invoicing, collections, and accounts payable activities. By driving efficient project administration and financial processes, the position directly contributes to cash flow management, project profitability, and overall business performance.

Key Responsibilities & Deliverables 

1. Project Accounting & Billing Operations (35% of Time) 

• Bi-Weekly Pre-Billing Audits: Generate bi-weekly WIP and labor-burn data to proactively build pre-billing drafts inside Deltek Ajera. 
• PM Accountability: Run individual mid-month milestone reviews with Project Managers to align tracked labor hours with project completion before month-end invoicing. 
• Monthly Invoice Transmission: Natively execute, refine, and transmit all final monthly client invoices by the first week of the month, completely owning the invoicing loop without requiring outsourced accounting. 
• Post-Invoicing Profitability Reporting: Assist with monthly Project Manager Performance Scorecard, analyzing raw billable labor costs against invoiced revenue to monitor project-specific Direct Labor Multipliers (DLM). 

2. Accounts Receivable, Collections & Cash Velocity (20% of Time) 

• Aging AR Management: Proactively manage the aging AR ledger to systematically compress the firm's payment cycle toward an optimal target. 
• Collections Protocol Execution: Run daily outbound collection efforts, serving as the professional yet firm point of contact for client accounting departments regarding balances over 30 days. 
• Risk Mitigation: Identify high-risk or stalled accounts early to formalize structured monthly payment agreements and installment milestones before they stall cash flow. 

3. Contracts, Proposals, & Change Control (20% of Time) 

• Contract Lifecycle Management: Ownership of the entry, tracking, and closeout milestones for all incoming proposals, change orders and signed contracts inside Pipedrive CRM. 
• System Setups: Set up CRM automation rules and execute clean database parameters for won and lost work to ensure pipeline projections are accurate. 
• System Initialization: Initialize new MS project folders on the network drive and configure engineering billing rates, milestone phase structures, and contract limits in Ajera before active production hours are spent. 

4. Accounts Payable & Vendor Administration (10% of Time) 

• AP Processing: Direct the monthly accounts payable routing and approval flows through Deltek Ajera. 
• Subconsultant Alignment: Verify that subconsultant and contract labor invoices are mapped perfectly to corresponding client project codes and tiers before issuing payout approvals. 

5. General Office Operations (10% of Time) 

• Office Coordination: Oversee general office logistics, coordinate vendor client site visits, schedule lunch-and-learns, and maintain central office supplies. 

Requirements & Qualifications 

• Education & Professional Foundation: 
• Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, Construction Management, Business Administration, or a closely related field OR 5+ years of dedicated project accounting and operations leadership experience. 
• Software Mastery: Minimum of 2-3 years of hands-on experience utilizing Deltek Ajera, Deltek Vantagepoint, or a directly equivalent architectural/engineering ERP platform. Proficiency with Pipedrive or a similar sales pipeline CRM is a major plus. 
• Professional Services Background: Deep understanding of professional service firm economics, including fixed-fee structures, utilization rates, and billable labor cost dynamics. 
• Communication Assertiveness: Exceptionally articulate, professional, and entirely comfortable executing outbound collection calls or defending contract terms with client executives and external accounting departments. 
• Process Discipline: A natural systems thinker who relies on data over memory, maintains a high level of accuracy under deadlines, and thrives on establishing closed-loop accountability. 

Salary & Benefits:

• $100,000 to $150,000 
• Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, retirement contributions, and PTO 
• Professional development support and licensing assistance 
• Long-term growth opportunities within a stable and collaborative firm