Accounting Manager – Construction / Project Accounting
Company Overview
A well-established construction company specializing in post-disaster response, reconstruction, and rebuilding initiatives that help communities recover and thrive following natural and man-made disasters.
The organization works closely with community leaders and local, state, and federal agencies to coordinate immediate response efforts and deliver comprehensive reconstruction and rebuilding projects. Its work focuses on restoring communities, strengthening critical infrastructure, and supporting long-term recovery following significant disaster events.
The company is committed to delivering high-quality construction solutions while helping communities rebuild stronger, more resilient, and better prepared for future challenges.
Job Overview
We are seeking an experienced and detail-oriented Accounting Manager to lead and support key accounting and financial reporting functions within a growing construction organization.
This position will play a critical role in job cost accounting, project accounting, month-end close, WIP reporting, financial reporting, working-capital management, borrowing base reporting, and debt covenant compliance.
The ideal candidate will have strong construction accounting experience and a demonstrated ability to connect project-level financial information to the company's overall financial performance and cash flow. The successful candidate will work closely with project management, operations, accounts payable, accounts receivable, banking partners, and senior leadership to ensure accurate, timely, and actionable financial information.
This role requires an individual who can work independently, take ownership of the accounting function, identify issues before they become problems, and effectively manage and develop accounting personnel.
Key Responsibilities
General Accounting & Financial Reporting
- Prepare and post journal entries and support monthly, quarterly, and year-end close processes.
- Reconcile general ledger accounts, bank accounts, balance sheet accounts, and supporting schedules.
- Prepare and analyze monthly financial statements and management reports.
- Research and resolve accounting discrepancies, variances, and unusual transactions.
- Maintain organized and accurate accounting records in accordance with company policies and GAAP.
- Identify opportunities to improve accounting processes, controls, reporting accuracy, and efficiency.
- Support external audits, tax filings, financial reviews, lender reporting, and other accounting-related projects.
Construction & Job Cost Accounting
- Maintain accurate job cost records and reconcile project costs to the general ledger.
- Ensure labor, materials, subcontractor costs, equipment, overhead, and other project costs are accurately coded and allocated.
- Analyze project costs, revenue, gross margins, and budget-to-actual variances.
- Monitor project financial performance and identify potential margin deterioration or cost overruns before they become significant issues.
- Work closely with project managers and operations personnel to ensure timely and accurate project financial information.
- Review project budgets, forecasts, committed costs, and estimated costs to complete.
- Assist project management in understanding financial performance and the accounting impact of project decisions.
WIP & Percentage-of-Completion Accounting
- Prepare and maintain accurate Work-in-Progress (WIP) schedules.
- Support percentage-of-completion accounting and project revenue recognition.
- Review contract values, costs incurred, estimated costs to complete, earned revenue, billings, and gross profit.
- Analyze WIP changes and investigate significant fluctuations in project margins.
- Review underbillings, overbillings, unbilled revenue, and related balance sheet accounts.
- Coordinate WIP reviews with project managers and senior management.
- Identify projects requiring additional review due to significant changes in estimated costs, margins, or completion status.
Accounts Receivable, Billing & Cash Management
- Support project billing, accounts receivable, collections, and cash application activities.
- Monitor A/R aging, customer balances, retainage, and collection trends.
- Track and reconcile retainage receivable and retainage payable.
- Assist with identifying collection issues and potential cash-flow risks.
- Ensure cash receipts are accurately and timely applied to customer accounts.
- Work with operations and project management to resolve billing and collection issues.
- Analyze the relationship between project billing, A/R, collections, and overall working capital.
Accounts Payable & Subcontractor Accounting
- Review subcontractor invoices for accuracy, proper coding, supporting documentation, and appropriate job allocation.
- Assist with accounts payable processing and ensure costs are properly assigned to the appropriate projects and cost codes.
- Reconcile subcontractor accounts and identify outstanding or disputed balances.
- Monitor subcontractor retainage and other project-related liabilities.
- Coordinate with project managers and operations to resolve invoice and coding issues.
- Help ensure project costs are captured timely and accurately for WIP and financial reporting purposes.
Borrowing Base & Lender Reporting
- Prepare and maintain borrowing base calculations and supporting schedules.
- Prepare borrowing base certificates and related lender reporting.
- Analyze accounts receivable eligibility, aging, concentrations, retainage, exclusions, and other lender-defined eligibility requirements.
- Reconcile borrowing base calculations to the underlying accounting records and A/R subledger.
- Identify potential borrowing base deficiencies or changes in eligible collateral and communicate issues promptly to management.
- Prepare supporting documentation for lender requests, borrowing base reviews, and periodic financial reporting.
- Work closely with senior management and banking partners to ensure timely and accurate lender reporting.
Debt Covenant Compliance
- Assist with preparation of debt covenant calculations and compliance reporting.
- Calculate and monitor financial covenants, including leverage ratios, fixed charge coverage ratios, and other lender-specific requirements.
- Maintain supporting schedules and documentation for covenant compliance certificates.
- Monitor financial performance against covenant thresholds and identify potential compliance risks.
- Analyze the impact of changes in EBITDA, debt, working capital, and cash flow on covenant calculations.
- Promptly communicate potential covenant issues, exceptions, or required adjustments to senior management.
- Maintain accurate debt schedules and reconcile loan balances to the general ledger.
- Calculate and record interest expense and track principal and interest payments.
Leadership & Process Improvement
- Manage, develop, and provide guidance to accounting staff.
- Establish clear expectations, deadlines, and accountability within the accounting team.
- Review work performed by accounting personnel for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with established procedures.
- Promote a culture of accuracy, accountability, ownership, and continuous improvement.
- Identify opportunities to automate, streamline, and strengthen accounting processes and internal controls.
- Coordinate accounting priorities to ensure critical deadlines for month-end close, WIP, lender reporting, payroll, AP, and financial reporting are met.
- Serve as a key accounting resource for project management, operations, and leadership.
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field preferred.
- 5+ years of accounting experience, with construction accounting, project accounting, or job cost accounting experience strongly preferred.
- At least 2–3 years of direct construction or project accounting experience preferred.
- Strong knowledge of construction accounting, job costing, WIP, and percentage-of-completion reporting.
- Experience with borrowing base calculations, lender reporting, and/or debt covenant compliance strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience with:
- Financial statement preparation
- General ledger reconciliations
- Bank reconciliations
- Journal entries
- Accounts payable and accounts receivable
- Job cost accounting
- WIP reporting
- Percentage-of-completion accounting
- Retainage accounting
- Project billing
- Borrowing base calculations
- Debt covenant calculations
- Cash-flow and working-capital analysis
- Working knowledge of GAAP.
- Advanced or highly proficient Microsoft Excel skills.
- Experience with construction accounting and/or project management platforms such as Buildertrend and Quickbase is a plus.
- Experience with QuickBooks or similar accounting software is highly desirable.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with exceptional attention to detail.
- Ability to analyze financial data, identify trends and discrepancies, and recognize potential financial or operational risks.
- Ability to understand the relationship between job performance, WIP, billing, A/R, cash flow, borrowing capacity, and debt covenant compliance.
- Ability to prioritize multiple deadlines in a fast-paced, project-driven construction environment.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively with accounting, project management, operations, senior leadership, and financial institutions.
- Demonstrated ability to work independently, take ownership of responsibilities, and proactively identify and resolve issues.
- Demonstrated ability to effectively manage, mentor, and develop accounting personnel.
Preferred Attributes
The successful candidate will be:
- Detail-oriented while maintaining an understanding of the broader financial picture.
- Analytical and proactive, with the ability to identify financial issues before they become significant problems.
- Accountable and organized, with strong follow-through on deadlines and commitments.
- Comfortable working with project managers and operations personnel in a dynamic construction environment.
- Financially sophisticated, with an understanding of how operational decisions affect profitability, cash flow, borrowing capacity, and covenant compliance.
- A strong communicator and team leader who can translate accounting information into practical business insights.
- Process-oriented, with a mindset focused on improving accuracy, efficiency, controls, and reporting.
What We Offer
Join a dedicated team that plays an important role in helping communities recover and rebuild. You will have the opportunity to contribute directly to a growing construction organization while working alongside professionals who value accuracy, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
This position provides an opportunity to take meaningful ownership of the accounting function while gaining broad exposure to construction operations, project financial performance, financial reporting, working capital, banking relationships, borrowing base reporting, and debt covenant compliance.
If you are an experienced construction accounting professional looking for an opportunity to make an impact, lead an accounting team, and take ownership of critical accounting and financial reporting functions, we would like to hear from you.
Pay: $100,000.00 - $120,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
