Financial Accountant Iii / Rf5020
Saint-Gobain Corporation (Buffalo, New York)

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Position Description:

COMPANY PROFILE: Saint-Gobain is a leading worldwide producer of abrasives, building materials, high-performance plastics, insulation, flat glass, glass containers, piping, reinforcements and industrial ceramics. In the U.S. and Canada, Saint-Gobain employs over 25,000 people, and has approximately 200 manufacturing locations. Its total U.S. and Canada sales in 2005 were over $6.5 billion. Saint-Gobain's Reinforcements Branch includes Saint-Gobain BayForm, Saint-Gobain Technical Fabrics and Saint-Gobain Vetrotex. Products include Reinforcements for construction and industrial applications; building products used in residential and commercial construction; fiber glass rovings, chopped strands, woven rovings, continuous strand and chopped strand mats which reinforce plastics and other materials.

Qualifications:

Accountability Objective: Assure accurate and prompt issuance of assigned portions of Corporate and Government Agency reports, divisional budgets, statements and forecasts to management and Business Teams for their use in monitoring divisional operations and performance results. Maintain and revise divisional accounting and information systems and furnish requested accounting data in order to provide an accurate financial perspective to divisional management. Principal End Results: 1. Assure the coordination of input from various sources for the timely preparation of numerous periodic reports, such as divisional Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet statements, Management Books and Charts, Physical Inventory Reconciliation, Sales Forecasts and Government Agency and Institutional reports in order to comply with Company deadlines and government regulations. 2. Make recommendations for improvements and/or changes to accounting and informational systems and implement approved changes to facilitate the rapid and accurate collection of accounting data. 3. Provides support to the Financial Controller and Plant Controllers for monthly reporting analysis. 4. Advise other departments on accounting matters, provide non-routine accounting information and undertake project work assigned by the Supervisor in order to monitor and report on divisional financial performance. 5. Provide guidance to Staff Accountants and Accounting Clerks, and monitor the status of their assignments to ensure completion of their required duties. 6. Prepare and approve journal entries for other locations, maintain and analyze budget systems and cost centers for product lines and monitor ledgers from other locations for punctuality and accuracy in order to ensure prompt monthly closings of Divisional books. Nature and Scope: The Financial Accountant III reports to the Financial Controller. The incumbent is primarily involved with assuring that the required information for scheduled reports and statements is collected and coordinated punctually. In some cases, input from other locations is needed for completion of reports, and the Financial Accountant III must assure that this information is received on time. The incumbent is involved in the preparation of numerous reports that are used by management to monitor all aspects of divisional performance. Examples of these reports are the Profit and Loss Statement and the segregated Profit and Loss Statement, which is broken down into product lines, the Management charts, which include sales and cash flow and the Headcount chart, budget reports, Asset Segregation reports and financial plans and forecasts. In addition to these, the incumbent is often asked to complete government and institutional reports, such as price regulation reports and tax reports and exhibits. Guidance or detailed instruction concerning the completion of the above information is minimal. Very often the Financial Accountant III is expected to anticipate divisional/corporate informational requirements, rather than react to management requests. Normally, from 20% to 40% of the Financial Accountant’s time is devoted to project work, and there are usually about four concurrent projects. A typical project would be assigned by the incumbent’s supervisor, be based on a request from a member of the financial staff or initiated by the incumbent. The incumbent investigates, analyzes and reports the results of the investigation. When the result is initiated by someone else, the desired results of the project are usually defined to some extent and fairly specific in nature. Whether requested or self-initiated, very little guidance on how to handle the project is given. The incumbent interacts with many departments within the company, such as the Corporate Finance and Tax departments, General Accounting, Computer Services, outside locations and Factory Management, both to request and furnish accounting and system-related information. External contacts are limited to Government Agencies and Institutes and the external auditors. As the need arises, the incumbent may serve on various committees. Infrequent travel is required to other Company locations to assist in accounting matters and to locally hold seminars and classes. A majority of the workflow in this position consists of scheduled reports and statements; therefore, there are deadlines and due dates to which the incumbent must adhere. However, in other areas, such as project work, the Financial Accountant III functions quite independently and is free to schedule time and establish priorities. The incumbent uses the department procedure manual that he/she maintains as a reference source to insure that day-to-day practices are consistent with previous history and accepted accounting theory. He/she is guided by corporate policies and also relies on copies of previous reports to assist in the preparation of current ones. The major challenges of the position are to plan and complete projects and provide accurate and timely accounting information to divisional and/or corporate management in the form of reports and statements. Background/Skills: This position requires the skills associated with a Bachelor’s Degree in accounting, 10+ years experience and a background in computer systems work are required. Knowledge of the accounting system and some knowledge of the division manufacturing processes is necessary. The Financial Accountant deals with most levels of personnel and must use both written and oral communication skills. Person must possess strong interpersonal skills and have multitasking abilities.