Salary : $49,782.00 - $84,629.00 Annually
Location : La Plata, MD
Job Type: Full-Time
Job Number: FY25-37
CSM Department: Division of Financial Services
CSM Division: Procurement
Opening Date: 12/11/2024
Position Summary
Located 45 minutes from the Nation's Capital, nestled in a history-rich community of southern Maryland, The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) has been twice named in the top 150 community colleges by the Aspen Institute with academic programs in over 100 disciplines. CSM is among America's top 100 producers of Minority associate degrees in twenty categories, according to Diverse Issues in Higher Education. CSM offers excellent health insurance benefits; State Retirement Pension plan; wellness programs; Code Green early closure Fridays in the summer; college closure for spring break and several major holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year; and for several days in March for Spring Break. We are an innovative institution committed to student success and well known for our flexibility to meet student and community needs.
The hiring salary for this position will be from the min to mid-point of the salary range.
The Accounts Payable Specialist assists in overseeing the daily operations of the accounts payable functions, while supporting the Accounts Payable Manager with various tasks including the yearly external audit and the Colleague fiscal year end close. The individual in this position communicates with internal and external sources regarding accounts payable concerns, provides excellent customer service, answers inquiries, and researches and resolves billing and payment issues. The individual in this position must be extremely detail oriented, efficient, accurate, analytic, able to make knowledgeable decisions, and able to troubleshoot issues in a timely manner. This position is journey level and requires previous training, experience, and specific skills. The Accounts Payable Specialist performs work with moderate latitude for the use of initiative and independent judgement.
Reports to: Accounts Payable Manager
The College of Southern Maryland conducts background checks in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the College's staff and students. The final candidate for this position will be subject to the following background checks: Criminal History Check and Sex Offender Registry Check.
This position is open until filled. The College of Southern Maryland is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Specific Duties and Responsibilities
Accounts Payable Processing 50%

• Responsible for the payment of goods and services invoices according to the established payment terms.
• Verifies and processes invoices for numerous college funds, such as general operating funds, restricted funds, auxiliary funds, capital improvement project funds, and construction funds.
• Reviews and processes supporting documentation to ensure paperwork is complete and accurate and meets the college's approval standards.
• Matches invoices to the appropriate purchase orders to prepare for payment:
  1. Verifies all pertinent payment terms.
  2. Ensures that the invoice amount is accurate.
  3. Verifies complete and accurate account codes.
  4. Assigns applicable voucher numbers.
  5. Determines partial or complete payment status.
• Processes monthly Staples files, discounts, and invoices for payment.
• Processes invoices according to annual fiscal year end close-out procedures
• Processes monthly P-Card statements.
• Ensures prompt payment discounts are taken when applicable, according to established terms.
• Processes invoices according to annual fiscal year-end closing procedures.
• Processes accounts payable runs with a high level of accuracy.

Research and Analysis 30%

• Validates three-way matches between purchase orders, receiving documentation, and invoices before processing payment.
• Investigates and resolves invoice discrepancies by contacting end user, buyer, and vendor before releasing payment.
• Reviews outstanding invoices regularly with supervisor to ensure invoices are paid timely and according to payment terms.
• Analyzes and resolves payment discrepancies independently.
• Reviews and approves purchase card (P-card) charges and employee's reimbursements for accuracy and alignment with CSM policies and procedures.
• Reviews payment requests, determines the appropriate fiscal year of expenditures and processes invoices in accordance with accrual and prepayment procedures.

Regulatory and Compliance 20%

• Assists in the annual audit process and provides required payables documentation to independent auditors.
• Assists with the processing of annual IRS form 1099-NEC and 1099-MIC tax forms/returns.
• Validates new and/or inactive vendors based on IRS form W-9, ACH documentation, etc.

Additional Duties:

• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Education and Training

• Associate degree in accounting, finance, business, or related field
• Three years of experience in accounting, accounts payable, or related field.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Access, and Outlook).

Preferred Education and Experience:

• Experience with an integrated data system, preferably one year Colleague experience.

Minimum Qualifications and Standards Required
Licenses, Certifications, or Additional Requirements:

• Financial disclosure is required for this position.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to handle multiple tasks and shifting priorities.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and interact effectively all levels in an organization.
• Advanced technical knowledge of the practices, terminology, and principles of bookkeeping, accounting practices, clerical and office procedures, and business mathematics and recordkeeping.
• Thorough understanding of spreadsheet programs and in-depth procedural knowledge of the fiscal system
• In depth knowledge of pertinent laws and regulations applying to financial operations and transactions.
• Excellent data entry skills to process information into a pre-formatted database using a 10 digit-key pad.
• Competent mathematic skills to compute sums, quotients, fractions, percents, and ratios.
• Excellent human relations skills with the ability to communicate technical concepts and convey a positive, service-oriented image of the department.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The work is mostly sedentary work which requires exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Work is performed in a relatively safe, and secure work environment.
Keep growing in your career at the College of Southern Maryland. CSM offers great benefits, beautiful campuses and a challenging environment. Check out why our employees give high marks to our benefits program