ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SPECIALIST – U.S. ACCOUNTING & PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SPECIALIST – U.S. ACCOUNTING & PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Employment Type: Full-Time, Remote
Monthly Salary: USD $1,200
Schedule: Must provide reliable overlap with U.S. Eastern Time business hours
Reports To: U.S.-based Finance Leadership

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking an experienced Accounts Payable Specialist to manage the day-to-day execution of our accounts payable, corporate credit card, and employee expense processes.

This is a hands-on accounting role involving invoice processing, transaction coding, receipt verification, vendor documentation, payment workflows, reconciliations, 1099 reporting, and persistent follow-up with employees and vendors.

Our current processes still require significant transaction-level review, manual data entry, document verification, and exception handling. At the same time, we are actively improving and automating these workflows.

The right person must be equally comfortable:

• Executing today’s detailed AP processes accurately
• Catching errors that automated systems miss
• Following unresolved items through to completion
• Building positive relationships with employees and vendors
• Helping test and improve future workflows and technology

This is an accounting operations role, not a software development position. You do not need to be a programmer. However, you must be comfortable learning new technology and providing practical feedback as processes become more automated.

CURRENT WORKLOAD AND DEADLINES

• Approximately 80 accounts payable transactions per week
• Hundreds of corporate credit card transactions per week
• AP processes are handled multiple times throughout the day
• Weekly payment run must be ready each Thursday by 3:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time
• Monthly accounting close must be supported and completed by approximately business day 3–5
• Some transactions may require additional research due to missing coding, documentation, approvals, or unusual payment requests

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Accounts Payable and Invoice Processing

• Monitor and manage the company’s AP inbox and other incoming invoice sources.
• Process vendor and contractor invoices accurately and on time.
• Upload and process invoice documents through the company’s AP system.
• Compare invoices and supporting documents against information captured by AP automation tools.
• Enter, review, and correct vendor, Project/Job Number, Department, GL account, cost, and other required accounting information.
• Identify possible duplicate invoices or payments.
• Research missing, incomplete, unusual, or inaccurate information.
• Submit invoices through the proper approval workflow and monitor them through approval and payment.
• Follow up on rejected, stalled, incomplete, or unresolved transactions.
• Maintain accurate AP records and supporting documentation.

Project and Expense Coding

• Assign transactions to the correct Project/Job Number, Department, GL account, and other applicable accounting dimensions.
• Research missing or questionable coding.
• Work with project managers, department leaders, and other employees to confirm the correct information.
• Learn the company’s vendors, departments, projects, and expense patterns well enough to recognize when something does not look right.
• Correct coding errors before they create reporting or reconciliation problems.

Corporate Credit Cards and Employee Expenses

• Review corporate credit card and employee expense transactions for accuracy, documentation, coding, and policy compliance.
• Confirm that receipts agree with the underlying transactions.
• Follow up on missing receipts, incomplete information, coding problems, and other exceptions.
• Assist employees and managers with expense reports, reimbursements, and company-card questions.
• Review employee expense submissions after manager approval.
• Process approved reimbursements through the proper payment workflow.
• Reconcile corporate credit card activity to monthly statements and investigate discrepancies.
• Work with systems including Ramp, bank-issued corporate cards, and Sage Expense Management.

Vendor Management, W-9s, COIs, NDAs, and 1099 Reporting

• Build professional relationships with vendors and serve as a point of contact for AP-related questions.
• Respond to questions regarding invoice status, payments, discrepancies, and vendor records.
• Reconcile vendor statements and investigate differences between vendor and company records.
• Collect, review, and maintain accurate Forms W-9 and other required vendor documentation, including COIs and NDAs when applicable.
• Identify incomplete, inconsistent, or potentially problematic vendor tax information.
• Maintain vendor documentation throughout the year to prevent a year-end scramble.
• Take primary responsibility for the annual Form 1099 process.
• Identify potentially reportable vendors and payments, review classifications, research exceptions, reconcile reportable amounts, and support accurate and timely 1099 preparation and filing.
• Respond to vendor questions involving W-9s and 1099 reporting.
• Follow controls involving vendor setup, banking changes, and other sensitive information.
• Immediately escalate suspicious requests, unexpected banking changes, fraud concerns, or unusual transactions.

Weekly Payments and Cash Disbursements

• Prepare and support the company’s weekly Thursday payment run.
• Confirm that invoices and reimbursements have received the required approvals before payment.
• Identify and resolve issues that could delay payment.
• Handle legitimate expedited-payment requests while maintaining proper documentation and controls.
• Track payments and expenditures and confirm that transactions are properly recorded.
• Maintain required human review over banking changes, large or unusual transactions, and the initiation or release of payments.
• Never release payments or approve sensitive banking changes without proper authorization.

Follow-Up and Exception Management

• Build strong working relationships with employees, managers, vendors, and external systems providers.
• Communicate clearly and professionally when receipts, approvals, coding, documentation, or other action is needed.
• Follow up persistently without damaging working relationships.
• Take ownership of open AP items and continue following them until they are fully resolved.
• Prioritize issues based on deadlines, financial impact, project requirements, and urgency.
• Know when to resolve an issue independently and when to escalate it.

Monthly Close, Reconciliations, and Audit Support

• Assist with monthly and year-end accounting close.
• Complete assigned AP and corporate credit card reconciliations accurately and within established deadlines.
• Help ensure all AP transactions are complete, accurate, and properly recorded.
• Maintain organized historical records and supporting documentation.
• Provide requested documentation for audits, tax reporting, and other accounting requirements.
• Support weekly and monthly financial reporting as needed.

Process Improvement and Automation

• Identify repetitive, inefficient, or error-prone processes and recommend practical improvements.
• Participate in the testing and implementation of AP automation, expense-management, credit-card, purchasing, and purchase-order systems.
• Verify automated results instead of assuming they are correct.
• Work with internal team members and external technology providers to troubleshoot system issues.
• Help document procedures, workflows, and internal controls.
• Learn and adopt new systems as they are implemented.
• Provide feedback based on actual day-to-day AP experience.
• Help the company move toward managing exceptions rather than manually processing and chasing every transaction.

As AP automation improves, this position may expand into:

• Purchasing and purchase-order administration
• Timesheet tracking and automation
• Inventory tracking
• Additional reporting and data-oriented finance tasks

SYSTEMS USED

Current and anticipated systems include:

• Sage Intacct
• Sage AP Automation
• Sage Expense Management, formerly Fyle
• Ramp
• Bank-issued corporate credit cards
• Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Office
• Google Workspace
• Email and electronic document workflows
• Future purchasing and purchase-order platforms

Sage Intacct experience is preferred but not mandatory. Strong experience with another ERP or accounting platform, combined with the ability to learn quickly, will be considered.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated accounts payable and general accounting experience
• Experience processing vendor invoices and supporting weekly payment runs
• Experience reviewing corporate credit card and employee expense transactions
• Experience reconciling vendor accounts and credit card statements
• Working knowledge of U.S. vendor W-9 requirements and annual Form 1099 reporting is strongly preferred
• Experience with Sage Intacct or another ERP/accounting system is preferred
• Experience with Ramp, corporate-card platforms, expense-management systems, or AP automation is beneficial
• Strong Microsoft Excel and Google Workspace skills
• Experience documenting or improving accounting processes is beneficial
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or a related field is preferred; relevant professional experience may be accepted instead
• Strong professional English communication skills, both written and spoken
• Reliable computer, internet connection, and remote-work environment

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

You will be successful in this role if you demonstrate:

• Exceptional ownership and follow-through
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy
• Positive persistence when following up with others
• Excellent organization and deadline discipline
• Sound judgment and appropriate escalation
• Clear, professional communication
• Strong relationship-building skills
• Comfort with detailed and repetitive transactional work
• Curiosity and willingness to learn n