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Accountant at Palomar College in San Marcos, CA
Skills
Job Description
Position Information
Position Title
Accountant
Department
Fiscal Accounting
Primary Location
San Marcos Campus
Location Details
- Palomar College believes a healthy work-life balance can improve the physical, emotional, and mental health of our employees. In support of this belief, the District offers the opportunity to work remotely for certain positions, depending on the operational needs of the District and the provisions of the Remote Work Policy. Probationary employees are not eligible to work remotely unless approved by the Assistant Superintendent/Vice President, Human Resource Services. No employee is guaranteed the right to work remotely. No employee shall be authorized to work remotely 100% of the time unless approved by the Assistant Superintendent/Vice President, Human Resource Services.
- Palomar has multiple campus locations (San Marcos, Escondido, Rancho Bernardo and Fallbrook); training may occur at any of these locations and the work location is subject to change depending on future department needs.
- Potential future vacancies may include other District departments, locations, and/or work schedules (i.e. days, evenings or nights).
Full or Part Time
Full-Time
Category
Classified
Hours per week
40
Number of Months
12 month
Work Schedule
- Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Occasional night and weekend hours may be required due to department needs.
Grade
34
Salary/Wage
- $6,963.41 [step 1] – $8,466.61 [step 5]. Step placement may be negotiable within this range dependent upon education and experience.
- If you are a current employee who applies via the external recruitment process and is selected for a promotion, step placement on the new grade will be in accordance with the applicable District agreement/handbook.
Salary/Wage Frequency
Monthly
Benefits
In addition to a competitive compensation structure, Palomar College also offers an extremely generous benefits package.
- Insurance fully paid for employees and their eligible dependents: four medical plans, dental HMO, and the vision plan (additional plans are available that require employee buy up/monthly contribution)
- Vacation, sick leave and 25 paid holidays
- $80,000 employee term life/accident insurance policy (additional buy up options available)
- Employee long-term care insurance
- Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) – Confidential free counseling, financial, legal, personal and professional development resources for all members of your household
- Additional buy up options available for other voluntary insurance benefits
- Enrollment in CalPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System)
The estimated maximum value of this employer-paid benefits package is approximately $31,245.84 annually.
Primary Function
Performs a full range of professional accounting, auditing and financial analysis functions in the preparation and maintenance of assigned financial records, reports and systems; ensures all appropriate federal and state requirements are followed; provides a basis for sound operational and financial planning through financial review, analysis, monitoring, reconciliation and maintenance of assigned financial accounts, funds, grants, programs and activities; serves as an experienced resource to the District’s administration to support sound financial decision-making.
Minimum Qualifications
To be eligible for this position, you must meet and provide evidence of the following minimum qualifications:
Experience: Three years of professional accounting experience.
- Note: For work experience, a “year” is defined as equivalent to 40 hours per week for 12 months.
AND
Education: Equivalent to a bachelor’s degree with a major in accounting, business administration, finance or a closely related field.
- Transcripts must be included to receive credit for education and/or to substitute education in lieu of experience (i.e. Bachelor’s degree = 4 years of experience). Click here for Guidelines for Equivalency for Classified Positions.
- Only coursework completed at, and degrees awarded by, accredited institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education will be considered as satisfying the minimum qualifications. Coursework and degrees that are completed outside of the United States are required to have transcripts evaluated (evaluation to U.S. equivalency and a course by course analysis) by an appropriate U.S. credentials evaluation service. For a list of credentials evaluation agencies accepted by Palomar College, visit the National Association of Credentials Evaluation Services (NACES) website at https://naces.org/, or the Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. (AICE) website at http://aice-eval.org/.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Antiracism (DEIAA) Statement
Palomar College serves over 30,000 students from a variety of backgrounds and we are proud to be a Hispanic Serving Institution. Our student body is rich in its diversity. Click here to see a quick overview of our student demographics on our recent Student Fact Sheet.
Palomar College is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and antiracism (DEIAA). We are dedicated to empowering students to succeed and are guided by our core values; some of which are the following:
- Access – We make education possible for everyone.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – We recognize and respect diversity, seek to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, and strive to address inequities.
All positions require cultural competency which includes the sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students, faculty, and staff.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience performing paraprofessional accounting duties in the public sector.
- Demonstrated attention to detail and numerical accuracy in reviewing fiscal documents, performing calculations, and maintaining financial records.
- Effective oral and written communication skills, including the ability to maintain confidentiality when handling financial information.
Licenses and/or Certificates
N/A
Supervision Received and Exercised
Supervision Received From: An Assigned Administrator or Supervisor
Supervision Given: N/A
Duties and Responsibilities
Essential responsibilities and duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:
Reviews, analyzes, balances and/or reconciles various accounts to ensure all transactions, receipts, collections, refunds, adjustments, stop payments, returned items, transfers to revenue, etc., are valid and balances are correctly stated in accordance with various governmental codes and accounting standards.
Participates in the creation and maintenance of assigned program, grant or fund budgets; processes expenditure and revenue transfers between accounts, and prepares and maintains related activity reports; maintains the general ledger; oversees the maintenance of subsidiary ledgers as appropriate.
Creates and monitors a system of controls, procedures and forms involving fixed assets; prepares and maintains general ledger and subsidiary accounting records; enters capital purchases to fixed asset inventory file; deletes items removed from inventory through surplus sale, trade-in or loss; reconciles capital purchases to fixed asset inventories; calculates depreciation of all fixed assets and updates schedules accordingly; conducts or coordinates periodic physical inventory audits; prepares audit schedules and assists auditors as needed; recommends to management appropriate updates to fixed asset policies as needed.
May create and maintain a chart of accounts for various program and fund areas; sets up new account numbers according to established and documented procedures; creates and updates master vendor files for goods and services received based on assigned programs; creates and modifies complex queries to analyze or correct financial data or transactions for assigned programs.
Monitors spending of restricted funds to assist program managers in ensuring compliance with contractual constraints; assists District administrators in identifying and verifying that costs have been correctly allocated and prepares expense transfers wherever necessary.
Reviews, inputs, balances and processes checks for various payments ensuring adherence to internal control policies and procedures; generates checks for approved requests.
Performs appropriate data entry into an accounting system of all cash receipts and deposits for various accounts and funds; establishes and maintains appropriate accounting procedures according to federal and state requirements; ensures compliance with procedures for recording and controlling financial transactions of assigned program budgets.
Performs high level, complex cash and bank reconciliations for various accounts; initiates and processes journal entries to record interest, non-sufficient funds (NSF) checks, stop payments, voided checks and bank charges for assigned accounts.
Participates in year-end closing activities by preparing year-end accruals and closing entries for assigned program or fund accounts; sets up accounts receivable and current liabilities; makes adjustments to all suspense or liability accounts; prepares journal entries to close books.
Generates, reconciles and electronically files Internal Revenue Service 1099s,1096s and various sales and use tax forms for assigned programs; maintains knowledge of current tax laws and regulations.
Supports District-wide financial reporting efforts with minimal supervision; gathers, maintains and analyzes a variety of financial data required to compile ad-hoc, monthly and mandated reports; interprets data and communicates results of financial analyses to management, account holders and outside parties and makes recommendations for appropriate action.
Works closely with Financial Aid, Veterans, and Scholarship Services department to project cash flow needed to cover student award disbursements; reconciles student data, ensures that all payments have been made, refunds are accounted for and expenditures are reported; monitors, balances and processes payments/refunds for student scholarships and loans; ensures sufficient funds are available; reconciles financial aid student data per federal regulations; performs required drawdown for assigned federally funded programs.
Inputs, balances and/or processes payments/refunds for student grant programs ensuring that only eligible students receive checks; withholds funds from student checks to cover delinquent student fees; processes student financial aid award refunds and credit balances to grant programs according to established procedures and regulations.
Provides subject matter expertise; troubleshoots complex technical and accounting issues; interprets large datasets and reports from vendor systems and financial institutions, identifying discrepancies, reconciling complex accounts, and advising other departments on accurate accounting treatment; reconciles various payroll-related accounts; corrects discrepancies involving pay, benefits, taxes or entries omitted from the Payroll/Human Resource Services system.
Assists with annual and special audits.
Participates in the development and implementation of procedures for new and upgraded systems that impact department processes; assists with documenting new workflows; ensures consistency, compliance and efficiency with new and existing procedures.
Participates in training and may provide day-to-day guidance to lower-level staff, short-term employees and student workers; assists in assigning and reviewing work, ensuring completeness, accuracy and conformance with District standards; trains new employees and provides orientation on new assignments; assists in maintaining a fair and open work environment in accordance with the District’s commitment to teamwork, mutual trust and respect; serves as a liaison between the department and outside vendors and/or other District departments.
As Assigned to Bonds:
Works closely with Facilities administrators and performs a variety of high-level professional construction accounting tasks in the analysis, maintenance and auditing of accounts affecting the College’s general obligation bond funds and programs.
Coordinates purchases for bond projects by preparing purchase requisitions; maintains vendor information, obtains approvals on purchase orders, enters purchase order invoice information into purchasing module of financial system and prepares pay vouchers when appropriate.
Prepares and examines capital project expenditure reports, construction-in-progress reports and budget variances for administrators, granting agencies and the Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee.
Monitors escrow Retention Bank Accounts for contractors who have elected to open interest-bearing bank accounts; monitors and tracks all furniture and equipment purchases for applicable administrators; coordinates all contractor change-orders for applicable administrators to ensure purchases are within budgets.
Marginal Functions:
Performs testing on new or updated features in business system in assigned area.
Provides guidance and advice to accounting support staff.
Attends various meetings and serves on committees as required.
Performs related duties and responsibilities as required.
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
Knowledge of:
Principles and practices of general, governmental and construction accounting.
Generally accepted accounting and auditing principles, practices and procedures.
Operations and services of a financial aid program including federally-funded grant administration
Principles and practices of student scholarship and loan administration.
Methods and techniques of financial analysis.
Methods and techniques of general ledger reconciliation.
Advanced mathematical principles.
Advanced principles and procedures of financial recordkeeping and reporting.
Principles and practices of budget preparation and administration.
Modern office procedures, methods and equipment including computers and an integrated data management system.
Principles and practices of sound business communication in a college environment; correct English usage, including spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Local, state and federal regulations, including terminology and processes applicable to areas of assigned responsibility.
Skill in:
Performing a variety of professional accounting, financial analysis and auditing functions.
Organizing, setting priorities and taking initiative within areas of responsibility.
Analyzing situations accurately, exercising sound judgment and adopting effective courses of action.
Working independently in the absence of supervision.
Initiating and processing journal entries for assigned program accounts.
Preparing and maintaining budgets for assigned programs.
Recording and disbursing assigned monies among various program accounts.
Reconciling and electronically filing appropriate income tax forms.
Performing a variety of accounting functions supporting the administration of student scholarships, loans and federally-funded grants.
Preparing year-end closing entries for assigned program accounts.
Interpreting and explaining applicable financial reporting rules, regulations and policies.
Performing a variety of mathematical calculations quickly and accurately.
Establishing and maintaining appropriate accounting procedures according to federal and state requirements.
Preparing a variety of clear and concise administrative and financial reports.
Maintaining and updating a variety of accurate financial records, logs, charts and other documents.
Communicating clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing.
Maintaining sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, age, cultural, physical or mental disability, medical condition, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, race and ethnic backgrounds of community college students, faculty, and staff.
Establishing and maintaining cooperative working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.
Working Conditions
Environmental Conditions: The employee works under typical office conditions, and the noise level is usually quiet.
Physical Conditions: Essential and marginal functions may require physical fitness requirements necessary to perform the job functions with or without accommodation, such as the ability to walk, stand or sit for prolonged periods; extensive use of a computer keyboard; and possess near visual acuity for recognizing numerical figures.
Terms of Employment
- Full-time, 40 hours per week, 12 months per year.
- In accordance with Education Code 88013. (a), this position also carries a probationary period of six months from the date of hire into this position.
- The person selected for hire will be required to complete the following pre-employment requirements: live scan/fingerprinting, official transcript(s), and TB risk assessment. Other pre-employment requirements may be required depending on the position (i.e. certifications or licenses; see applicable job posting section for details). Successful completion of all pre-employment requirements is mandatory to be eligible for employment. These requirements are in accordance with the following Administrative Procedures and Board Policies: AP 7120, AP 7125, AP 7126, AP 7127, AP 7330, BP 7330, AP 7336, AP 7337, and BP 7335.
Posting Detail Information
Open Date
11/03/2026
Close Date
11/17/2026
Open Until Filled
No
Additional Application Information
- The hiring committee will determine if interviews will be conducted in person at the College or via Zoom. Travel expenses are not reimbursed by the College. If a second-level interview is required, second-level travel reimbursement is only available for eligible candidates. HR will notify those who are eligible when second-level interviews are scheduled.