Principal Accountant

The Principal Accountant at Applied Research Associate’s (ARA) is a key member of our Corporate Headquarters’ accounting staff.

This position offers an excellent opportunity for growth for an accountant who has demonstrated technical excellence, a collaborative nature, excellent communication skills, and is committed to continuous business systems improvement.

As ARA continues to grow, our Principal Accountant will be critical to our success as you will be responsible for ensuring proper accounting for a variety of complex transactions, support both financial and government audits, and conduct research and advise on sales and use tax questions while providing high-level customer service to our employee-owners working to solve problems of national importance.

ARA’s Corporate office is focused on providing efficient, effective, and compliant business systems and financial records to our internal and external customers, maintaining a culture that minimizes bureaucracy and promotes both personal and professional growth, while maintaining a work-life balance.

Interested in becoming an employee-owner and joining our team?

What you’ll do as a Principal Accountant

Support month end close activities including bonus calculations, NM Gross Receipts Tax and expense and facility pool verification.

Assist with other general accounting activities as needed and complete month end closing processes

• Manage the company General Ledger (G / L) reconciliation process to ensure all balance sheet accounts are reconciled, documented, and approved monthly / quarterly based on a predetermined schedule
• Maintain accounting records for all ARA Leases in keeping with ASC Lease Standard.
• Prepare the annual Incurred Cost Submission (ICE model) and Provisional Billing Rate requests
• Support various DCAA, DCMA, financial, internal and contract audits. Maintain central repository for DCAA audit reports, Cumulative Allowable Cost Worksheet files, and various rate agreements
• Research and provide guidance on sales and use tax questions. Review and process income tax payments.
• Provide backup to others in the accounting department as needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Principal Accountant Requirements

• Eight to ten years related experience with a bachelor’s degree, six to eight years with a master’s degree
• Demonstrated strong attention to detail
• Previous government contract experience and a solid working knowledge of GAAP, FAR and CAS
• Understanding of corporate financial planning, reporting & analysis, and costing / profitability methodologies and processes
• To succeed in this position, you must be proactive, results-oriented, have excellent leadership and communication skills
• Ability to work independently and within a team in both tactical and strategic capacities
• Excellent written, verbal communication, and interpersonal skills, particularly the ability to communicate effectively with all levels of the organization
• Successful completion of background and credit checks

Principal Accountant Preferences

• CPA or CMA designation
• Deltek Costpoint and Cognos experience
• Audit background or experienced lead in supporting audits
• Previous experience completing an incurred cost submission
• FASB ASC lease standard implementation experience
• Ability to source and work with large amounts of data from different sources, and demonstrate strong quantitative and analytical skills
• Strong Excel skills
• Sales and use tax knowledge

Applied Research Associates, Inc. Company Information :

Applied Research Associates, Inc. is a % employee-owned international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically superior solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences.

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