Bookkeeper

Thomson Rogers is a leading Toronto Litigation Law Firm. We are currently looking for a Bookkeeper, with a minimum 3 years’ experience in a designated bookkeeping role.

Job Title: Bookkeeper
Level: Specialist
Function: Accounting
Reports to: Director, Accounting

Role Mandate

The Bookkeeper is part of the accounting team and reports to the Director, Accounting. This role has two primary areas of bookkeeping responsibility – general accounting items and payroll. This individual will also provide interim benefits administration, in addition to occasional payroll back-up.

The successful incumbent must be able to communicate confidently with partners, employees, and external vendors in relation to accounting matters. This is a mid-level role that requires an individual who can both take direction and execute tasks, is self-directed, and can confidently manage their daily work. This role requires a person with solid analytical skills, along with an excellent attention to detail to compile, match, and identify errors in accounting documentation.

This role requires an individual who is highly flexible and adaptable to juggling between various accounting tasks, sometimes in short order. A ‘roll with it’ attitude and ability to pivot with ease is critical. Strong organizational, time management, and planning skills are essential.

This role interacts with both senior management and non-management employees, in addition to external vendors and service providers. A typical day sees the Bookkeeper working closely with members of the administration and accounting teams, in addition to other internal support departments.

Key Responsibilities

The core responsibilities and tasks for this role are provided below:

General Accounting

• Provide support with a range of account receivable and payable matters.
• Support the review and analysis of various accounting documents and matters.
• Compile, match, review, balance, and reconcile accounting input documents (e.g., invoices), including following up on missing information and/or clarifying discrepancies.
• Prepare general ledger entries for general finance transactions.
• Post various accounting entries into financial systems.
• Provide reserves and receivables amounts to Partners.
• Monitor A/R and reserve amounts, find and escalate issues, and support regular reserve account reporting; update and reconcile with related systems.
• Identify and process payments to various vendors / suppliers / independent contractors.
• Provide clients upon request with a ‘Statement of Accounts and Payments’.
• Coordinate file transfers to other law firms.
• Provide back-up support for e-transfers, wires, and direct deposits, as needed.
• Complete special accounting projects as required.

Payroll Accounting

• Support the production of manual cheques.
• Support the processing of disbursements for statutory deductions, benefits payments (EI, CPP, EHT, WSIB, SUB), and employee contributions to their Open Access accounts.
• Prepare various journal entries to account for payroll entries and make corrections as required.
• Prepare intercompany general ledger entries.
• Review payroll and benefits invoices and facilitate payments.

Back-up Payroll (As Needed)

• Compile and review a range payroll input documents for processing.
• Facilitate the set up and updating of employee profiles for the payroll system.
• Provide / communicate payroll input items to payroll service provider for processing (e.g., bulk entries, special payments), may make direct entries (e.g., overtime, sick days, leaves, vacations) into the payroll system as required.
• Calculate manual payroll adjustments (mid-cycle starts, retro pay, corrections, sick days, vacations, leaves).
• Review payroll file prior to processing to identify errors or clarification items.
• Investigate and correct payroll errors.
• Follow up with payroll and benefits vendors (service levels, escalations, queries) as needed.
• Process final pay for separations and request Record of Employment.
• Diarize and activate future-dated payroll and benefits items / entries.
• Support the SUB and LTD documentation process.
• Respond to employee and management payroll / benefits questions.

Benefits Administration (Interim Period)

• Submit benefits information to provider to help set up profiles.
• Liaise with service provider to ensure effective and ongoing maintenance of the group benefits plan.
• Review and facilitate payment of the group benefits invoice.
• Ensure benefits are initiated and terminated in a timely and accurate fashion.
• Facilitate benefits carrier paid sick leave (LTD) process (e.g., form completion).

Education and Experience

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in a designated Bookkeeping role.
• Formal accounting / bookkeeping education is preferable.
• Previous experience working in the legal industry preferred.
• Previous benefits administration experience, an asset.
• Previous payroll experience is considered an asset.
• Experience with Finance, HR/payroll, and benefits systems (e.g., Ceridian, Manulife).
• Some payroll courses (through Canadian Payroll Association) an asset.

Core Competencies

• Effective Communications – able to communicate clearly, with empathy, and using a high level of emotional intelligence.
• Numbers oriented – able to perform various mathematical calculations and conduct financial analysis.
• Flexibility – respond to changes and others’ ideas comfortably and with ease.
• Integrity – consistently demonstrates honesty and strong values through actions and words.
• Confidentiality & Discretion – receives and processes information with the utmost level of confidence and is always discrete with knowledge of company and employee situations.
• Detail Oriented – able to effectively manage volumes of information, maintain data accuracy, and attend to details.

Governance

Escalation Path:
Issues are brought to the Director, Accounting.

Decision-making guidance:
This individual can make decisions based on their level of expertise, but will need to receive approvals from the Director, Administration and/or Managing Partner for complex situations.

Budget limits:
N/A

Key Interactions:

• Overseen by the Director, Accounting.
• Receives additional guidance from the Managing Partner and Director, Administration.
• Acts as point of contact for initial and/or simple employee inquiries.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Accuracy of benefits invoicing.
• Volume of employee queries (resolved).
• Error rate (general ledger entries).