Staff Accountant I - SPJA

Sharing a common love of anime and Japanese culture!

SPJA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating and uplifting the unique and deep culture that surrounds Japanese animation. Our roots originated from Cal Animage Alpha, an anime club at UC Berkeley, which co-sponsored the first Anime Expo in 1992, along with its predecessor Anime Con in 1991.

Since then, SPJA has grown exponentially in its endeavors, with Anime Expo becoming the largest anime convention in North America, as well as establishing B2B conference Project Anime, and partnering with World Cosplay Summit to organize its US preliminary. With each unique event we produce, our purpose never strays – we aim to promote, celebrate, and educate the public about Japanese animation, manga, video games, and traditional culture.

Purpose of this role:  The Staff Accountant I is responsible for inputting, reconciling and processing invoices, expense reimbursements, credit cards and bank transactions. The candidate will also need to organize and compile electronic and actual copies of documents while strictly adhering to payment and completion deadlines. 

Education/Experience: Undergraduate degree in Accounting or 2+ years of relevant accounting experience.

Functions of this Role: The major areas of responsibility include:

• Collect and review all payment requests and ensure all appropriate approvals and details are attached.
• Record expenses to appropriate General Ledger accounts and to approved budget lines.
• Track budget expenses and perform expense analysis.
• Ensure accuracy of all invoices being inputted and processed.
• Processing employee expense reimbursements by receiving and verifying expense reports and requests for advances.
• Handle cash, bank and credit card transactions, receiving proper requests and approvals, recording transactions, leading timely reconciliations.
• Maintain accounting ledgers by verifying and posting account transactions.
• Maintain vendor relationships and verify vendor accounts by reconciling weekly and monthly statements and related transactions.
• Records Management: Maintain and organize physical and digital financial files within the office and network ensuring there is an electronic back-up of all physical documentation.
• Participate and record financial transactions during the convention(s).
• Protect organization’s value and certain payable information by keeping information confidential.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Desired:  

• Degree in Accounting or 2+ years of relevant accounting experience.
• Intermediate knowledge of Excel. Experience with Quickbooks a plus.
• Attention to detail, thoroughness, organization.
• Ability to work amicably with a variety of personalities while maintaining professionalism.
• Above average written and oral communication.
• Interpersonal sensitivity when communicating essential and necessary financial information to others.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality within the organization with a high level of personal ethics.
• High adaptability to changing needs.
• High level of dependability without supervision.
• Maintain dependability during mandatory extreme overtime for Anime Expo.
• Consistent demonstration of quality work and good judgment
• Proficient knowledge of Excel and QuickBooks is preferred.

Location: The Staff Accountant will be based out of SPJA’s principal office in Corona, California. This position must also be able to attend off-site meetings, conferences, and events as necessary.

Physical Demands & Work Environment:

• The duties of this position are performed indoors in a business/office setting. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate to loud during events and minimal during non-event times.
• During convention, this individual must have the ability to stand/walk for up to four hours at a time as there is constant walking required during the convention.
• The person in this position needs to occasionally move about inside the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, etc. Constantly operates a computer and other office machinery, such as copier, scanner, printer, etc.
• The person in this position frequently communicates verbally with coworkers, supervisors and volunteers. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions and requirements of this position.

Benefits:

SPJA offers a competitive benefits package which includes:

• Medical, Dental, Vision and Life insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts – Health and Dependent Care
• 401(k) plan with employer matching
• 12 Holidays
• Paid time off 
• Professional Development Assistance