Job Specification
Position Title:
Senior Trust Accounting Clerk
Job Code:
09OAD - Office Administration 09
Purpose of Position :
Provides trust, custodial and estate accounting services relating to accounts receivable, receipts of cash & negotiable instruments/securities, accounts payable, cash disbursements & releases of negotiable instruments/securities, reconciliation & analysis for the Office of the Public Guardian & Trustee.
Duties / Responsibilities :
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
Prepares directions for receipt of funds payable into court.
Sets up trust and custodial client accounts for funds to be received under directions by
-Following up with solicitors/court offices to obtain necessary information/documentation;
-Interpreting information/documentation in relation to legal & policy/procedural requirements to correctly set up accounts in various systems;
-Determining appropriate title of proceedings, file reference number, account classification, beneficiaries and caution codes.
Collects accounts receivable by
-Performing duties necessary to enforce judgements/collect funds relating to Letters of Credit, Letters of Guarantee & Lien Bonds in accordance with court orders/judgements, ensuring appropriateness of documentation authorizing the lodging of such documents/demand for payment (either partially or
in full), providing evidence/documentation and certification by the Accountant of the Superior Court as required;
-Following up with creditors, solicitors, banks/surety companies and other parties to obtain required payments to ensure that clients receive all benefits and other funds that they are entitled to on a timely basis, so that they have funds to cover their bills and expenses.
Reviews and clears accounts receivable by
-Analyzing and reconciling receivables;
-Clearing reconciling items and adjusting accounts receivable as required.
Maintains appropriate records and documentation by
-Recording all pertinent information to client account notepad in system;
-Creating, filing, and maintains records.
RECEIPTS OF CASH & NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS/SECURITIES
Controls and accounts for cash receipts and negotiable instruments/securities by
-Verifying cash and negotiable instruments/securities received over-the-counter, by mail, courier and electronically;
-Ensuring proper (bank) clearance of cash receipts and follow-up with Financial institutions and payors as necessary.
Credits appropriate accounts receivable/client accounts for cash receipts by
-Reconciling all suspense and clearing account entries for bulk deposits within timelines set by applicable procedures, liaising with outside agencies to reconcile differences, make corrections, performing calculations and identifying related adjustments to non-routine recurring transactions (oas/cpp,
gains bulk payment receipts, income tax refunds, HSC maintenance payments, DH maintenance payments, blanket insurance, etc);
-Identifying/matching receipts to appropriate client accounts, directions, and/or receivable accounts.
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
Creates/amends recurring cash disbursement entries by
-Interpreting, clarifying and verifying court orders, agreements and other documents;
-Reviewing recurring cash disbursement entries for compliance with applicable law and policies/procedures;
-Processing recurring entries and/or amendments accurately within TAMS. Records the lodging/making of demands against letters of credit, letters of guarantee & lien bonds by
-Interpreting information/documentation in relation to court orders and legal & policy/procedural requirements;
-Following up with solicitors/court offices to obtain necessary information/documentation;
-Communicating with banks/surety companies to draw on letters of credit, letters of guarantee & lien bonds.
Maintains appropriate records and documentation by
-Recording all pertinent information to client account notepad in systems;
-Creating appropriate files for records/documentation;
-Filing and maintaining records/documentation in the appropriate files.
CASH DISBURSEMENTS & RELEASES OF NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS/SECURITIES
Controls and accounts for cash disbursements by
-Ensuring that cash receipts have cleared, that disbursement stop-payments and cancellations have been accurately posted, and that there is sufficient available cash to make required payments from trust, and follows-up with financial institutions as necessary;
-Interpreting, clarifying and verifying court orders, affidavits, requisitions, agreements and other documents to ensure statutory compliance for payments out and strict adherence to status of accounts, office practices and trust accounting policies, procedures and guidelines;
-Processing of wire transfers, EFT rejected returned items, etc. In a timely manner;
-Expediting high priority items by creating rush cheques and obtaining appropriate authorization as required;
-Recording and processing of cash disbursements accurately in TAMS, within the established timelines (performance standards);
-Distributing cheques for pickup.
TAXES
Calculates, deducts and remits non-resident taxes to Revenue Canada as applicable.
Prepares and issues NR4 income tax slips to non-residents and files appropriate returns with Revenue Canada. Ensures that correct HST is charged on applicable service fees.
INVESTMENT INCOME & COMPENSATION FEES
Verifies investment income and compensation fees during account reviews and prior to significant payouts.
ANALYSIS & RECONCILIATION
Analyzes and reconciles client accounts as required to respond to client inquiries, to correct entries, or to make complex payouts. Analyzes and reconciles all clearing and suspense accounts used for client accounting. Recalculates charges, fees and income as applicable, preparing and posting required adjustments and providing an account statement in good form as
requested. Prepares accurate and up-to-date trust accounting statements for clients, solicitors or courts, as required. Prepares other account analyses as required.
ACCOUNT MAINTENANCE
Ensures that all required account information has been entered (e.g. D.o.b. for minor beneficiaries).
Verifies correct application of compensation fee indicators. Creates, edits, modifies and updates all appropriate client and information screens in TAM as required (e.g. New addresses, phone numbers, etc).
Determines the validity of transactions by accessing various TAMS and tables, to cross-reference and verify information. Monitors custodial accounts for expiries of negotiable instruments and brings forward for re-investment as appropriate.
IDENTIFYING & LOCATING BENEFICIARIES
Corresponds with beneficiaries to notify them of eligibility to funds/securities held in trust and/or custody.
Liaises with solicitors and others in order to identify and locate beneficiaries. Provides information to beneficiaries concerning monies/securities held in trust.
REPORTING
Utilizes spreadsheet applications for analyses, data exhibits, charts and graphs for reports. Utilizes word processing for reporting/correspondence,
VENDOR MANAGEMENT
Performs the following activities related to the vendor management process for trust clients using various systems. Updating the payee table with current information re: addresses, bank accounts, name changes, etc. Setting up vendors on the clients approved lists and associating the clients account with that vendor to ensure payment goes directly against the client account. Contacting vendors to verify information - i.e. Corporate billing address, current fax, payment type (Cheque/EFT)
Performing periodic reviews of dormant vendors and archiving of dormant vendors as required including scanning and sending documents offsite for storage. Performs other duties as assigned by his/her Team Leader, Manager & Comptroller.
Other Duties & Responsibilities:
Provides general assistance and information by responding to inquiries at reception, answering telephone queries and drafting correspondence in response to verbal and written requests.
Supports other departments in the Office of the Public Guardian & Trustee by explaining accounting policies, procedures, practices and directives as they apply to financial processing and by responding to informational requests, including those from other areas within the Finance Department.
Participates in meetings, workshops and special assignments to identify and resolve problems in the areas of training, policy/procedures development, cash management, banking, client services, quality control, system and service enhancement, productivity improvement, receivables and payables. Attends training seminars and courses as recommended by his/her Manager & Comptroller.
Prepares draft reports and program-related correspondence for his/her Team Leader and Comptroller, as required. Performs other duties as assigned by his/her Team Leader, Manager & Comptroller.
Staffing and Licencing :
n/a
Knowledge :
Requires knowledge of trust accounting policies, procedures & practices, and banking/surety procedures to correctly process transactions while providing a clear audit trail for reconciliation of bank accounts (e.g. funds credited to trust/custody and other liability accounts are balanced to funds deposited), to prepare client trust account statements, client and clearing/suspense account reconciliations, and to deal with bank and surety officials.
Requires knowledge of applicable statutory provisions for each program area (e.g. knowledge of Substitute Decisions Act for guardianship clients, and Courts of Justice Act, Rules of Civil Procedure and Insurance Act for minor clients) and related legislation (e.g. OAS/CPP legislation for entitlement to
benefits by guardianship clients) and knowledge of policies/procedures of the Government, Ministry and the Office of the Public Guardian & Trustee in order to provide assistance/information to the public and to correctly administer trust and custodial accounts.
Requires knowledge of an online, fully-programmable database computer system (TAMS), word processing, presentation software, spreadsheet and database applications to enter, access, modify and review data, to analyze and reconcile accounts, to prepare correspondence and reports.
Requires knowledge of mathematics to recognize errors, perform necessary (re-) calculations, quantify data and prepare financial statistics, (re-) calculate investment income and compensation fees.
Skills :
Analytical skills to review legal documents and financial data, and to arrive at suitable relevant conclusions.
Problem-solving skills to correctly identify and properly deal with discrepancies and/or missing/inadequate/conflicting information in legal documents, correspondence, and client accounts.
Mathematical skills to accurately perform required (and often relatively complex) accounting calculations.
Oral and written skills to effectively communicate with the public and legal community, banking officials, other government representatives and other stakeholders concerning legal issues and requirements, trust accounting policies, procedures, practices and directives in detail and to prepare meaningful reports. Communication may involve drafting unique correspondence/reports and/or substantial variations to standard formats.
Organizational skills to prioritize high-volume workload and meet established timelines for processing and reporting.
Typing and keyboarding skills to OPS standards.
Use of calculators, telephones, facsimile machines, e-mail, photocopiers, microfiche readers, personal computers and printers.
Proficiency in the use of word processing, presentation software, spreadsheet and database applications, and knowledge of/ability to use online, fully programmable database computer system.
Freedom of Action :
Job requires working in accordance with statutory requirements, financial/accounting guidelines, directives, policies/procedures with freedom to work through problems independently, but is required to refer non-routine issues including processing and systems problems that may result in untimely
performance to the Team Leader and Comptroller for resolution. Monitoring includes systems checks for valid codes and edits controls. Work is sporadically reviewed for accuracy by Team Leaders, Managers, Comptrollers and by Quality Assurance/Reconciliations group, through work on same accounts by colleagues, through communicated client concerns and by internal and external auditors.