Accounting Assistant

About the role

The Accounting Assistant will join the Income Tax Unit within the Payroll and Accounts Payable Section of the Department of Operational Support in New York. Reporting to the Chief of the Unit, the role supports global payroll, tax compliance and financial transactions across the organization.

Key responsibilities

• Scrutinize source documents for completeness, accuracy and validity of charges.
• Investigate erroneous charges and apply corrective accounting actions.
• Communicate with field offices, funds and programmes to resolve documentation gaps and discrepancies.
• Reconcile and review suspense accounts, ensuring proper clearance procedures.
• Assist with compliance data transmission to and from US tax authorities.
• Record and reconcile complex accounting transactions.
• Extract income, expenditure, asset and liability details from the accounting system for analysis.
• Audit payroll, education grants, final payments, tax returns and travel claims for correctness and regulatory adherence.
• Serve as Approving Officer for disbursements within authorized limits.
• Provide guidance, training and supervision to colleagues and General Service staff as needed.
• Draft memoranda and coordinate between business areas, responding to internal and external queries.

Required profile

• Strong knowledge of the organization’s financial regulations, accounting policies and practices.
• Ability to extract, interpret and analyse diverse data sets and resolve discrepancies.
• Professionalism and commitment to meeting deadlines and delivering accurate results.
• Effective communication skills for interaction with internal and external stakeholders.

Required skills

• Experience with the ERP/UN Tax system and its payroll module.
• Proficiency in using the organization’s accounting system.
• Familiarity with income tax portals and related compliance tools.