Payroll Specialist At Roots of Peace

Organizational Background:

Roots of Peace is a humanitarian organization that has worked in war-torn countries around the world with our partners to remove the remnants of war, landmines and unexploded ordinance, and restore the land in order to rebuild peaceful communities for generations to come. Our proven methodology is rooted in a philosophy of providing market-driven solutions tailored to farming communities of war-torn lands, serving as a catalyst for industry-wide development. By improving farm techniques, addressing supply chain gaps, and supporting local exporters in reaching high-value markets, Roots of Peace improves livelihoods and contributes to building peace in war-torn lands. We work with farmers and local communities to remove the remnants of war, then identify the agricultural challenges hindering the ability of client beneficiaries to achieve maximum income potential. This may involve introducing grape farmers to trellising, which more than doubles output, or replacing low-value cereal crops with high-value fruits and nuts. We also train farmers in the latest agricultural techniques and provide machinery grants so that exporters can transition to high-volume processing. We make sure exporters have the tools and training to meet the demands of discerning overseas markets, then link them with buyers in those markets, thereby generating greater revenue for exporters and the farmers they serve. By repairing gaps in the agricultural value chain, we help our clients achieve greater economic independence, a fundamental requirement for peace.

Position Description:

The Payroll Specialist is primarily responsible for processing payroll. This position handles all relevant finance aspects of processing payroll and is responsible for payroll-related general ledger account reconciliations, and maintenance of the related fiscal records in both hard and soft copy. This position attends to and resolves pay-related queries, manually generates payslips for employees not paid through ADP, ensures payroll amounts are correctly charged by program and prepares reports for review by management. The position works closely with the Director of Human Resources on headcount reporting and payroll processes and controls. The Payroll Specialist is a key contributor to the further development of a well-documented Finance Procedures Manual.

Essential Job Functions:

• Prepare home office and expatriate payroll (ADP)
• Gather supporting documents
• Prepare payroll calculations
• Prepare journal entries
• Calculate retirement funding by employee
• Set up new employees in ADP
• Reconcile all payroll related balance sheet accounts
• File audit-ready documentation package
• Run ADP reports in processing payroll and to support information requests from finance and HR such as data for workers compensation audits, insurance applications, external audits, internal audits, general ledger reconciliations and financial analysis.

Prepare third country nationals (TCN) Payroll (manual)

• Gather supporting documents
• Prepare calculations
• Prepare journal entries
• Reconcile all payroll related balance sheet accounts
• File audit ready documentation package

Program Payrolls

• Review program payrolls prepared by staffs in locations other than headquarters.

HR – Finance Reconciliation

• Confirm whether the staff member is an employee or consultant, compensation rates, start and term dates, compensation changes, eligibility for benefits and allowances, vacation and other leave balances, country of citizenship, tax status and withholdings as applicable, 403(b) elections, banking instructions, and other details as required per BambooHR.
• Maintain 403(b) retirement plan participation records and calculations

Finance Manual

• Document procedures used to perform the essential job functions in the Finance Procedures Manual.

Audit support

• Provide schedules and documents in support of audit requests pertaining to compensation and benefits paid.

Additional Payroll Responsibilities

• Make sure cash is available in payroll account
• Proactively request timesheets from team.
• Support internal and independent audits
• Reconcile payroll bank account
• Reconcile leave liability account (annual)
• Reconcile 403b liability account

Additional Responsibilities

• Support Home Office finance team as is necessary in various capacities
• Support Guatemala program team as is necessary in various capacities

Financial Reporting

• Be accountable for achieving payroll-related metrics included in the “key indicators” report
• Verify the information in monthly reports on total staff compared to the prior period
• Verify the correct use of payroll-related general ledger accounts worldwide
• Generate additional schedules as requested

Internal Controls

• Participate in the further development of Internal Controls over Payroll.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration or Equivalent
• At least two years of work experience completing payroll
• Experience with US government program funding
• Fluent written and spoken English and Spanish

Evaluation Criteria

• Education level
• Payroll experience, preferably with ADP
• Experience with US government funded programming
• Experience using financial systems, preferably Oracle NetSuite
• Knowledge of and experience applying:
• US government benefits and allowances
• Knowledge of and experience applying US government rules

Preferred Qualifications

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Exceptional mathematical and calculation skills
• Ability to work with a team
• Multitasking abilities
• Ability to take ownership of mistakes and work to correct in the instance and going forward

Reporting

This position reports to the Home Office Senior Accountant in San Rafael, California.

Location

In person at the Support Office in Ciudad Vieja, Sacatepéquez, Guatemala.

Appointment Type Details

Indefinite subject to successful completion of probationary period (2 months)

IMPORTANT

• Salary ranges from Q10,000.00 to Q13,500.00 (US$1285 to US$1750) per month plus a communication allowance of US$50.00. Salary will be negotiated based on documented salary history and experience.
• An initial short-term contract will be offered for two months to selected applicant as consultant, for which the contractor will issue a monthly invoice for services. This is a full-time position, requiring a minimum working schedule of 40 hours per week.
• After successful completion of probationary period the agreement may be modified by mutual agreement to become a staff member of Roots of Peace Guatemala; at which time contract and benefits will be adjusted according to Guatemalan law.

Roots of Peace reserves the right to withhold renewal of a short-term contract to an individual that has a history of poor past performance.