Project Accountant

Role purpose

The Project Accountant is responsible for the day-to-day accounting, cost control and reporting of a large-scale, multi-hundred-million-dollar data center construction project. The role makes sure every commitment and payment is correctly coded, matched, approved and recorded; keeps project costs reconciled to the Board-approved budget; and produces accurate, timely reporting for management, the Board, the construction lender and the external auditors of a public company.

Key responsibilities

1. Project accounting

• Code all commitments, purchase orders, change orders and invoices to the approved budget and cost-code structure.

• Maintain the commitment register, purchase-order register and change-order log, and reconcile them to the project management system (Procore) and the general ledger.

• Process contractor pay applications (AIA G702/G703): check percentage complete against the schedule of values, retainage, and conditional and unconditional lien waivers.

• Perform three-way matches (contract/PO, evidence of work or delivery, invoice) and milestone matches for equipment payments before anything is paid.

• Track equipment deposits and milestone payments, advance-payment security, performance bonds and liquidated-damages set-offs.

• Post and reconcile project journals, accruals, prepayments, retentions and work-in-progress at month-end.

• Capitalize project costs to construction-in-progress and the fixed asset register in line with US GAAP (ASC 360, capitalized interest under ASC 835-20), and support cost segregation.

• Maintain the contingency log and track contingency drawdowns.

2. Reporting

• Prepare the weekly commitment and cost report, and the monthly budget-to-actual variance report with commentary on cost codes over budget.

• Prepare cost-to-complete forecasts, cash-flow forecasts and estimate-at-completion updates with the project team.

• Assemble the monthly construction-loan draw package (certified pay applications, lien waivers, budget-to-actual, draw certificate) to the lender's timetable.

• Contribute to the monthly project spend dashboard for the CEO and Board, and quarterly reporting for the Audit Committee.

• Support quarter-end and year-end close, including SEC reporting schedules (10-Q/10-K), commitments and subsequent-events disclosures.

3. Controls, compliance and systems

• Apply the Capital Expenditure Authorization & Project Spend Control Policy and the Equipment Procurement Policy: approval tiers, segregation of duties and documentation.

• Check that each commitment carries approval at the correct level; flag related-party transactions for Audit Committee pre-approval.

• Support vendor onboarding (W-9/W-8, insurance certificates, bank details verified by call-back) and fraud-prevention controls.

• Keep an audit-ready document trail and support external auditors, lender inspectors and SOX control testing.

• Act as the finance super-user for Procore (budgets, commitments, change events, invoicing) and keep it reconciled with the ERP / general ledger.

• Help improve processes, templates and system integrations as the company adds more projects.

Requirements

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or a related field.

Experience

• 5+ years in project or construction accounting, with at least 2 years on a large capital project (ideally $100M+): data centers, energy, infrastructure, industrial or commercial construction.

• Hands-on experience with project management software, especially Procore (Budget, Commitments, Change Events, Invoicing / Owner Invoices). Experience with similar tools (e.g., Autodesk Build, Oracle Primavera, CMiC, Sage 300 CRE) also considered.

• Experience with AIA G702/G703 pay applications, lien waivers, retainage and construction-loan draws.

• Owner-side or developer-side experience on GMP / cost-plus contracts and owner-furnished equipment is a strong advantage.

• Working knowledge of US GAAP for capital projects (capitalization, CIP, capitalized interest, accruals); public-company or SOX environment preferred.

Skills

• Advanced Excel (pivot tables, lookups, cost reports and forecasting models).

• ERP / general ledger experience (e.g., NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Dynamics, SAP), including integration with Procore.

• Strong attention to detail, with the confidence to hold or return invoices that fail the match.

• Clear communication with project managers, contractors and senior finance; able to explain variances simply.

• Able to work to tight monthly deadlines across multiple stakeholders and time zones.