Accounting Manager, Property Accounting

POSITION SUMMARY

The Accounting Manager, Property Accounting is responsible for the day-to-day management of the property accounting function across the company's real estate portfolio. Reporting to the Controller, Property Accounting, this role serves as a frontline leader for the property accounting team — providing hands-on oversight of the monthly close process, journal entry review, and balance sheet reconciliations while cultivating a high-performing and well-trained staff.

In addition to core accounting responsibilities, this position plays a key role in the annual budget process, CAM reconciliations, and lease administration for the portfolio. The Accounting Manager works collaboratively with property managers, and the accounts payable, accounts receivable, and treasury teams to ensure financial accuracy, operational alignment, and timely reporting across all assets.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Property Accounting Operations

• Manage the day-to-day accounting operations for an assigned portfolio of commercial and/or residential properties, ensuring accuracy and completeness of financial records.
• Review and approve journal entries prepared by property accountants, ensuring proper support and coding.
• Oversee the preparation and review of monthly balance sheet reconciliations, including bank accounts, prepaid expenses, security deposits, and deferred revenue.
• Monitor and maintain the integrity of property-level general ledgers, investigating and resolving variances in a timely manner.
• Ensure consistent application of accounting policies and procedures across all properties in the portfolio.

Monthly Accounting Close

• Lead and manage the monthly close process for the property accounting team, ensuring all deadlines are met and financial statements are produced accurately and on time.
• Maintain and distribute a close calendar with clearly defined responsibilities, deadlines, and checkpoints for all team members.
• Review monthly property financial statements, including income statements, balance sheets, and variance analyses, prior to submission to the Controller.
• Identify and resolve close-related issues proactively, escalating material items to the Controller as appropriate.
• Continuously evaluate close workflows and implement improvements to enhance efficiency and reduce cycle time.

Staff Management & Development

• Supervise, mentor, and develop a team of property accountants, fostering a culture of accountability, accuracy, and continuous improvement.
• Provide ongoing training on accounting policies, procedures, and software systems to ensure team competency and consistency.
• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, performance check-ins, and annual reviews for direct reports.
• Manage workload distribution across the team, ensuring appropriate coverage and capacity as the portfolio grows.
• Identify development opportunities for team members and support career progression within the accounting function.

Collaboration with Property Management

• Serve as the primary accounting liaison to property managers, building productive working relationships that support financial accuracy and operational efficiency.
• Partner with property managers on lease interpretation, rent billing setup, tenant ledger inquiries, and recovery reconciliations.
• Review and communicate property-level financial results with property managers on a monthly basis, addressing questions and ensuring alignment between accounting and operations.
• Coordinate on property transitions, acquisitions, and dispositions to ensure timely and accurate onboarding or offboarding of financial records.

Coordination with AP, AR & Treasury

• Coordinate with the accounts payable team to ensure proper coding of property-level invoices, timely payment processing, and vendor account accuracy.
• Partner with accounts receivable on tenant billing, cash receipts application, and delinquency resolution across the portfolio.
• Work with treasury to ensure accurate cash reconciliations, operating account balances, and security deposit account management.
• Serve as a point of escalation for cross-functional issues that impact property-level accounting accuracy.

Annual Budget Process

• Serve as a key contributor to the annual property-level budget process, working with property managers and the Controller to develop revenue and expense assumptions.
• Prepare and distribute historical financial data and variance analysis to support property managers' budget submissions.
• Review and consolidate property-level budget inputs, ensuring consistency, completeness, and alignment with company-wide assumptions.
• Assist in the preparation of budget-to-actual reporting and reforecast updates throughout the year.

CAM Reconciliations

• Oversee the preparation and review of annual common area maintenance (CAM) reconciliations for all applicable leases within the portfolio.
• Ensure CAM reconciliations are completed accurately, on time, and in accordance with lease terms and company policy.
• Coordinate with property managers and legal counsel to resolve tenant disputes related to CAM charges and recoveries.
• Maintain organized reconciliation workpapers and documentation to support tenant billing and potential audit inquiries.

Lease Administration

• Oversee lease administration for the portfolio, ensuring accurate and complete documentation of all lease terms, critical dates, and financial obligations.
• Maintain and update the lease database or administration system, coordinating with property management and legal on new leases, amendments, renewals, and terminations.
• Ensure compliance with ASC 842 lease accounting standards, including proper classification, measurement, and disclosure of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities.
• Monitor lease critical dates including rent commencement, expiration, renewal options, and rent escalations, and communicate changes to the accounting team for timely adjustments.
• Coordinate with the accounts receivable team to ensure tenant billing is consistent with executed lease terms.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field required.
• CPA license or progress toward CPA certification a plus.

Experience

• Minimum of five (5) years of accounting experience required, with a meaningful portion in property or real estate accounting.
• Prior experience working at a real estate company, property management firm, or real estate investment organization required.
• Experience supervising or mentoring accounting staff preferred.
• Familiarity with CAM reconciliation processes and lease administration practices strongly preferred.
• Experience with the annual budgeting process in a real estate context a plus.

Technical Skills

• Yardi experience strongly preferred; proficiency with MRI, AppFolio, RealPage, or similar property accounting platforms also considered.
• Solid understanding of GAAP as applied to real estate operations, including ASC 842 lease accounting.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including use of pivot tables, lookups, and reconciliation templates.
• Experience with lease administration software or modules a plus.

Leadership & Interpersonal Skills

• Demonstrated ability to manage, train, and motivate a team in a deadline-driven environment.
• Strong attention to detail with a commitment to accuracy and thoroughness across all deliverables.
• Effective communicator with the ability to work cross-functionally with property management, operations, and finance teams.
• Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple properties and priorities simultaneously.
• Collaborative and solutions-oriented, with a proactive approach to identifying and resolving accounting issues.

Holladay Mission and Values: All associates are expected to live Holladay’s Mission and Values in their everyday interactions with each other, external clients, and stakeholders as defined below:

• Mission: Enriching lives through investment and service
• ENRICH Values:
• Entrepreneurial – We are empowered to dream and take risks, to challenge conventional wisdom and demand continuous improvement, to innovate, create, and inspire change.
• Nurture – We encourage and support the growth and development of each other, our clients, and our communities.
• Respect - We recognize and acknowledge the inherent value of others.
• Integrity – We do the right thing. We exhibit a consistently high moral compass.
• Community – We are a family. We have fun, serve others, and freely give of our resources. We recognize our responsibility to make our communities and world a better place.
• Health - We support the physical, financial, and professional health and well-being of each other and those we serve.