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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Capital Accountant

💰 $70,000 - $120,000

AccountingFinanceCapital AccountingFixed Assets

🎯 Role Definition

The Capital Accountant is responsible for end-to-end accounting of an organization’s fixed assets and capital projects. This role ensures capitalization policies are applied consistently, depreciation and impairment accounting are accurate and timely, capital project costs are tracked and reconciled to the general ledger and project budgets, and audit and SOX controls are maintained. The Capital Accountant partners with project managers, procurement, tax, treasury, and external auditors to ensure compliant, transparent reporting of capital investments and asset lifecycle activities under US GAAP/IFRS and corporate policy.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Staff Accountant with fixed-asset or general ledger responsibilities
  • Project Accountant or Cost Accountant supporting capital projects
  • Financial Analyst specializing in capital budgeting or asset analysis

Advancement To:

  • Senior Capital Accountant / Senior Fixed Assets Accountant
  • Fixed Assets Manager / Capital Accounting Manager
  • Accounting Manager -> Director of Accounting -> Corporate Controller

Lateral Moves:

  • Technical Accounting (GAAP/IFRS) specialist
  • Project Accounting or Project Controls
  • Tax Accounting (fixed asset tax basis and depreciation)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Maintain and reconcile the complete fixed asset ledger, ensuring all additions, transfers, disposals, retirements, and reclassifications are recorded accurately and timely in the general ledger and fixed asset sub-ledger.
  • Execute month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close activities related to capital accounts, including preparation and posting of capitalization, depreciation, amortization, impairment, and disposal journal entries.
  • Administer and enforce capitalization policy and thresholds; review vendor invoices and capital project spend to determine appropriate accounting treatment (capitalize vs. expense) consistent with corporate policy and GAAP/IFRS.
  • Monitor and reconcile Construction-in-Progress (CIP) accounts to project cost reports and budgets, ensuring proper transfers from CIP to capitalized assets upon project completion.
  • Prepare and maintain detailed depreciation schedules and roll-forwards by asset class, location, and cost center; analyze monthly depreciation expense variances and provide explanations to finance leadership.
  • Perform impairment testing and analysis for long-lived assets and goodwill when indicators are present, prepare supporting documentation and accounting entries in accordance with ASC 360/IAS 36.
  • Support external and internal audits by providing fixed asset schedules, reconciliations, capitalization documentation, supporting invoices, and SOX control evidence; answer auditor queries and implement remediation items.
  • Reconcile fixed asset sub-ledger to the general ledger and bank/tax records monthly, investigate and resolve variances, and drive timely reconciliations with clear supporting workpapers.
  • Manage asset disposals, retirements, sales, and transfers including gain/loss calculations, removal of assets from the fixed asset register, and related tax basis adjustments.
  • Maintain accurate asset master data in the ERP and fixed asset systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Workday), including asset class, useful life, depreciation method, location, and custodian information.
  • Coordinate and execute periodic physical asset inventories and tagging programs; investigate discrepancies between physical counts and the fixed asset register and lead reconciliation activities.
  • Prepare required supporting schedules and disclosures for external financial reporting (10-Q, 10-K) and internal management reporting, including explanations of significant capital spend by project and asset class.
  • Lead or participate in ERP implementations, system upgrades or fixed asset module projects including requirements definition, testing, reconciliation templates, and training for accounting and operations teams.
  • Analyze capital spend and capitalization trends; provide actionable insights and monthly reporting to FP&A, accounting leaders, and project managers to support forecasting and cash investment decisions.
  • Coordinate intercompany fixed asset transfers and related accounting, ensuring appropriate documentation and elimination entries for consolidation purposes.
  • Ensure compliance with SOX internal controls over capital expenditures and fixed assets; prepare control documentation, perform control testing and liaison with internal control teams.
  • Support tax team with fixed asset tax basis calculations, MACRS schedules, bonus depreciation and section 179 support, and preparation of tax-related fixed asset reconciliations and election analysis.
  • Review vendor contracts, equipment leases and purchase agreements to determine accounting classification (capital lease vs. operating lease) and record impacts consistent with ASC 842/IFRS 16 where applicable.
  • Assist with accounting for acquisitions, dispositions and reorganizations by evaluating purchased/sold assets, allocation of purchase price to fixed assets, and post-close fixed asset integrations.
  • Drive process improvements, standard operating procedures and automation opportunities across fixed asset accounting processes to increase accuracy and reduce close cycle times.
  • Provide training, guidance and oversight to junior accounting staff and cross-functional partners (project managers, procurement) on capitalization processes, asset tagging and accounting best practices.
  • Prepare ad-hoc analyses requested by finance leadership such as useful life changes, asset class reorganizations, retirement trends, impairment sensitivity analysis, and capital spend burn-downs.

Secondary Functions

  • Assist in developing capital budgeting support materials and forecast reconciliations, connecting project spend to accounting treatment and month-to-month variance explanations.
  • Support cross-functional initiatives to improve capital project reporting and controls, including developing standardized templates for project closeout and capitalization sign-offs.
  • Maintain strong working relationships with Procurement, Operations, IT, and Facilities to ensure timely receipt of invoices and asset documentation required for capitalization.
  • Support ad-hoc SOX and control remediation projects related to capital assets and fixed asset processes.
  • Participate in continuous improvement initiatives such as automation of journal entry uploads, fixed asset register validations, and standardized close checklists.
  • Provide backup coverage for general ledger teams for capital-related account reconciliations during peak periods or staff absences.
  • Act as a subject matter expert for internal stakeholders and new hires on capital accounting policies, asset tagging, and ERP fixed asset functionality.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Deep knowledge of fixed asset accounting under US GAAP and IFRS, including capitalization, depreciation, amortization, disposals and impairment (ASC 360 / IAS 36).
  • Practical experience with lease accounting standards (ASC 842 / IFRS 16) as they apply to capital and finance lease classification and accounting.
  • Strong month-end close experience including preparation and posting of capital-related journal entries and reconciliations.
  • Proficiency with ERP fixed asset modules and systems such as SAP FI-AA, Oracle Fixed Assets, NetSuite Fixed Assets, or Workday Asset Management.
  • Advanced Excel skills: pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, complex formulas and financial modeling for depreciation and asset roll-forwards.
  • Experience supporting external and internal audits, preparing audit schedules, and providing SOX control documentation and remediation.
  • Familiarity with tax depreciation rules (MACRS), fixed asset tax basis reconciliation and support for tax reporting and elections.
  • Ability to prepare consolidated fixed asset schedules and intercompany eliminations for group reporting.
  • Comfortable with fixed asset tagging, physical inventory procedures, barcode/RFID processes and reconciliation of physical counts to the ledger.
  • Experience with process automation and data transformation tools (e.g., SQL, Power Query, Power BI, Alteryx) to streamline reconciliations and reporting.
  • Strong journal entry posting and GL accounting skills, including working with multi-currency and multi-entity environments.
  • Experience preparing disclosures and footnotes for financial statements relating to property, plant and equipment.

Soft Skills

  • Excellent attention to detail and accuracy in financial data, reconciliations and journal entries.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with ability to translate transactions into accounting conclusions.
  • Effective written and verbal communication skills to interact with auditors, project managers, procurement and finance leadership.
  • Ability to manage competing priorities and meet tight month-end and project-driven deadlines.
  • Collaborative team player who partners across functions to drive completeness and process improvements.
  • Initiative-driven and process-oriented with a continuous improvement mindset.
  • Strong organizational skills and ability to document processes, controls and SOPs clearly for audit readiness and onboarding.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

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

Preferred Education:

  • CPA, CMA, or Masters in Accounting/Finance preferred and will be advantageous for technical accounting and leadership roles.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Business Administration
  • Economics (with accounting coursework)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years of progressive accounting experience with at least 2–4 years focused on fixed assets, capital accounting, or project accounting.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years of fixed asset/capital accounting experience in a medium to large corporate environment or public accounting experience supporting fixed assets and audits.
  • Prior experience with ERP implementations, SOX control environments, and external audit coordination.
  • Industry experience helpful: real estate, utilities, manufacturing, construction, energy, technology or any capital-intensive sector.
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