Director Project Accounting

• Lead, manage, and develop a team of 10–15 Project Accountants supporting multiple practice groups and Group Leaders across the firm.
• Establish clear performance expectations, conduct regular one-on-ones, and deliver timely, constructive feedback and formal performance reviews.
• Design and deliver structured onboarding and ongoing training programs to build team proficiency in project accounting fundamentals and Deltek VantagePoint/Vision workflows.
• Identify individual development opportunities and support career growth paths for team members at all experience levels.
• Foster a team culture grounded in accuracy, accountability, client service, and continuous improvement.
• Manage workload distribution across the team, balancing assignments to Group Leaders and project portfolios equitably and strategically.
• Recruit, interview, and onboard Project Accountants as the team grows or turnover occurs, partnering with HR on hiring practices.

• Oversee accurate and timely project setup in Deltek VantagePoint/Vision, including contract values, fee structures, billing terms, phases, tasks, and labor categories.
• Review and interpret prime contracts, subconsultant agreements, and task orders to ensure billing plans and revenue structures are configured correctly.
• Ensure all contract modifications, amendments, and scope changes are reflected in the project accounting system promptly and accurately.
• Establish and enforce project setup standards and naming conventions to support consistent reporting across the firm.
• Partner with Group Leaders and Project Managers during contract negotiation to advise on financial terms, billing structures, and fee adequacy.

• Oversee monthly revenue recognition for the firm’s project portfolio, ensuring compliance with applicable accounting standards (ASC 606 / percentage-of-completion).
• Review and approve earned value calculations, percent-complete estimates, and EAC (Estimate at Completion) updates prepared by Project Accountants.
• Prepare and deliver monthly project financial reports to Group Leaders, including contract status, revenue earned, billed-to-date, backlog, and profitability metrics.
• Identify projects with financial risk:  budget overruns, write-downs, scope creep, or stalled billings, and escalate proactively to leadership.
• Coordinate with the Sr. Controller and Finance Director on month-end close activities related to project revenue, unbilled receivables, deferred revenue, and WIP adjustments.

• Serve as a subject matter expert and internal resource for Deltek VantagePoint (or Vision), providing guidance to Project Accountants, Project Managers, and Group Leaders on system use.
• Oversee the accuracy of the project accounting database, including periodic audits of project setup, labor posting, expense coding, and billing data.
• Partner with IT and finance leadership on system upgrades, module implementations, and workflow enhancements within VantagePoint/Vision.
• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures for all VantagePoint/Vision project accounting processes and train team members accordingly.
• Leverage reporting and business intelligence tools within VantagePoint/Vision (e.g., Reporting, Dashboards, AI) to produce actionable financial data for stakeholders.

• Serve as the primary liaison between the Project Accounting team and Group Leaders, Practice Leaders, and Project Managers across all service lines.
• Facilitate regular project financial review meetings with Group Leaders to discuss backlog, billing pipeline, collections, and project profitability.
• Educate and coach Project Managers on financial responsibilities, contract awareness, timesheet compliance, and project cost management.
• Translate financial data into clear, accessible reporting that enables non-financial project leaders to make informed decisions.
• Act as a trusted advisor to Group Leaders on matters of fee negotiation, scope management, cost recovery, and financial performance improvement.

• Oversee the processing and tracking of subconsultant invoices, ensuring alignment with executed teaming agreements, contract budgets, and project phase allocations.
• Ensure subconsultant costs are accurately posted, billed to clients, and reconciled to commitments in VantagePoint/Vision.
• Work with Project Managers to monitor subconsultant budget utilization and flag potential overruns before they impact project profitability.
• Coordinate with Accounts Payable to ensure timely and accurate payment of subconsultants in accordance with contract pay-when-paid provisions.

• Support the Finance Director in the annual revenue budgeting process by providing project-level data, pipeline insights, and portfolio-level projections.
• Maintain and update the firm’s project backlog and revenue forecasting models in coordination with Group Leaders and business development leadership.
• Provide monthly net revenue and billing forecast data to finance leadership to support cash flow planning and financial reporting.
• Analyze trends in utilization, project profitability, write-up/write-down rates, and collection performance to inform management decisions.

• Establish and enforce internal controls over project accounting processes, including invoice review thresholds, approval workflows, and audit trail requirements.
• Ensure compliance with firm-wide accounting policies, GAAP, and contract-specific billing and reporting requirements.
• Lead or support internal and external audits as they relate to project accounting, WIP, and revenue recognition.
• Continuously evaluate and improve project accounting workflows, reducing manual effort, increasing accuracy, and shortening billing cycle times.
• Develop and maintain the Project Accounting department’s policies, procedures manual, and training documentation.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field required.
• CPA or CMA designation a plus, but not required.

• Minimum of 8–10 years of project accounting experience, with at least 3–5 years in a supervisory or management role overseeing a team of project accountants.
• Experience at a mid-to-large AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and/or Survey) firm with annual revenues well in excess of $100 million strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated expertise in all phases of AEC project accounting: contract setup, invoicing, revenue recognition, WIP management, and project closeout.
• Proven track record managing a team of 10 or more direct reports in a fast-paced, multi-project environment.
• Experience supporting multiple Group Leaders or Practice Leaders simultaneously across diverse project types and contract structures (lump sum, T&M, cost-plus, IDIQ, etc.).
• Familiarity with government and federal contracting billing requirements, including FAR-compliant invoicing, a plus.

• Expert-level proficiency in Deltek VantagePoint or Deltek Vision required; ability to train others and navigate system administration tasks is highly valued.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, and financial modeling.
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365 suite including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and SharePoint/Teams.
• Experience with business intelligence or reporting tools (Power BI, Deltek Reporting, etc.) a plus.