Project Accountant – Heavy Industrial / Refinery

Location: Paramount, CA (On-Site)Type: Full-TimeCompensation: $60,000 – $85,000, DOEESOP CompanyABOUT HERZOG ELECTRICHerzog Electric (MB Herzog Electric, Inc.) is a leading employee-owned electrical contractor headquartered in Paramount, California, serving commercial, industrial, aerospace, and public works clients across Southern California since 1974.As an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) company, every team member is a part-owner — you build something here that's also yours.THE OPPORTUNITYWe're looking for a Project Accountant to support our Heavy Industrial / Refinery division. This is a hands-on role in a fast-paced construction environment where you'll work directly with project managers and field teams to keep project costs accurate, customer billings moving, and outstanding invoices collected.You'll support multiple active projects at once, including refinery outages and turnarounds where billing volume can move quickly. You'll pull AP invoices and other project costs, match them to the correct PO and job, build customer billings, identify unauthorized costs, reconcile labor, monitor project financial performance, and follow invoices through collection.If you're detail-oriented, comfortable digging through project costs, and know how to turn field activity into accurate, supportable customer billing, read on.WHAT YOU'LL DOManage project accounting and billing support across multiple active heavy industrial and refinery projectsPull and review AP invoices to identify costs associated with the appropriate customer PO, job number, and projectBuild customer billings using supporting labor, material, equipment, subcontractor, and AP invoice documentationPrepare and manage customer invoices for primarily Time & Material (T&M) projects, along with Lump Sum workTrack customer PO balances and Not-to-Exceed (NTE) limits to ensure billings remain within authorized amountsRun and review unauthorized cost reports to identify costs that require customer approval, additional authorization, or project management follow-up before billingIdentify unbilled costs and billing gaps and work with project managers and field personnel to obtain missing approvals and supporting documentationReview labor activity and reconcile employee time to the correct jobs, phases, and labor classificationsSupport weekly payroll review for union and non-union employees, including ST/OT/DT hours, missing punches, phase-code errors, and job-assignment correctionsAnalyze labor, material, equipment, and other project costs to identify variances and potential impacts to project profitabilitySupport refinery outages and turnaround projects by providing project managers and field leadership with timely cost and billing informationPrepare manual customer billings when required, including supporting documentation, invoice approvals, PO tracking, and NTE monitoringMonitor outstanding customer invoices and follow up directly with customers to collect paymentResearch billing disputes, rejected invoices, missing approvals, and other issues delaying customer paymentPerform project closeout reconciliations to ensure all billable labor, materials, equipment, subcontractor, and other costs are captured before final invoicing and PO closurePrepare final project cost documentation and Statements of Final Account (SOFA), when requiredParticipate in monthly project review meetings with project managers to review project standings, cost trends, billing status, outstanding receivables, and gross margin performanceUse Excel, PivotTables, and project cost data to identify billing gaps, cost variances, and other issues requiring management attentionWHAT WE'RE LOOKING FORYou NeedExperience in project accounting, construction billing, job costing, or a related accounting/finance roleStrong understanding of customer billing, purchase orders, job numbers, cost codes, and supporting invoice documentationAbility to review project costs and determine what has been billed, what remains unbilled, and what requires customer authorizationExperience with accounts receivable follow-up and customer collectionsAbility to work closely with a Timekeeper and field personnel to research and resolve labor and timekeeping discrepanciesStrong Microsoft Excel skills, including PivotTables and data reconciliationStrong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple active projects and deadlines simultaneouslyAbility to communicate effectively with project managers, field personnel, customers, and accounting staffGreat attitude and a proactive approach to resolving billing and project-cost issuesNice to HaveElectrical construction, refinery, heavy industrial, MEP, or general contractor experienceExperience with Time & Material (T&M) billingExperience supporting refinery outages or turnaround projectsFamiliarity with union construction payroll and labor agreementsExperience with TRACK or comparable project cost/billing softwareExperience with customer PO and NTE complianceExperience preparing project closeout documentation and Statements of Final AccountCOMPENSATION & BENEFITSWhat Herzog Electric OffersBase Salary: $60,000 – $85,000 DOEHealth Benefits401(k) with employer Safe Harbor contributionESOP — you're not just an employee, you're a part-ownerFlexible paid time off (PTO)Stable, family-run company with a 50-year track recordWHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKEYou know where the project's costs are, what can be billed, what still needs authorization, and what's holding up payment. Project managers have accurate cost information to make decisions. Customer billings have the required documentation to be approved. Unauthorized and unbilled costs don't sit unnoticed. Outstanding invoices are actively followed through to collection. Most importantly, you help make sure the work performed in the field turns into accurate billing, timely cash collection, and protected project margins.