Senior Trust Accountant in Portland, Oregon at Northwest Trustee & Management Services LLC

REPORTING TO: Director of Trust Accounting

TYPE: Full Time (Non-Exempt)

RESPONSIBILITIES: The Senior Trust Accountant serves as a key resource supporting Northwest Trustee & Management Services’ trust accounting, account reconciliation, and client financial reporting functions. This position is responsible for reconciling trust and fiduciary account activity across multiple systems and independent source records, identifying and resolving discrepancies, documenting corrections, and preparing or reviewing client statements for accuracy and completeness.

This is a highly analytical role requiring strong accounting judgement, advanced reconciliation skills, familiarity with brokerage and investment activity, and sufficient trust-accounting knowledge to recognize when transactions, classifications, balances, or reporting do not align. This role must be able to investigate discrepancies, determine the appropriate source of truth, resolve or escalate issues, and maintain clear documentation supporting the final accounting treatment.

This role works closely with Trust Officers, Trust Associates, Finance, Investments, Tax, custodians, investment advisors, accountants, and other internal, and external partners to ensure trust accounts are accurate, fully supported, and maintained in accordance with governing documents, fiduciary standards, and internal controls.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

· Account Reconciliation & Client Statements

o Reconcile cash, securities positions and quantities, cost basis, market values, income, transactions, fees, and other account activity between Wealth Hub, InnoTrust, brokerage and custodial statements, bank statements, and other supporting records.

o Prepare, review, and finalize periodic and ad hoc client trust statements, verifying that reported balances and activity are accurate, complete, consistent, appropriately presented, and supported by underlying records.

o Research and resolve missing, duplicated, miscoded, misclassified, incorrectly dated, or otherwise inconsistent transactions and balances.

o Investigate timing differences, position variances, cash differences, pricing issues, and unsupported balances to identify root causes, including data feeds, transaction mapping, system setup, manual entry, trade or settlement timing, and corporate actions.

o Reconcile internal and external cash movements and securities transfers, confirming activity is properly received, recorded, approved, and classified.

o Maintain clear reconciliation notes, workpapers, and supporting documentation sufficient for internal review, audit, and future-period follow-up.

o Escalate unresolved, unusual, high-risk, or non-routine items to the appropriate manager or fiduciary professional.

· Investment & Fiduciary Accounting

o Review and account for purchases and sales of securities, dividends, interest, accrued income, capital gains and losses, cost basis, money market activity, transfers, fees, and corporate actions.

o Apply working knowledge of fiduciary principal-and-income concepts when reviewing receipts, disbursements, distributions, expenses, investment activity, and account reporting.

o Review trust receipts, beneficiary distributions, trustee fees, investment management fees, and other activities for appropriate coding, classification, and accounting treatment.

o Understand distinctions between custodial reporting, investment accounting, fiduciary accounting, and tax reporting and identify matters requiring specialized tax or fiduciary review.

o Recognize activity that appears inconsistent with the account type, governing document, prior reporting, or expected trust-account activity.

o Assist with initial balance sheets, account conversions, account terminations, closing accounting periods, and other projects requiring reconciliation or financial-statement expertise.

· Data Quality, Controls & Process Improvement

o Correct discrepancies through appropriate, documented processes and avoid unsupported entries made solely to force an account into balance.

o Identify recurring reconciliation breaks, transaction-mapping issues, data-feed problems, and process or control gaps and recommend practical improvements.

o Help develop and maintain reconciliation procedures, checklists, exception reports, standardized workpapers, and other internal controls.

o Coordinate with Trust Officers, Trust Associates, Finance, Investments, Tax, custodians, investment advisors, accountants, and other partners to research and resolve account issues.

o Support accurate account conversations, system transitions, data imports and exports, and other projects involving trust-account information.

o Protect confidential client, beneficiary, financial and trust information and maintain documentation in accordance with Company requirements.

REQUIRED JOB QUALIFICATIONS:

· Bachelor’s or associate degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or a related field. Significant directly relevant experience or a Certified Trust Operations Professional (CTOP) designation may substitute for formal education.

· 3+ years of accounting, reconciliation, investment operations, trust operations, fund accounting, shadow posting, brokerage operations, family office, or comparable financial-services experience.

· Demonstrated experience reconciling cash, securities positions, transactions, and account balances at a detailed level.

· Experience with trust accounting, fiduciary accounting, principal-and-income accounting, or financial-statement preparation for trusts or estates.

· Working knowledge of the life cycle of a trust account, including account setup, cash activity, asset holdings, income and principal allocation, fees, distributions, tax reporting, and final accounting.

· Ability to investigate discrepancies from identification through documented resolution and clearly explain both the cause and corrective action.

· Strong understanding of brokerage and custodial statements and investment-related account activity.

· Experience using accounting, general-ledger, portfolio-accounting, trust-accounting, or comparable financial systems.

· Strong organizational, analytical, problem-solving, communication, and follow-through skills.

· Exceptional attention to detail and commitment to maintaining accurate, complete, and supportable accounting records.

· Ability to manage multiple documentation-heavy, deadline-driven reconciliations and competing priorities.

· Sound judgement regarding when to independently resolve an issue and when additional review or escalation is appropriate.

· Ability to maintain strict confidentiality when handling sensitive client, beneficiary, financial, and trust information.

PREFERRED JOB QUALIFICATIONS:

· Advanced Microsoft Excel proficiency, including XLOOKUP or VLOOKUP, SUMIFS, PivotTables, filters, sorting, conditional formatting, and comparing large datasets.

· Experience working within a trust company, bank trust department, registered investment advisor, family office, or similar fiduciary or financial-services environment.

· Experience with Innovest or a comparable trust-accounting platform.

· Experience reconciling information across multiple financial systems and independent source documents.

· Experience with data imports and exports, transaction feeds, exception reporting, account conversions, and reconciliation processes.

· Certified Trust Operations Professional (CTOP) or other relevant trust, accounting, or financial-services education or certifications.

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

· Commitment to the core values of Northwest Trustee:

o Professionalism

o Compassion

o Integrity

o Diligence

· Highly organized, detail-oriented, and accountable.

· Proactive, curious, and committed to continuous improvement.

· A collaborative team player who relates in a courteous and helpful manner to co-workers, clients, and vendors.

· Adaptable and willing to learn new systems, tools, and methods.

ABOUT NORTHWEST TRUSTEE:

Northwest Trustee & Management Services, LLC, established in 1989, is a leading provider of fiduciary services in the Pacific Northwest.

OUR MISSION:

We exist to enrich lives, honor family legacies, build enduring relationships, and minimize family conflicts. This is accomplished in a manner that:

· Adheres to the highest ethical standards

· Treats clients with respect and understanding

· Provides clear and timely advice and service

· Honors confidentiality