Account Clerk #42-124

SALARY VARIES

RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS: CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY OR AN ERIE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT* FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY OR AN ERIE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT* AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT. Preference may be given to successful candidates who have been residents of the municipality in which the appointment is to be made for one month preceding the date of the certification of the eligible list and who are residents of the municipality at the time of appointment. Non-residents may be required to become a resident of the appointing municipality if local law so states. * Candidates who reside in a school district which, for civil service purposes is administered by the Erie County Personnel Commissioner, but who are not legal residents of Erie County may apply for examination. However they will be certified for appointment only in the school district in which they are legal residents.

A promotion examination will be held at the same time as this examination. The list resulting from the promotion examination will be used first but appointments from this open competitive examination are anticipated. Use of the list may be suspended after it is one year old for any position which it is practical to fill through a new promotion examination.

The eligible list resulting from this examination will also be used to fill present and future vacancies in Erie County Departments, Towns, Villages, School Districts and Special Districts. In each case, certification may be limited to legal residents of the jurisdiction in which the vacancy exists. The salary range for Erie County Departments is $26,096- $32,178. Salaries vary among the other jurisdictions.

An Account Clerk performs performing clerical operations of average difficulty in connection with fiscal, budgetary and accounting records and may involve public contact and communication;

Maintains registers of account distribution, warrants, vouchers, purchase orders and requisitions;

Posts to subsidiary ledgers;

Totals registers and subsidiary ledgers;

Checks extensions and totals;

Maintains simple account files;

Checks reimbursement claims for accuracy and completeness and to determine if they are in order;

Maintains records of petty cash fund;

Reconciles totals against individual accounts;

Examines State charge approvals for status of claim;

Maintains records and controls of accounts handled;

Maintains receiving reports; reconciles bank statements;

Assists in compiling fiscal data and preparing reports;

May assist in the maintenance of payroll records;

Pre-audits vouchers for accuracy and conformity before presentation for payment;

Encumbers departmental funds;

Receives cash and check payments tendered in person by individuals and by mail;

Makes out receipts;

Develops and maintains inventory control and distributes supplies;

Operates an alpha-numeric keyboard to transcribe data directly to a computer;

Utilizes enhanced computer systems and equipment in the completion of assigned clerical tasks;

Balances amount received against journal entries and receipts;

May schedule appointments and works with the public regarding account issues, delinquencies and arrangement of repayment plans;

Assists the public, gives information and answers inquiries either personally or by telephone;

Follows up on correspondences with the public as well as with the necessary personnel at the department, agency or authority.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must meet the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

A.     Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered two year college or university with an Associate's degree in Accounting; or:

B.     Completion of a minimum of 60 semester credit hours at a regionally accredited or New York State registered two or four year college or university, which included sixteen semester credit hours in Accounting; or:

C.     Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and one year of experience in the maintenance of financial records and accounts; or:

D.     Five years of business or office experience, one year of which must have involved the maintenance of financial records and accounts; or:

E.      An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (A) and (D).

 SPECIAL REQUIREMENT:

Under current New York State Law, candidates seeking employment with school districts in New York State will be required to undergo fingerprinting and a criminal history background check prior to appointment. A processing fee may be required.

NOTES: 1. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the experience requirements. 2. Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices. A grade of "D" or better is necessary for a course to be credited as successfully completed. If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency. You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

A medical examination may be required before appointment.

VETERANS:  PROOF OF SERVICE MUST BE SUBMITTED BEFORE LIST IS ESTABLISHED

TO RECEIVE ADDITIONAL POINTS.  (See application for more information.)

NOTICES TO APPEAR FOR THE EXAMINATION ARE MAILED APPROXIMATELY ONE WEEK PRIOR TO THE EXAMINATION DATE

NO CELL PHONES ARE PERMITTED AT THE EXAM SITE.

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION: A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas:

1.      CLERICAL OPERATIONS WITH LETTERS AND NUMBERS: These questions test for skills and abilities in clerical operations with letters and numbers. The operations may involve alphabetizing, comparing, checking, and/or counting given groups of letters and/or numbers

2.      ARITHMETIC COMPUTATION WITHOUT CALCULATORS: These questions test for the ability to do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Questions may also involve fractions, decimals, averages, and percents. Note: You will not be allowed to use a calculator, or any other type of calculating device, to answer these questions or any other questions on this written test.

3.      ARITHMETIC REASONING: These questions test for the ability to solve arithmetic problems which are presented in sentence or short paragraph form. Knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division is necessary. Questions may also involve the use of percents, decimals, and fractions.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: Use of calculators is prohibited for this examination. Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", "Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited. Cell phones are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference materials.

(IF YOU ARE TAKING 2 OR MORE ERIE COUNTY EXAMS ON THIS DATE
IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO CALL)

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

APPLICATION FORMS:  You may obtain these forms in person at the Erie County Personnel Department, Rath County Office Building, 95 Franklin St., Buffalo.  Forms are also available in the libraries and at Town, Village and School District administrative offices.

Mail your application form when completed to the Erie County Department of Personnel, 95 Franklin St., Buffalo, NY  14202.

Candidates who submit incomplete applications and documentation may be disqualified.  The Erie County Department of Personnel reserves the right to reject for lateness or to accept applications filed after the advertised filing period.

MILITARY STATUS:  Active duty military personnel may file an application for this exam.  A special military make-up examination will be conducted for any member of the armed forces of the United States who has duly filed a timely application but who was deprived of the opportunity to compete in the scheduled exam due to active military duty.  Special conditions apply to these requests and may be reviewed at the Erie County Department of Personnel.

VETERANS:  Disabled and non-disabled veterans as defined in Section 85, New York State Civil Service Law, will have 10 and 5 points, respectively added to their earned scores if successful in the examination.  You must claim these credits when you file application but you have an option to waive them any time prior to appointment.  If you have already used these credits for a permanent position in NYS, you may not claim them again.

In conformance with section 85-a of the Civil Service Law, CHILDREN OF FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY shall be entitled to receive an additional ten points in a competitive examination for original appointment in the same municipality in which his or her parent has served.  If you are qualified to participate in this examination and are a child of a firefighter or police officer killed in the line of duty in this municipality, please inform this office of this matter when you submit your application for examination.  A candidate claiming such credit has a minimum of two months from the application deadline to provide the necessary documentation to verify additional credit eligibility.  However, no credit may be added after the eligible list has been established.

SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS:  Applicants whose religious beliefs prevent their taking examinations before sundown on Saturday and physically handicapped candidates who require special examination facilities should so inform the Erie County Department of Personnel, by a separately mailed letter at the earliest possible date before the test.

MULTIPLE EXAMINATIONS SCHEDULED FOR THE SAME DAY:  If you have applied to take a written test announced by either one or several local jurisdictions (county, town, city) scheduled to be held on the same test date as this written test, you must notify each of the local jurisdictions no later than two weeks before the test date, so they can make arrangements for taking all tests at one test site.  **For this exam, please complete and submit an Erie County EXAMS CROSS-FILER Form with your Erie County exam application to alert Erie County Civil Service about your additional exams being held at other locations on the same day.**   The Cross-Filer Form is found online at: www2.erie.gov/employment/index.php?q=applications or call (716) 858-8484.  All examinations for positions in State government will be held at a State examination center.  You will be advised by letter when and where to report for your examinations. 

ADMISSION TO EXAMINATION:  Notice to appear for the test will be conditional as review of application for minimum requirements may not be made until after the written test.  Call or write this Department if you have not received your notice 3 days before the date of the test.  You may not be admitted to the examination room without official notice.

RATINGS REQUIRED:  Tests are rated on a scale of 100 with a passing mark at 70.  Unless the announcement states otherwise, you must pass the written test and the oral test, if any.  Test instructions may further divide the tests into parts and set minimum standards for each part.

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE:  If a subject of the examination, training and experience may not be rated if all passing candidates are expected to be immediately reachable for appointment.  If rated, training and experience will be based on the statements in your application subject to verification.  If this examination includes a qualifying written test, candidates admitted to the test will have conditional approval only.  Final decision regarding the qualifications of candidates rests with the New York State Department of Civil Service.

MEDICAL EXAMINATION:  You may be required to take a medical examination to determine if you are medically and physically capable of performing the duties of the position.

In accordance with State Law, Governor's Executive Order 6, and Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended the County of Erie does not discriminate against handicapped persons in access to employment, during employment, or in any of its programs and activities

VERIFICATION OF QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates may be investigated or called for an interview to verify information contained on the application. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience may be pro-rated toward meeting full-time experience requirements

ELIGIBLE LIST:  The eligible list resulting from an examination may also be used for appointment to the same title or to any other title deemed to be similar and appropriate.  Eligible lists are active for a minimum of one year and a maximum of four years from the date established.

Background Investigation:  Applicants may be required to undergo a State and national criminal history background investigation, which will include a fingerprint check, to determine suitability for appointment.  Failure to meet the standards for the background investigation may result in disqualification.  Applicants may be required to pay a fee for the investigation.

NOTE:  Fingerprints are sometimes required at the time of appointment.  When they are required, the fee involved must be paid by the appointee.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE –

READ CAREFULLY**

A $15.00 filing fee is required for this exam.  The required fee must accompany your application.  Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order.  Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment.  As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.

This examination is prepared and rated by the New York State Department of Civil Service,
and held in compliance with the New York State Civil Service Law
and the rules and regulations of the New York State Department of Civil Service.