## About CAPM
Chicago Area Plumbing & Mechanical, Inc. is an established plumbing and mechanical subcontractor serving commercial, institutional, and industrial clients across the Chicago region. Our union workforce spans Plumbers Local 130 UA, Pipefitters Local 597, Laborers Local 4, and Operators Local 150, and we deliver quality work on complex projects across healthcare, education, transportation, and commercial construction. We're an owner-led firm with deep roots in the Chicago trades.
## The Role
We're hiring a **Staff Accountant** to fully own CAPM's day-to-day transactional accounting and support our month-end close. This is a full-time, on-site role working closely with our **external Controller** and **external CFO**, who provide senior oversight, own technical accounting, and lead lender and surety relationships.
You'll be the engine of the accounting function — fully owning AR and AP, partnering on month-end close, preparing the inputs our senior team needs to deliver clean financial reporting to ownership, and keeping the books audit-ready every day. The right candidate has solid construction industry experience, takes pride in clean reconciliations, and is comfortable executing under external senior oversight without daily handholding.
## What You'll Do
- **Accounts receivable and customer billing (fully owned)**: prepare and submit **AIA G702/G703 progress billings**, change order documentation, retention tracking, and stored materials documentation; maintain customer master data; issue conditional/unconditional partial/final lien waivers on private work; track and submit **bond claim notices** on public work under the federal Miller Act and IL Public Construction Bond Act; drive collections and manage aged receivables
- **Accounts payable and subcontractor management (fully owned)**: process vendor invoices, code to GL accounts and job cost codes; manage check runs and ACH payments; process subcontractor invoices including pay-when-paid timing; collect lower-tier lien waivers and bond claim documentation; verify insurance certificates, W-9s, and required compliance documents before releasing payments
- **Bank and credit card reconciliations**: prepare monthly reconciliations across all accounts, credit cards, and petty cash; investigate and clear variances
- **Job costing**: maintain job setups across **QuickBooks Desktop** and **Procore**; code committed costs, change orders, and direct costs; reconcile committed costs between platforms; flag coding inconsistencies for resolution
- **Payroll administration**: review weekly time entries in **Miter** for accuracy and job/cost-code coding; prepare data for **multi-local union fringe remittances** (Plumbers Local 130 UA, Pipefitters Local 597, Laborers Local 4, Operators Local 150); prepare **certified payroll** submissions for Davis-Bacon and IL Prevailing Wage projects
- **Month-end close support**: prepare accruals, prepaid amortization, and recurring journal entries; provide trial balance, fixed asset detail, and supporting reconciliations to the external Controller; prepare initial **WIP data inputs** (job-level cost-to-date, billings-to-date, and ETC inputs) for Controller review and analysis
- **Tax and compliance preparation**: manage **sales/use tax filings**, prepare 1099 data for annual reporting, and maintain transaction-level data needed for year-end review and tax preparation
- **Document management**: maintain organized digital and paper files for contracts, change orders, lien waivers, bond claim notices, insurance certificates, and vendor records
## How You'll Be Measured
You will be evaluated against three core outcomes:
- **Accuracy**: clean transactional data with minimal coding errors and minimal post-close adjustments
- **Timeliness**: AR, AP, reconciliations, and close-support deliverables completed on the established cadence
- **Completeness**: lien waivers, bond claim notices, insurance certificates, and job cost detail are always current, complete, and findable when the senior team needs them
## Required Qualifications
- **4+ years of construction accounting experience**, with hands-on AR and AP ownership at a specialty trade contractor or general contractor
- **Construction industry fluency**: AIA G702/G703 progress billings, job cost coding, lien waivers, and subcontractor payment workflows
- Familiarity with **bond claim processes** for public work — Miller Act and IL Public Construction Bond Act notice requirements
- Comfort with **multi-local union payroll workflows** — timecards, fringe data preparation, and certified payroll submissions
- Proficiency in **QuickBooks Desktop** — daily transactional use, not just exposure
- Hands-on experience with **Procore** — invoice entry, commitment management, change order processing
- Strong Excel skills — formulas, pivots, lookups; comfortable in multi-tab reconciliation files
- Detail-oriented with a habit of self-checking work before passing it up
- Comfortable executing under external senior oversight and managing parallel deadlines
- Able to work **on-site full-time** at our Elk Grove Village, IL office
## Preferred Qualifications
- Mechanical and/or plumbing subcontractor experience
- **AI / LLM fluency** — comfort using ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or similar tools to streamline transactional work, accelerate reconciliations, parse documents, or draft communications. A considerable plus. *Expect to be asked about your preferred tool and how you use it during interviews.*
- Working knowledge of **ASC 606** revenue recognition concepts and **ASC 842** lease accounting basics
- Experience with **Miter** payroll or similar construction payroll platforms
- **Public accounting experience** (Big Four or other national/regional firm), particularly in audit or tax for construction or contractor clients
- Bachelor's degree in **Accounting, Finance, or another analytical field** (Economics, Mathematics, Statistics, or similar); Associate's degree with strong relevant experience also considered
## Compensation and Benefits
- **Salary range: $70,000 – $85,000 annually**, commensurate with experience
- Health insurance — medical, dental, vision
- 401(k)
- Paid time off and paid holidays
- Direct mentorship from CAPM's external Controller and CFO; clear path to grow into more senior accounting work as you demonstrate ownership and the function evolves
- Stable firm with strong project backlog and long-tenured team
## How to Apply
Interested candidates should submit a resume. Cover letters are welcome but not required.
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*Chicago Area Plumbing & Mechanical, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer.*
Pay: $70,000.00 - $85,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
Work Location: In person
