POSITION SUMMARY
The Senior Accountant, Prepaid & Sales/Use Tax is responsible for managing prepaid expense accounting and all sales and use tax compliance obligations across Discovery Senior Living's portfolio of approximately 450 senior living communities operating in 40+ states. Reporting to the Shared Services Controller, this role ensures that prepaid assets are appropriately amortized, accurately reported, and that all sales and use tax filings, exemptions, and accruals are managed in compliance with applicable state and local tax regulations. This role operates primarily within Yardi 8 and Excel, and partners closely with Accounts Payable, Procurement, and external tax advisors.
Remote & Hybrid Work:
The position will start remote but then transition to onsite work in Dallas three days per week, working alongside the accounting and asset management teams with regular exposure to senior leadership.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The following duties are normal for this position. This list is not to be construed as exclusive or all inclusive. Other duties may be required and assigned.
Prepaid Expense Accounting
- Maintain the prepaid expense subledger across all DSL entities and communities; reconcile to the general ledger in Yardi 8 monthly.
- Review and record new prepaid assets, including insurance, licenses, software subscriptions, service contracts, and rent deposits.
- Prepare and post monthly amortization entries for all prepaid categories; ensure amortization schedules are updated timely as new contracts are added or renewed.
- Reconcile prepaid balances at month-end and investigate variances between schedules and recorded balances.
- Monitor unusual or aged prepaid items and coordinate with department owners for reclassification or write-off as appropriate.
Sales and Use Tax Compliance
- Manage sales and use tax compliance obligations across 40+ states in which DSL operates, ensuring timely and accurate filings.
- Prepare, review, and coordinate monthly, quarterly, and annual sales and use tax returns and remittances to state and local taxing authorities.
- Maintain a comprehensive sales and use tax calendar to track filing deadlines, payment due dates, and exemption certificate renewals across all jurisdictions.
- Accrue and reconcile sales and use tax liabilities in Yardi 8, ensuring proper balance sheet treatment.
Exemption Certificate Management
- Maintain and organize sales tax exemption certificates for DSL communities and entities across applicable jurisdictions.
- Research state-specific exemptions applicable to senior living operations (e.g., food service, healthcare supplies, resident-related purchases) and coordinate with legal and tax advisors.
- Coordinate with the Accounts Payable and Procurement teams to ensure vendor exemption certificates are collected, current, and accurately applied to purchasing activity.
Audit Support and Compliance
- Support sales and use tax audits by preparing audit-ready workpapers, exemption documentation, and responding to state taxing authority inquiries.
- Monitor regulatory changes in applicable state and local sales and use tax laws and assess the impact on DSL operations.
- Maintain compliance documentation and internal controls in accordance with DSL accounting policy.
Reporting and Process Improvement
- Prepare prepaid and sales/use tax reconciliation schedules, accrual analyses, and trend reports for the Shared Services Controller.
- Develop and maintain efficient prepaid and tax tracking tools in Excel and Yardi 8 to support the scale of a growing portfolio.
- Identify opportunities to automate and streamline sales and use tax processes across DSL's multi-state operating environment.
- Partner with the Director, Financial Systems on Yardi 8 configurations and reporting capabilities relevant to prepaid and tax accounting.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
This position is an individual contributor role with no direct reports. The Senior Accountant may provide functional guidance to junior accounting staff, community-level accounting personnel, or cross-functional teams as assigned.
QUALIFICATIONS
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Education and Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting.
- Minimum of 3-5 years of progressive accounting experience; experience in prepaid accounting, sales and use tax compliance, or indirect tax in a multi-state, multi-entity environment strongly preferred.
- Experience in senior living, healthcare, hospitality, or real estate operations preferred.
- Proficiency in Yardi 8 or a comparable property/operations accounting platform required.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including amortization schedule modeling, pivot tables, and multi-jurisdiction compliance tracking.
- Familiarity with multi-state sales and use tax compliance, exemption certificate management, and indirect tax audit processes.
ENVIRONMENTAL ADAPTABILITY
- Works primarily indoors in a climate-controlled office setting.
- May participate in meetings across multiple locations and time zones.
- Occasional travel to community sites or regional offices may be required.
- Ability to work at a computer for extended periods of time.
- Frequently required to use hands, reach with hands and arms, and talk or hear. The Team Member must regularly lift and/or move up to 25 pounds
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
The physical demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an individual to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
The employer is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the employer will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages prospective Team Members and incumbents to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.
JOB CODE: 1007150