Job Description for Assistant to the Controller

The Assistant is responsible for supporting the Controller, as well as completing several periodic departmental tasks.- to get to the good stuff- click here- to visit "Guide to Assistant to the Controller"

To be successful:

• Have a basic understanding of accounting principles

• View this position as a high level administrative position (EA)

• Be proficient in or improve your proficiency in MS Excel, Word, and Outlook

• Have strong verbal communication skills, including the ability to clearly explain and discuss financial matters with colleagues and with banks, external accountants, and vendors

• Have a positive, team-oriented attitude, willingness to "go the extra mile"

• Be organized and committed to always improving time-management skills

• Have the ability to problem solve, both individually and as part of a project team

• Be a motivated self-starter (don't wait for tasks to be handed to you- see what needs to get done).

• Have the ability to work independently with minimal guidance

The Assistant to the Controller is responsible for the following tasks:

Supporting the Controller

• Transcribe Voicemail daily for Richard Apell (via email)

• Serve as gatekeeper & assist in maintaining Controller's calendar

• Quarterly Money Market Interest Schedule

• Type and file meeting minutes for Controller's weekly meeting

• Assist in gathering info for bank for refinance of underlying mortgage

• Maintain accounting building records in the Controller's My Documents

Supporting the Accounting Department

• Serve as contact to Partners in Argo owned entities

• Quarterly Money Market Interest Schedule

• Generate, compose, proof, format, and issue business correspondence as appropriate

• Serve as primary contact for VCard and Credit Card additions and account maintenance.

Audit Support

• Coordinate annual field audit with building accountants

• Organize closing files and back up relating to correspondence with clients and banks

• Work with Management to help complete expense reports in a timely manner

Miscellaneous

• Bank Account Administration (opening and closing of MM and Operating accounts)

• Transitions representative for the Accounting Department

• Special Projects/ Do research projects as needed

• Organize and attend Quarterly accounting meetings

• Opening and distributing mail and other incoming packages for the Controller; o preparation and mailing of outgoing mail and overnight packages

Tips for an Executive Assistant

Looking for executive assistant organization tips? These tips will increase your organization.

1. Organize Your Emails

You must manage not only your own inbox, but you will be copied on a number of emails to have a general knowledge of ongoing issues or projects. This can get overwhelming with so many emails flowing. You probably have accepted that reaching inbox zero is nearly impossible, however there are other options to defeat this challenge, and simplify that inbox!

I recommend organizing emails by categories AND by building numbers. I recommend organizing emails by categories AND by building numbers. You can set as many categories/labels as you want in Outlook, but I would create at minimum: AUDITS, TAXES, and BANKING.

In addition- sort your to-do list by things that are URGENT, LESS URGENT, FOLLOW UPS, and TO-Dos .

• Urgent: Requiring Reply- It is critical that you give these emails your utmost attention. Reply to them ASAP; Do not leave the office without these done, nearly done, or in process.

• Less Urgent: Replies- You need to reply to these emails eventually, but you have bigger priorities for

the time being. It is recommended that you put a due date on these emails so you do not forget about them as they are still significant.

• Follow-Ups- Set due dates for when to follow-up with these emails as these tend to slip through the cracks.

• To-Do's- A designated spot for those emails that list tasks that must be done. Set due-dates on these as well.

2. Make tomorrow's to-do list before leaving the office

Don't waste any time! Before stepping out of the office, create a to-do list of tasks that you need to focus on tomorrow while everything is fresh in your head. The extra 5-10 minutes you spend to do this will certainly pay off when you enter the office in the morning because you will have a good idea where you stand. This ensures that you do not waste any time because you know what is a top priority and what needs your focus first. If you're not able to do this daily- at least do it weekly!

3. Keep a Database

Keep good records- and keep them in the shared drive! This way if Richard needs to see your progress on something or needs to finish something himself he can easily do this. There are a lot of various schedules that are created for either department use or Richard's use.

Guide to Assistant to the Controller

Table of Contents

• Supporting the Controller

• Accounting Department Support

• Audits, Financials Statements & Tax Returns

• Banking

• Ongoing Projects

Supporting the Controller

Aside from Audits, Tax Returns, and Banking- your primary job role is to support the Controller.

The approach I recommend for this is to "Manage Up". Managing up refers to doing whatever you can to make your boss's job easier by essentially managing your manager. This includes, (1) anticipating needs, (2), learning what make's your boss tick, and (3) learning how to discuss problems. This will become something that is easy to learn in this role as Richard is easy to work with and usually clear in communication.

Managing Up -

• Check Richard's voicemail daily (via email) to see if there are any important phone calls regarding urgent matters to be addresses.

• Serve as gatekeeper (if the door is closed only allow access in an emergency) & assist in maintaining Controller's calendar (look at the calendar at the beginning of the week to get an idea of his schedule) .

• Assist with ad hoc projects as needed- you will occasionally be asked to assist with organizing or collecting information to create schedules or help analyze something.

• Type and file meeting minutes for Controller's weekly meeting w/Mark M. and Julie Z.

• Assist in gathering info for bank for refinance of underlying mortgage (typically easily accessible information like incorporating documents, rent rolls, etc). You may have to order a Certificate of Good Standing for some closings. The process for this is covered below.

• Maintain accounting building records in the Controller's My Documents- make sure any building-wide communication (letters/notices), closing documents (re-fi/loc) are stored in the appropriate folder as well as AT&T bills, benchmarking records, RPIE records, financials statements, etc.

• Incorporation Documents

How to Order a Certificate of Good Standing, Certificate of Incorporation, or Filing receipt. htt ps://www. dos .ny.gov/c orps/ fa q co pies.page .asp

Copies of any documents (Certificates of Incorporation, Articles of Organization, Certificates of Good Standing, etc.) can be obtained by submitting a written request to the NYS DOS. Templates can be found in the Controller- STD (Standard Template Documents) folder. Fees are located on the Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization form located in the Bookkeepers /Forms folder.

• Biennial Statements

https://appext20.dos.ny.gov/corp ebiennial public/corp app.e biennial.main page

See above instructions on how to order a certificate of good standing if needed. Biennials may be filed online via the e-Statement Filing System if they are within their monthly renewal period (and up to 2 years) . If you are outside the filing window you will have to file by paper. You can request a paper biennial statement by emailing the Statement Unit at corpo rations@ dos .ny.gov (providing DOS#, name, and initial filing date). A full schedule of filings and due dates can be found in Controller- My Docs in the Biennial folder.

Audits, Financials Statements & Tax Returns

Audit Support

Coordinate annual field audit with building accountants. Organize closing files and back up relating to correspondence with clients and banks.

• Audits/Financial Statements

Argo Real Estate, LLC serves as the managing agent for several 3rd party Cooperatives and Condominiums . They also manage several rental properties. Each property serves as its own company, files its own taxes, and provide an annual financial statement that is used for banking compliance and provided to potential shareholders (coop) and unit owners

All drafts are saved in the Controller-> My Docs folder under "Returns & Financial Statements".

Finals are saved on the K: drive under "Financial Statements" You serve as the primary contact for property accountants and keep updated contact information for them, provide them with information requested to complete their audits, and assist in tracking and booking estimated taxes as instructed by the CPAs.

• Tax Returns

Most properties will be on a calendar year for taxes and accountants will typically file an extension in the spring and estimate tax payments at that time (March/April) and will continue working on the financials and taxes. They will typically file the return later that year (June-Sept).

Banking

• Banking/Bank Account Administration (opening and closing of MM and Operating accounts)

The default for most account openings (especially when establishing new accounts or after the transition of new properties) is to complete paperwork establishing Mark Moskowitz as signatory (with facsimile) on the Operating/checking accounts and to establish Mark Moskowitz and Richard Apell as signatories on the money market/reserve accounts. For most banks we have a set of "Master" documents on file with this set up.

This process is initiated by contacting out bank reps and informing of the account you wish to establish. They will then follow up with paperwork that is needed to be signed by Mark and/or Richard and returned. Typically, you will need a Declaration of Condominium for Condos or Incorporation documents and Filing receipts for Cooperatives along with a copy of our Management agreement (if applicable) with the property and a signed W-9.

• Banking Online Access (confirming bookkeeper and other accounting associates have access to bank activity online, the ability to STOP payments on checks, and FAs can initiate transfer w/Controller's approval.)

You serve as the primary contact for the bookkeepers, Financial Analysts, and other associates in the accounting department. Currently the online account administrators that can provide access to other users are as follows:

o Signature Bank- Richard Apell

o Capital One- Richard Apell; Joan Cuglietta

• Capital One Commercial Card Connect & VCard/e-payable -Richard Apell;

• (previously Michelle Cicotte)

o Bank United- Richard Apell; (previously Michelle Cicotte)

Banking associates are more than happy to assist in training on this aspect of the role and respond to any questions you may have.

Accounting Department Support

• Supporting the Accounting Department

Generate, compose, proof, format, and issue business correspondence as appropriate Serve as primary contact for VCard and Credit Card additions and account maintenance .

Including managing Argo Credit Card expense reports in a timely manner. See below for details.

Serve as contact to Partners in Argo owned entities by providing K-1s from the CPA, updating address and contact information, or directing to in house counsel when wanting to buy, sale, or transfer ownership.

• Credit Cards (Argo) /Argo Credit Card Maintenance

At the beginning of each month you will send the monthly reports for the previous month to any Argo employee that holds a corporate credit card. The list of cardholders can be found on the shared drive under Controller-> My Docs-> Cap One CCs. These statements are then approved by the cardholder's supervisor, reviewed for accuracy and provided to Karina for processing. You are responsible for collecting receipts from the Controller and completing his monthly T&E/expense report. Templates for this report are found under "Personal" templates when creating a NEW excel document.

• Argo Partnerships (K-1s & Distributions)

Our portfolio consists of cooperatives, condos, and rentals. Most of our rentals (those that are "Argo owned") exist as Partnerships with various individuals and/or entities owning a percentage/interest in the partnership/company. When the CPA completes the tax return for the partnership they will provide a schedule K-1form for each partner. This reports each partner's share of the partnership's earnings, losses, deductions, and credits for their individual tax purposes. Currently due to recent changes in the tax laws (and the cost segregations) we are still expecting to receive these for most Argo partnerships. These should be received in August 2019. Upon receipt these K-1forms are distributed by electronically (after password

protecting the pdf) to partners and their CPAs via email using our K-1 partnership schedule as well as by mail.

• Quarterly Money Market Interest Schedule

Each quarter reach out to each bank per the schedule in Controller-> My Docs for updates on their money market interest rates.

• V-Card (Serve as primary contact for VCard and Credit Card additions and account maintenance)

Ongoing Projects

Miscellaneous

Bank Account Administration (opening and closing of MM and Operating accounts)

Serve as Transition Representative for the Accounting Department. Organize and attend Quarterly accounting meetings. Opening and distributing mail and other incoming packages for the Controller; prepare and mail outgoing mail and overnight packages.

• Cost Segregation

A cost segregation study (completed by accountant- currently by Mazars) allows a taxpayer who owns real estate to reclassify certain assets as Section 1245 property with shorter useful lives for depreciation purposes, rather than Section 1250 (up to 27.5 years' depreciation). This ultimately allows the building to expense more, and reduces their tax liability. Currently we completed a study for Westman Realty in 2017 and studies for 5 buildings in 2018. Your role in this process is to make sure that the accountant has detailed receipts for renovation expenses showing purchases of large appliances.

• Energy

• Insurance

All insurance compliance should be directed or re-directly to Diana Diaz and the closing department. However, any payment issues or outstanding payments, etc should be handled by the accounting department. The annual renewals (typically in Sept) are done by Richard Apell. You will need to maintain a list of the certificates and schedules to provide to banks and accountants when requested (typically for compliance or as part of an audit).

• IRS

• Ivy Hill

• MDS

• NYS Taxation

• NYC Dept of Finance

• Online Access

• Paychex

• Safe

• Tax Certiorari

Real Estate tax proceedings (Tax Certiorari) are Real Estate tax reduction proceedings. Owners of real property located in the city of New York have the right to annually contest the assessed value of their property. Each building has engaged a tax certiorari attorney to protest on their behalf for the reduction of real estate taxes. These attorneys work on a contingency basis and are paid only if they are able to reduce your tax bill. Typically, these are based on the city's assessed value.

If there is no settlement reached, the attorney will file a petition to begin civil litigation against the city. If a settlement is reached their will be a refund check sent to the building. Prior to these proceedings the attorney will request information from the Property Managers as well as accounting. You will typically be call upon to track these and ask the Property Managers to complete them. The TC201 or the TC309 are typically signed by a board member (or PM's as Asst. Secretary) and require notarization.

• Tenant Security

Tenant Security accounts are held as segregated accounts from a building's operating or reserve fund with monies belonging to residents of rentals, coops, and condos. They may have security deposits as well as pet

deposits, key deposits, etc. Currently deposits into these accounts (and tracking of the deposits) are done

by Florence Banks. Withdrawals from these accounts are done by Rita Portnaya. You are still responsible for opening these accounts with the banks.

• Workers Comp/Audits

You serve as the primary contact for the accounting relationship with our broker for workman's comp (Combined Brokerage). However, any annual audits (while previously handled under the controller) will be conducted and completed by the Payroll department. They may come to you to provide the figures for Income and Expense and to obtain the Controller's approval.

HOW TO:

REPORTS & DOWNLOADING

Key note: Always use the report template with a 'face' next to the name as this is our customized report that MDS has created for us.

UPLOAD BULK A/P FILE for RPIE & BENCHMARKING

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $65,000.00 - $75,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Physical setting:

• Office

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

Supplemental pay types:

• Bonus pay

Work Location: One location

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