Manager Velocity Accounting

Job Summary

CenterPoint Energy is seeking an experienced Accounting Manager to support a major finance transformation program centered on SAP S/4HANA implementation, accounting systems modernization, and financial data dimension design. This role will partner closely with Finance, Accounting, IT, Tax, Treasury, Regulatory, Operations, and business stakeholders to help design, validate, and operationalize future-state accounting processes, financial reporting structures, and enterprise data models for a regulated electric and natural gas utility environment.

The Accounting Manager will serve as a finance and accounting subject matter expert across the implementation lifecycle, translating accounting, regulatory, operational, and reporting requirements into scalable system design. The role will support data governance decisions and ensure that accounting impacts are fully considered in process, configuration, reporting, cost recovery, and control design.

Essential Functions

• Lead accounting workstream activities for SAP S/4HANA implementation, including requirements definition, design validation, testing support, cutover readiness, and post-go-live stabilization.
• Partner with Finance, Accounting, IT, Regulatory, Operations, and business teams to design and validate accounting system functionality across general ledger, cost center accounting, profit center accounting, fixed assets, project accounting, work orders, allocations, intercompany, and financial reporting processes.
• Support design of financial data dimensions, including company codes, chart of accounts, cost centers, profit centers, functional areas, segments, internal orders, WBS elements, projects, work orders, regulatory reporting attributes, and other utility-specific reporting dimensions.
• Design and implement data governance model to ensure long-term integrity of S/4HANA financial design decisions
• Evaluate future-state process designs to ensure alignment with U.S. GAAP, internal controls, accounting requirements, regulatory reporting needs, management reporting requirements, and enterprise data governance standards.
• Translate accounting, operational, and regulatory reporting requirements into clear functional design inputs for system integrators, technology teams, and data governance forums.
• Review and validate data conversion, mapping, cleansing, and reconciliation activities related to financial master data, asset records, project and work order structures, and transactional accounting data.
• Coordinate user acceptance testing for accounting and utility-specific scenarios, including plant accounting, capital project accounting, O&M expense reporting, allocations, regulatory reporting, test script development, defect resolution, business sign-off, and evidence retention.
• Develop and review accounting policies, procedures, process documentation, job aids, and training materials impacted by system transformation.
• Identify accounting, reporting, regulatory, and control risks associated with system design decisions and recommend practical mitigation plans.
• Serve as a change champion for Accounting and Finance users by communicating process impacts, supporting adoption, and reinforcing standardization across jurisdictions and business units.

Essential Functions Continued

End-to-End Process Accountability

• Accountable for the future-state performance of assigned end-to-end workflows.
• Balance functional, operational, financial, compliance, and customer impacts when making process decisions.
• Serve as the primary business owner for process standardization decisions within assigned workflow areas.
• Drive alignment across business units regarding process design, execution, governance, and performance expectations.

Decision Readiness

• Identify process decisions requiring leadership alignment and formal approval.
• Support development of Key Design Decisions (KDDs), recommendation materials, business cases, and decision documentation.
• Ensure stakeholders understand business impacts, risks, tradeoffs, and implementation implications before decisions are escalated.
• Participate in leadership alignment workshops and decision review forums.

Process Standardization and Clean Core

• Champion adoption of standard SAP capabilities whenever practical.
• Evaluate customization requests and recommend alternatives that minimize technical debt and support Clean Core objectives.
• Drive process harmonization across operating companies, functions, and organizational boundaries.
• Escalate proposed deviations from enterprise standards through established governance processes.

Education

• Requires a bachelor's degree with a focus in Finance, Accounting or Business Administration.

Experience

• Requires a minimum of eight (8) years of experience in the utility industry
• Experience with SAP and PowerPlan is preferred