Sarah Smolnicki
Summary
Analytical finance and operations professional with experience in sales reconciliation, payment processing, financial discrepancy resolution, chargeback management, fraud detection, financial reporting, and business tax. Skilled in analyzing complex transaction data, identifying variances, troubleshooting payment and system issues, and collaborating across Finance, Accounting, IT, Loss Prevention, and Operations.
Overview
3
3
years of professional experience
Work History
Sales Reconciliation Analyst
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN)
Philadelphia, PA
10.2024 - Current
- Perform comprehensive sales and payment reconciliation for four brands across North America & Europe retail operations, specializing in transaction auditing, payment processing, chargeback management, fraud detection, and financial discrepancy resolution.
- Analyze complex retail & e-commerce transaction data across POS, payment processing, and financial systems to identify variances, processing exceptions, and settlement discrepancies.
- Manage global chargeback investigations and dispute responses, research payment failures, reversals, refunds, and settlement issues, and provide supporting documentation to mitigate financial exposure.
- Collaborated cross-functionally with IT, Loss Prevention, Retail Operations, and external payment processors to troubleshoot system issues, conduct root-cause analysis, and implement corrective actions, enhancing payment processing reliability.
- Prepared month-end journal entries, supported quarterly reporting, and maintained accurate system configurations for retail locations through TrinTech, reinforcing internal controls and operational efficiency.
- Monitored progress of upcoming store openings, proactively added new locations to TrinTech before launch, ensuring each store was established and configured accurately, which supported seamless transaction processing.
TAX EXAMINER
The United States Department of Treasury
Philadelphia, PA
01.2024 - 10.2024
- Assessed taxpayer compliance with federal tax laws, calculated delinquent tax liabilities, back taxes, penalties, and interest, ensuring accurate adjustments based on examination findings to uphold tax integrity.
- Conducted comprehensive examinations of tax documentation with an emphasis on small business filings by scrutinizing financial records, validating reported income, and analyzing supporting documentation to identify discrepancies, misreporting, and potential fraudulent activity.
- Investigated financial inconsistencies and risk indicators to prevent tax fraud, recover underreported liabilities, and strengthen overall compliance.
- Issued formal notices to delinquent and noncompliant taxpayers regarding outstanding tax obligations and examination results, facilitating compliance through clear communication of required corrective actions.
- Applied evolving tax laws and regulatory requirements to examination strategies, maintaining meticulous documentation to support accurate and defensible assessments.
Education
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS - ADMINISTRATION
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL05-2022
COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY & APPLICATIONS, Minor - Tuscaloosa, AL
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL05-2022
Skills
- Transaction Auditing
- Payment Processing
- Chargeback Resolution
- Financial Analysis
- Data Reconciliation
- Reconciling Accounts
- Journal Entries
- Accounts Receivable
Timeline
Sales Reconciliation Analyst
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN)
10.2024 - Current
TAX EXAMINER
The United States Department of Treasury
01.2024 - 10.2024
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS - ADMINISTRATION
The University of Alabama
COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY & APPLICATIONS, Minor - Tuscaloosa, AL
The University of Alabama