Accountant 2 Student Affairs Operations

Job description

Job Title: Accountant 2 Student Affairs Operations
Location: Case Main Campus
Regular/Temporary: Regular
Full/Part Time: Full-Time
Job ID: 8636
Job Description POSITION OBJECTIVE

This position requires the Financial Manager to exercise discretion and independent judgment with respect to financial business operations. Working under minimal supervision, the financial manager will provide diverse expertise in account reconciliation, procurement, reimbursements, travel, billing, analyzing variances, forecasting expenses and trending financial patterns in various departments for Student Affairs and Provost’s areas. The financial manager will advise and manage a systematic approach to review expenses, project/program financial development, review salary and all compensation, prepare reports and analyze the financial position of any department at the request of the management center. The financial manager will oversee a budget area of at least ten departments which report up within the Provost’s area, varying in size and scope. The financial manager will meet with the directors monthly for budget review and planning.

Building a welcoming and inclusive community is the foundation of the work we do as professionals working with students. Fully including people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives helps us all thrive by working together, focus on our collective well-being, and help students gain insight from their academic endeavors and real-world experiences.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Determine departments’ financial goals and objectives for each fiscal year along with the department director. Provide advice to tie strategic outcomes to their budgets. Develop plans with the departments to assure the departments’ financial needs are met. Create, tailor and maintain a financial tracking system for all assigned departments within Student Affairs and the Provost’s divisions. Ensure that data is compiled and reported in a consistent way. In coordination with the department director, provide accountability for total budget and integrity of accounts, oversee the activity flowing through the accounts. Maintain and prepare financial statements, such as budget to actual forecasts and other complex financial reports. Evaluate the adequacy of current reports and processes and develop new reports or processes as needed. Document the business requirements associated with the planned decision support systems. Analyze all financial activity, investigate questionable items or discrepancies and maintain ongoing dialogue with management. This position will have financial oversight of various operating accounts, agency accounts, grant accounts and endowments. Job requires the use of proactive financial action by analyzing accounting options. Ensure the compliance of applicable federal requirements, regulations, resolutions and grant requirements. Responsible for processing requests for new speed types, including CASE, AGY, END, Sub END, etc. Monitor for any potential issues/trends and develop and implement changes or improvements. Conduct financial research, cost analysis and reporting as necessary. (40%)Oversee and manage one of the following areas, additionally serve as a backup in the areas not assigned: (30%)Divisional Travel Pool. Manage travel budget process over $100,000.00. Responsible for the creation and maintenance of a Travel Portal (CampusGroups). Create, manage and maintain an external database for travel requests. Create workflows and rules-based processes to properly route travel requests to the requester's supervisors. Provide guidance and reporting to the Vice President and Associate Vice Presidents of Student Affairs. Analyze trends and project future spending on the pool for travel decision making and forecasting purposes. Provide advanced analytics to improve the travel forecasting process. Campus Groups and Student Group AGY Financial Management. Provide expertise working with the Campus Groups and Student AGY financial areas. Set up and maintain Budgets, Financial workflows, logic and access settings within Campus Groups for various groups. Manage processing and recording of PayPal or Stripe transactions within Campus Groups and PeopleSoft. Review PeopleSoft transactions that relate to Campus Groups and address any issues. Create, manage and update the documentation and training material related to this area. Provide financial reports to various internal parties as requested. Provide routine or special financial analysis on various accounts or units as necessary. Assist departments in understanding protocol, processing paperwork and coordinating and communicating with appropriate groups. Provide guidance and reporting to the Director and Associate Vice Presidents of Student Affairs related to CG financials for improvements. Grant Specialist for the Division of Student Affairs and the Provost Office and departments. Provide expertise working with grants, from creating a new grant to closing out a grant. Review grant proposals and applications to include compilation of data and preparation of estimated budget expenditures. This includes budget development, annual reporting and end of the project wrap up. Meet with principal investigators on a regular basis to assure compliance with any funding regulations and advise on appropriate financial direction. Provide financial reports to granting agencies, donors, or various internal parties as requested. Provide routine or special financial analysis on various accounts or units as necessary. Assist departments in understanding protocol, processing paperwork and coordinating and communicating with appropriate offices (Research Administration and Grants Accounting) when establishing new accounts for the receipt of grants. Provide ongoing training and support for the use of SPARTA the online system for submitting new grants and making changes to existing grants. Responsible for assuring area compliance with sponsored project effort reporting on a semi-annual basis. Work with department administrators and project managers to assure all effort reporting is completed on time. Monitor all grants in both divisions.

Advise and train the department administrators in the area of budget preparation, purchasing, invoicing, P-Card and D-Card use and reconciliation and budget set up, reconciliation and forecasting. Assure the proper and timely resolution of budgetary issues, including fiscal year-end closing. Advise on alternative courses of action to resolve year-end deficits. Provide expertise and recommendations in preparing annual budget and projections for year-end account balances by extracting, analyzing and projecting financial data. Review and provide resolutions for issues concerning procurement services, travel, accounts receivable, grants and endowment accounting. (10%) Perform an analytical review of accounts and provide written descriptions for variances outside of the norm. Develop and propose journal entries to correct items as needed. Verify and record actual versus budget and audit all aspects of budgetary expenditures. Identify financial status of accounts and resolve discrepancies. Identify inconsistencies in internal control procedures and make recommendations for improvements. Work with the Controllers’ office/ and or Budget Office or Grants Accounting to resolve issues, assurance of following university policy and provide ad hoc reports when necessary. (10%)Communicate with the associate vice president in linking budgets to departmental strategic initiatives so that annual reporting will reflect both operational and financial metrics of success. (8%)

NONESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Perform other duties as assigned. (2%)

CONTACTS

Department: Daily contact with the director of finance for Student Affairs and the finance team for Student Affairs and the Provost divisions. Regular contact with business managers of designated departments to maintain workflow, address concerns and make adjustments.

University: Regular contact with all directors and department finance personnel in all departments for the division of Student Affairs and the Provost’s Office to resolve issues or facilitate joint action. Contact with the Controller’s Office, the Budget Office, General Accounting, Procurement, Travel, Research Administration and Development to exchange information and address concerns.

External: Limited work outside the university.

Students: Very little interaction with students.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY

This position has no direct supervision of staff.

QUALIFICATIONS

Experience: 3 to 5 years of experience in budgeting/financial planning and efficient business operations (preferably in a nonprofit setting) required.

Education: Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in accounting, finance, or business administration.

REQUIRED SKILLS

Knowledge and understating of accounting principles and financial analysis. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Good interpersonal skills: ability to work and communicate with various individuals within various departments within the university and out. Ability to interact with colleagues, supervisors and customers face to face.Commitment to working with diverse groups of individuals, including age, race, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic and educational background and ability.Ability to meet consistent attendance.Good organization skills: ability to multi-task, prioritize and give attention to detail in order to complete tasks and meet deadlines. Ability to follow protocols, budget time effectively and work on several projects simultaneously.Ability to work effectively independently and within a team.Must be highly motivated.Ability to work in a fast-paced, changing environment and conform to shifting priorities, demands and timeline. Must be flexible in order to respond to project adjustments and alterations promptly and efficiently. Must be able to adapt to varying workloads and respond appropriately to stressful situations.Ability to use advanced Excel applications to create efficient financial models and procedures for budgets, forecasting, reconciliation and for programs/events within the divisions. Intermediate to advanced knowledge and skills with Word and PowerPoint. Proven problem-solving skills.High integrity and strong professional standards. Ability to maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information.Knowledge of and experience with financial software (PeopleSoft Financials preferred).

WORKING CONDITIONS

Typical office environment. The employee will perform repetitive motion using computer mouse and keyboard to type. The employee will be required to walk outdoors to visit various departments on campus.

Diversity Statement

In employment, as in education, Case Western Reserve University is committed to Equal Opportunity and Diversity. Women, veterans, members of underrepresented minority groups, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

.

Reasonable Accommodations

Case Western Reserve University provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the Office of Equity at 216-368-3066 to request a reasonable accommodation. Determinations as to granting reasonable accommodations for any applicant will be made on a case-by-case basis.

.

Share this job with your network: