Position Overview:
The College of Education and Human Development's Finance Services Office is searching for a Finance Professional 3 / Accountant. This position provides professional accounting and financial services for complex, diverse, and high volume financial portfolios, including sponsored projects, grants, foundations, state-specials, state allocations, internal and external sales, and indirect cost recovery funds.
Leveraging in-depth knowledge and expertise, the position provides senior level consultation to the unit leadership (chairs, heads, and directors), faculty (PIs), and staff. The position is responsible for developing complex budgets, creating customized reporting, analyzing financial trends, preparing financial forecasts, and overseeing and managing financial transactions to inform consultations with leadership regarding strategic and operational financial risks and initiatives. This position assumes lead responsibilities to include training, monitoring, oversight and accountability for assigned college-level business processes or for assigned mentee/s. Incumbent provides unique and informed insights into the analysis and development of accounting practices and procedures to increase capacity, efficiency, effectiveness and competency within the college.
The University of Minnesota encourages a healthy work life balance for employees. CEHD is committed to an excellent employee experience, offering a flexible work environment that meets the needs of students, staff, faculty, and the communities we serve. Flexible work arrangements may include flexibility in schedule and/or work location. Please note that 100% remote work requires approval. All UMN employees are expected to follow applicable public health and safety procedures.
Salary range for this position is $70,000 - $80,000. Average starting salary is $73,840/year. Salary offers are dependent on the candidate's experience, skills, and internal equity within the department.
Follow this link to apply and for more information on the college and university benefits.
Job Responsibilities:
Budget and Financial Management (40%)
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Academic, Center and/or Administrative Unit Accountant
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Consult with business managers and unit administrators in the development of external/internal sales business plans, billing rates, and contracts. Provide assistance on budget development for programs, projects and initiatives. This includes activities related to course fees and fees in lieu of tuition.
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Lead assigned unit/s annual budget and fiscal year close processes. Facilitate conversations and provide guidance to unit leadership regarding financial position and potential funding needs. Assist in the monitoring and completion of the unit's merit process. Develop and enter the budget into EFS by the required deadlines. Complete required reporting and closing procedures
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Lead the development and maintenance of a chart of accounts that align with operational needs, optimizes reporting, while minimizing impact on efficiency. Chart of accounts should be consistent with University policy and should align with collegiate strategies.
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Manage financial transactions for a diverse portfolio of sponsored and non-sponsored accounts including foundation gifts, scholarships and endowments, internal and external sales, O&M state allocations, state special allocations, indirect cost recovery, and various sponsored accounts, grants and project funding sources. Management to include verification and use of appropriate accounting, completion of reconciliations, review and approval/denial of transactions, and initiation and entry of corrections. Management also includes assessing, analyzing, interpreting, translating and recommending courses of action based upon professional judgement and knowledge of University policies and procedures and other regulating agency requirements
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Ensure accuracy of entered personnel and payroll transactions in payroll accounting and on abstracts, including consistency with appointment documentation and appropriateness of funding source.
Sponsored Project Accountant (30%)
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Develop budgets and/or projections for sponsored projects grant proposal awards, renewals and no-cost extensions, working closely with the grant coordinator and Principle Investigators (PIs)/researchers to ensure effective pre and post-award management of sponsored projects.
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Provide fiscal management and monitoring of sponsored project activity and balances in compliance with University and regulatory agency policies and procedures. Develop and maintain knowledge of pertinent federal, state, business, and non-profit sponsors to provide guidance and interpretation of governing legislation, rules and conditions.
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Consult with and develop partnerships with Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA), Sponsored Financial Reporting (SFR), and external sponsors to manage sub-awards, reconcile/resolve concerns, and close out awards.
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Coordinate and facilitate regularly scheduled meetings with PIs, and unit administrators to monitor financial activity and to address concerns.
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Perform Certified Approver (CA) duties for assigned units.
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Coordinate effort certification, including managing and monitoring effort certification process, investigating budgetary issues, preparing payroll distribution changes, processing necessary correcting entries, and meeting required deadlines.
Reporting and Analysis (15%)
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Prepare complex, comprehensive, customized, routine, and ad hoc reporting from a variety of sources for University, college, and unit leadership, and PIs, as needed. Consult with stakeholders to interpret data and to make recommendations and observations.
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Perform budget-to-actual analysis of assigned sponsored and non-sponsored accounts. Analyze financial data for anomalies, identify gaps in revenue and/or expenses, investigate and recommend solutions.
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Develop and present projections and trending to inform and advise stakeholders.
Lead Finance Professional (10%):
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College Process Resource
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Provide oversight and management of college-wide business processes (i.e., scholarships, internal/external sales, effort certification, payroll accounting, sponsored projects/grants/projects, certified approver, reporting and data analytics)
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Assigned to specific college-wide business processes as a subject matter expert; partner with management to ensure coordination and dissemination of new and changing policy and procedure.
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Conduct training for: accounting professionals, department administrators, preparers and processors within the college
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Serve as a first-point-of-contact resource for process-related policies and procedures interpretation.
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Participate in process improvement initiatives that have an overall impact on the college or individual units.
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Train and mentor other finance professional team members as needed
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Serve on and/or lead department, college-wide, and university-wide committees, implementation projects, task force initiatives, and standing University-level defined roles and content expert groups.