Accountant I

About UMass Amherst

UMass Amherst, the Commonwealth's flagship campus, is a nationally ranked public research university offering a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University sits on nearly 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts and offers a rich cultural environment in a bucolic setting close to major urban centers. In addition, the University is part of the Five Colleges (including Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College), which adds to the intellectual energy of the region.

Job Summary

Incumbent performs a variety of duties including the review of financial statements, preparation of financial reports, assist with budget processes and reconciliation of accounts. Works closely with other accounting personnel, internal departments, and external parties.

Essential Functions

• Prepares monthly and quarterly financial and summary reports including statements of current funds and statements of financial position to reflect financial status. Maintains and reconciles financial documents, records, transactions, and statements to ensure conformance with established standards and procedures. Gathers, maintains, and analyzes historical data on revenues and expenses.
• Performs monthly reconciliation of internal records against PeopleSoft financial records for assigned SACL chartfield strings.
• Prepares for approval and review: vouchers, journal entries, and fund transfers as well as provides documentation to substantiate individual transactions.
• Receives, verifies, records and processes deposits and other receipts for SACL. Supports use of e-Commerce products as permitted by the University, ensuring PCI compliance. Provides notifications of payments received to departments and performs reconciliation of funds received. Maintains and updates cash handling policies and procedures ensuring compliance with internal controls and regulatory requirements. Investigates and resolves any cash-related discrepancies, working closely with internal stakeholders and external parties as necessary.
• Investigates, researches and analyzes financial inquiries, provides troubleshooting assistance to Fund Managers and others in areas regarding fiscal policies and procedures, by utilizing PeopleSoft (including queries) and Summit reporting systems and notifies Assistant Director of any issues.
• Confirms intradepartmental recharges with SACL staff.
• Assists in the preparation and construction of the SACL budgets by gathering information, analyzing financial data, and compiling the budget documents.
• Enters budget changes into the Budget Change System (BCS) for assigned areas of SACL. Maintains these changes in the budget spreadsheets.
• Works in partnership with other team members to provide the monitoring and reporting of grant funds to ensure compliance with grant requirements, ensure that expenditures are consistently aligned with related grants and program budgets. Participates with principal investigators in post-award management of grants and contracts. Prepares and maintains reimbursement expenditure reports for grants, performs regular grant closures, and reconciles monthly grant reports and cash requests to monitor final grant reports for consistency to funding requirements.
• Assistsstaff and students with authorized reimbursements, preparing documents to process payments, related forms and disbursement documents.
• Prepares procedures manual pertaining to duties of position.
• Contributes to the overall success of the team by performing all other duties and responsibilities as assigned, maintaining high levels of accuracy, a professional demeanor and appropriate levels of confidentiality, providing excellent customer service.
• All other duties as assigned.

Other Functions

• Performs related duties, as assigned or required. Understands responsibilities with respect to Title IX, Clery, and other compliance requirements.
• Demonstrates capacity, skill and willingness to engage students, and contribute to student success.
• Works collaboratively with other campus stakeholders. Understands responsibilities, with respect to conflicts of interest, and behaves in ways consistent both with law and with University policy.
• Contributes toward creating a positive, respectful workplace. Uses access to sensitive and/or not yet public University related information only in the performance of responsibilities of position and exercises care to prevent unnecessary disclosure to others.

Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Education, Experience, Certifications, Licensure)

• Associate's degree in Accounting, Business Administration, or Management with two (2) years full-time experience or equivalent part-time experience in auditing or accounting; or High school diploma or equivalent, with 2 years' experience in auditing or accounting; appropriate combination of education and training can substitute for experience (Accounting, Business or Management Certificate).
• Knowledge of the principles and practices of general accounting including terminology.
• Knowledge of the methods of general report writing.
• Ability to analyze and determine the applicability of accounting data, to draw conclusions and to make appropriate recommendations.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as financial reports, accounts, and ledgers and discuss conclusions in a clear and logical manner.
• Ability to understand, apply and explain the laws, rules, regulations, policies, procedures, etc. governing assigned unit activities.
• Ability to gather information by examining records and documents and through questioning of individuals.
• Ability to perform mathematical calculations using formulas to solve accounting problems.
• Ability to understand and carry out oral and written instructions.
• Ability to maintain accurate records.
• Ability to prepare general and financial reports.
• Ability to give oral and written instructions in a clear, understandable manner.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, to include Excel, Word and other database packages.
• Ability to organize and prioritize work effectively and organize multiple tasks/projects simultaneously.
• Ability to establish and maintain appropriate working relationships with persons from varied backgrounds; ability to work in a team setting.
• Ability to deal tactfully with others, exercise sound judgment, and use discretion in handling confidential information.

Preferred Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Education, Experience, Certifications, Licensure)

• Knowledge of University and SACL's financial and budgetary policy/procedures, principals/practices, terminology and forms.
• Knowledge of policies and procedures when working with student-initiated groups, i.e. Student Government Association (SGA), Graduate Student Senate (GSS), Registered Student Organizations (RSO)
• Knowledge of the laws, rules and regulations governing Federal Grant Administration.
• Knowledge of PeopleSoft accounting system, Summit Reporting systems, BuyWays Procurement system, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive and Outlook.

Physical Demands/Working Conditions

Typical office environment.

Additional Details

Supervision received:

Works under the direct supervision of the Assistant Director for Finance and Budget for SACL who assigns duties and reviews work for completeness and accuracy; under the technical guidance of the Director for Finance and Budget for SACL.

Work Schedule

Monday - Friday; 8:30am-5:00pm.

Salary Information

USA/MTA Non-Exempt Grade 15.

Special Instructions to Applicants

Along with the application, please submit a resume. References will be checked at the finalist stage. Please be prepared to provide contact information for three (3) professional references.

UMass Amherst is committed to a policy of equal opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, caste, creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin, disability, political belief or affiliation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related condition(s), veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information, natural and protective hairstyle and any other class of individuals protected from discrimination in employment, admission to and participation in academic programs, activities, and services, and the selection of vendors who provide services or products to the University. To fulfill that policy, UMass Amherst is further committed to a program of affirmative action to eliminate or mitigate artificial barriers and to increase opportunities for the recruitment and advancement of qualified minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and covered veterans. It is the policy of UMass Amherst to comply with the applicable federal and state statutes, rules, and regulations concerning equal opportunity and affirmative action.