Accountant Advanced

State of Maryland•Anne Arundel, MD

12d•Onsite

About The Position

The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) is seeking an Accountant Advanced to join its Fiscal Services Department. This department supports the agency's programs and operations through effective management of accounting, budgeting, payroll, financial reporting, and other fiscal activities. The role assists the Director of Budget and Capital Grants and the Fiscal Services Chief with examining, analyzing, and interpreting MDA's accounting systems (FMIS & Web-Focus) by applying generally accepted accounting principles. The position involves monitoring and maintaining accounting systems, preparing financial reports and statements, and providing fiscal advice to management. Additionally, the Accountant Advanced will develop and implement detailed sub-accounting systems and spreadsheets for areas such as Revenue, Expenditure & Encumbrance Accounting, Cost Accounting, Systems Accounting, Federal Fund Accounting, Easement Accounting, and Budgetary Accounting.

Requirements

A Bachelor's degree in Accounting from an accredited college or university, including or supplemented by three credit hours in auditing.
Three years of experience examining, analyzing and interpreting accounting systems, records and reports by applying generally accepted accounting principles.

Nice To Haves

Experience performing professional accounting work, including analyzing financial records, reconciling accounts, preparing financial reports, and resolving complex accounting discrepancies.
Experience with governmental accounting, including the application of generally accepted accounting principles, State accounting requirements, policies, and procedures.
Experience preparing and analyzing operating budgets, expenditure projections, budget amendments, fund transfers, or other budgetary transactions.
Experience with financial management systems such as FMIS/RSTARS, ADPICS, WebFOCUS, BARS, or comparable accounting and budgeting systems.
Experience with federal fund accounting, special fund accounting, grant accounting, or other restricted funding sources.
Experience preparing and processing journal entries, accounting adjustments, accruals, deferrals, or other fiscal year-end closing transactions.
Experience conducting complex reconciliations, researching discrepancies, and maintaining complete supporting documentation and audit trails.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with demonstrated ability to independently research and resolve complex fiscal and accounting issues.

Responsibilities

Conducts reconciliations of expenditure and revenue to determine accuracy and materiality, selecting the proper accounting treatment and maintaining documentation of accounts.
Performs advanced level cost accounting, systems accounting, and federal fund accounting in preparation of financial reports for management, including instituting and maintaining accounting systems for fund allocations and reconciling these accounts to internal and external accounting systems projections.
Reviews and authorizes detailed costs and systems accounting changes, and federal fund distributions for inclusion in the general accounting system.
Prepares and processes adjustments to correct errors and allocate payments in FMIS (RST ARS), including correcting errors as reported by FMIS (RSTARS).
Meets with agency management personnel and program managers to discuss and resolve advanced level accounting problems and issues.
Assists in the preparation of MDA's operating budget using the new enterprise budget system - BARS, becoming a subject matter expert on BARS and participating in annual budget meetings.
Prepares transfers, budget amendments, and supplemental requests to reconcile appropriations and revenues with actual and estimated expenditures based upon reconciliations.
Prepares quarterly expenditure projections and analyzes past and present budgetary data to identify trends and project budgetary needs.
Assigns, directs, and reviews requests for additional funds (budget amendments), identifies funding sources, and assists Local Departments and Central staff in proper spending of fiscal resources and in identification of funding sources.
Assists with close-out by ensuring that items are properly accrued and adjusted at fiscal year end.
Participates in the audit process of agency fiscal operations by providing auditors with explanations of accounting procedures, documentation of fiscal transactions, and assisting in the formulation and implementation of corrective action plans precipitated by audit exceptions.
Reviews and authorizes financial transaction records for submission on FMIS (RSTARS) and approves purchase orders in FMIS (ADPICS) for coding and funding availability.