Accountant, Grants

MacArthur Foundation • Chicago, IL

10d • Hybrid

About The Position

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the nation's largest independent foundations. The Foundation supports creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. MacArthur invests in solving some of the world’s most pressing social challenges, including advancing global climate solutions , promoting local justice reform in the U.S., revitalizing local news , expanding who creates, uses, and benefits from artificial intelligence , and strengthening the well-being of Native communities . In addition to the MacArthur Fellows Program and the global 100&Change competition , the Foundation continues its historic commitments to the role of journalism in a responsive democracy as well as the vitality of our headquarters city, Chicago . The Foundation also maintains offices in Nigeria and India . The Finance Department is responsible for all accounting, banking, payroll, internal control, tax, audit, budget, forecasting and financial reporting & analysis for the Foundation. Finance is also responsible for maintaining the financial enterprise systems as well as end user support and training. The Grants Accountant is a key member of the Finance team, responsible for managing the grants payment process, ensuring compliance with all policies and procedures. This person will analyze grant payments and provide information as required to program managers, grantees, external funders as well as execute tax reporting to demonstrate accountability and transparency in grants and impact investments-related financial management.

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance; CPA preferred, at least five to seven years of finance experience
• Knowledge of current and emerging technology; uses technology and systems effectively to support daily activities; looks for new ways to apply technology to promote efficiency and improve quality
• Expert knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, accounting systems and applications, ERP systems, and other business-related software
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
• Able to work with discretion and maintain confidentiality
• Must be able to work in harmony with all levels of the organization
• Experience in implementing accounting interfaces, and in report writing and building queries
• Able to exercise professional judgment and assume responsibility for decisions which have an impact on people and quality of service
• Able to assemble information from diverse sources and develop a logical solution
• Able to simultaneously juggle several tasks or responsibilities

Responsibilities

• Process all grant payments, invoices and approvals in a timely manner; verifying that payments are correct, properly authorized and coded in the grant management system (GMS) and Workday
• Manage upload of grant and trade ACH/wire payments ensuring to resolve bank payment issues including re-issuance of wires and wire payment instruction issues
• Maintain and update grant supplier records in Workday including confirmation of grantee electronic banking information
• Manage account reconciliations for all grant-related general ledger accounts
• Process grant amendments (transfers, returns, rescissions, etc.); researching and correctly recording complex grant transactions; reconciling grant accounting applications
• Monitor payments, out-of-corpus requirements, blacklisted organizations, and donor advised funds, and reporting them on the annual tax return
• Participate in the grant budget process, including variance analysis and future legal commitments, monitoring funding sources on an ongoing basis, processing funding source transfer requests, and working with staff to create or restructure funding sources and program codes
• Review expenditure responsibility (ER) reports, escalate issues as necessary; prepare all ER reporting, including tax and audit schedules; clearly communicate complex grant and ER policies and regulations to employees and grantees
• Conduct all grant accounting and analysis for grants to support reporting financial statements, tax return and forecasting schedules
• Manage all aspects of accounting for Impact Investments, including tracking loans and equity investment valuations, analyses of bad debt reserve and PRI receivables aging, external communication with borrowers on payment issues, and ensuring the data integrity of the transfers across systems
• Serve as Finance subject matter expert in collaboration with Legal, Grants Management, and Impact Investments teams on system implementations and updates to policies, procedures, workflow, and system design changes related to Program-related Investments (PRIs) and Mission-related Investments (MRIs)
• Collaborate with key internal stakeholders (i.e. Legal, Grants Management, Impact Investments, etc.) to update expenditure reporting procedures, checklists, and workflow within the GMS
• Ensure timely responses to confirmations from grantees’ auditors as required
• Partner with programs to monitor grant payouts for the calendar year
• Participate in special projects and working groups; engage in professional development
• Perform other duties as assigned

Benefits

• We offer a generous total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and a comprehensive benefits package to support your life, health, and well-being.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees