Accountant IV

State of North Carolina•Wake, TX

20h•Remote

About The Position

The primary purpose of this position is to be the Coach Team Lead that will provide hands-on assistance to units of local government that are struggling and are at risk of failing financially. Because of the lagging economic recovery in the mostly rural parts of the State in particular, there are local government entities that are struggling to maintain their fiscal health and who do not have the human capital to address this issue. The Fiscal Management staff is tasked with providing financial management assistance to those units. This position will provide intense and focused guidance and assistance to finance officers, managers, administrators, and governing boards as needed, both onsite and virtually. The position is intended to work regionally across the state, addressing and assisting units that are fairly near their home or in the same general region of the state. This position will be working with units in the northeastern part of the state. Day travel to units within the assigned region, and occasionally outside the region will be required. Use of a personal vehicle and other travel-related expenses are reimbursed according to the Department of State Treasurer’s Travel Policy. The State & Local Finance Division is hiring an Accounting & Financial Management Advisor IV (Accountant IV). This is a full-time position (40 hours per week) with State Benefits, including health insurance, paid vacation, paid sick time, paid holidays, as well as retirement. This position is a remote, home-based position; however, the position will work primarily across the northeastern part of the state, assisting local governments in that region. Frequent day travel within the region and occasionally outside the region will be required. Travel will be greater than 20% of time and employee will be reimbursed for travel. This position will function as the lead in a multidisciplinary team where they may work collaboratively with other lead coaches and other team coaches to provide onsite technical assistance and training to distressed and struggling units of local government. This technical assistance and training include, but is not limited to, the areas of finance office operations, proper internal controls, budgeting, purchasing, governmental accounting, debt management, grants management, and communication with elected officials and local government auditors. This position will teach local government employees and governing official's best practices and industry standards as well as legislative requirements. About us: The State and Local Government Finance Division oversees the finances of all local governments in North Carolina and manages the sale and delivery of all State and local debt. The Fiscal Management Section monitors the financial condition and fiscal operations of each local government in North Carolina, including municipalities, counties, public schools, public hospitals, public housing authorities, mental health agencies, utility districts, and more. The Section is responsible for making its recommendations regarding an entity’s capacity to take on and repay debt. If it cannot recommend a local entity for debt approval, staff must work with that entity to correct its deficiencies such that it can gain debt approval in the future. The Section is responsible for acting on behalf of the LGC by assuming control of the finances of a local government when so directed by the Commission. Section staff takes the place of local elected leaders for all financial decisions in this circumstance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in accounting, or a degree in business administration, finance or public administration or a related discipline from an appropriately accredited institution with 18 semester hours of accounting coursework; and five (5) years of professional accounting/auditing experience in the preparation of interpretive or analytical accounting/ financial statements and reports or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Experience understanding financial data to determine the overall financial condition of a local government.
Experience with leading teams, mentoring staff accountants, and working independently.
Experience with local governments either doing compliance and/or financial statement auditing or unit accounting work.
Knowledge of the NC Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act (G.S. 159 - Local Government Finance) and School Budget and Fiscal Control Act (Chapter 115C - Article 31).

Responsibilities

Represent the Fiscal Management Section in meetings with local elected leaders, finance officials, auditors, and management, presenting financial information and training.
Work with teams fielded by partner organizations, such as the NC League of Municipalities (NCLM), NC Association of County Commissioners (NCACC), Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project (SERCAP) and Rural Water to address units’ needs.
Work collaboratively with other staff and Section Director to oversee the monitoring program, determining which units should have agreements in place and the content that should ultimately be included in those agreements.
Document in systems and communicate with Fiscal Management the progress that is being made in the local entities including data as applicable to benchmark progress; assess needs of entities and determine level of assistance needed going forward.
Make recommendations to Fiscal Management Section about units of local governments that need to be placed on or be removed from the Unit Assistance List, based on the audit review and other available information.
Keep Fiscal Management informed of trends identified as work with local governments progresses, possibly identifying the need for further published guidance to be developed or other training to be provided to address developing areas of weakness.