Accounting Analyst

American Chemical Society

15h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Onboarding & Payments Operations Analyst manages the end-to-end onboarding and payment lifecycle for universities, colleges, scholarship recipients, and grant beneficiaries. This role is responsible for collecting and validating documentation, setting up suppliers and payees, and processing payments accurately, timely, and in compliance with internal controls, tax, and audit requirements. Serving as a primary point of contact for external institutions and internal partners, the Analyst plays a critical role in maintaining data integrity, resolving payment issues, and improving onboarding and accounts payable processes. The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, highly organized, and comfortable working independently in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Business, or Operations Management OR equivalent of 3-5 concurrent years of experience in Accounts Payable, Supplier/Vendor Management, Grants Administration, or a related finance or operations role.
Working knowledge of W-9/W-8 requirements and accounts payable documentation standards.
Strong attention to detail and analytical skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills for working with internal teams, universities, and individual recipients.
Ability to manage multiple priorities independently and meet deadlines.
Experience supporting scholarships, grants, or higher education payment programs.
Familiarity with internal controls, compliance requirements, banking verification, and fraud mitigation.
Prior work in environments with high-volume or complex payment processing.
Exceptional attention to detail
Strong organizational and time-management skills
Customer-service mindset
Critical thinking and problem-solving ability
Accountability and follow-through
Ability to work independently and collaboratively

Responsibilities

Collect, review, and validate onboarding documentation, including W-9s, W-8s, student verification letters, banking instructions, and address confirmations.
Ensure completeness, accuracy, and compliance of all submitted information.
Validate banking and payee details and resolve discrepancies through direct outreach to institutions or individual recipients.
Create, update, and maintain supplier and payee records for universities, students, and other recipients in the financial system.
Partner with internal stakeholders, including Education and Accounts Payable teams, to resolve onboarding and setup issues.
Accurately enter and process payment requests, ensuring proper coding, documentation, and approvals.
Verify that invoices and supporting documentation align with payment requests and audit standards.
Process payments related to scholarships, grants, stipends, reimbursements, and institutional agreements.
Monitor payment batches, confirm successful processing, and escalate exceptions as needed.
Investigate and resolve payment delays, returns, or discrepancies.
Respond to payment inquiries with professionalism, accuracy, and timeliness.
Maintain complete and audit-ready documentation in accordance with internal controls and regulatory requirements.
Support year-end and compliance activities, including 1099 validation and audit requests, as needed.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to improve onboarding and payment workflows.
Identify process gaps or inefficiencies and recommend solutions to enhance accuracy, efficiency, and service.