Expense Compliance Specialist I, Accounts Payable - UT System Administration

University of Tennessee•Knoxville, TN

About The Position

The Expense Compliance Specialist I supports a centralized University of Tennessee System team that audits and analyzes financial transactions across multiple campuses and institutes. The team reviews approximately 63,000 expense reports annually, representing more than $115 million in travel expenses, procurement card transactions, accounts payable invoices, and out-of-pocket reimbursements. It also conducts system-wide contingent worker reviews and administers the UT cash advance program. The position helps safeguard university resources and maintain financial integrity by auditing high-volume transactions, supporting ERP functionality, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and University policies. Responsibilities include auditing expense reports and travel-related payables, reviewing contingent worker expenses, processing manual expense reports, evaluating cash advance requests, and coordinating special handling with Accounts Payable and Treasury. The position also provides administrative and customer support, corrects expense reports, handles mail, and researches returned check payments.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent.
1–2 years of accounts payable or expense management experience.
1–2 years of customer service experience.
Experience using financial systems or ERP platforms to enter, review, approve, correct, track, or report transactions.
Experience managing detailed, high-volume work while meeting deadlines and maintaining accuracy.
Experience handling confidential financial, tax, payroll, or personally identifiable information with discretion.
Knowledge of financial-records management, confidentiality requirements, and accurate, complete, timely documentation.
Ability to review high volumes of financial transactions accurately, meet processing deadlines, and apply policy consistently.
Skill using ERP systems, spreadsheet software, email, and other business applications to review transactions, track work, correct errors, and communicate results.
Ability to apply policies across multiple campuses, departments, and transaction types, using sound judgment when interpretation or escalation is needed.
Ability to collaborate on a centralized compliance team and provide responsive customer service while upholding institutional requirements.

Nice To Haves

Associate's degree.
Experience in higher education, government, nonprofit, or another complex, highly regulated organization.
Experience auditing travel and entertainment expenses, procurement card transactions, accounts payable invoices, or out-of-pocket reimbursements.
Experience with an ERP expense-management system such as SAP Concur, Oracle, Workday, Banner, PeopleSoft, or a comparable platform.
Skill researching complex or unusual transactions, interpreting policy requirements, and documenting clear, defensible audit conclusions.
Knowledge of ERP-based financial processes and the relationship between expense-report review, approvals, payment processing, corrections, and reporting.
Ability to recognize potential indicators of financial risk, policy violations, duplicate payments, inadequate support, improper tax treatment, or misuse of University resources.

Responsibilities

Perform pre-payment audits of expense reports for UTK, UTS, UTSI, IPS, UTIA, and UTSA to ensure policy and tax compliance.
Conduct system-wide post-payment audits to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse across expense types.
Review contingent worker expense reports for compliance with U.S. tax laws and UT policies.
Audit travel-related payables invoices for policy compliance.
Audit manual expense reports as needed and route approved reports for entry and payment in the ERP.
Review, evaluate, and approve or deny cash advance requests for campuses and institutes based on policy, business purpose, and risk exposure.
Ensure compliance with IRS regulations, federal and state statutes, and UT policies across campuses and institutes.
Process special handling requests in coordination with Accounts Payable and Treasury teams.
Provide phone support, correct expense reports, and handle mail.
Research and resolve returned check payments for expense reports.
Perform additional duties as assigned.