Finance & Accounting Coordinator

University of Chicago•Hyde Park, IL

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Finance & Accounting Coordinator provides professional support for operating and capital budgets and helps develop financial goals, business strategies, plans, and forecasts under the direction of others. At the University of Chicago’s Development Innovation Lab (DIL), the role supports a portfolio of funding, including sponsored research awards, and collaborates with research teams and portfolio managers. Reporting to the Finance and Grants Manager, the coordinator supports finance, accounting, grant management, accounts payable, and general operations in a nonprofit research environment. The position maintains project budgets, forecasts, financial records, and grant documentation; supports financial reporting, reconciliations, fiscal close, and budget monitoring; and coordinates post-award grant activities and compliance. It also supports proposal development, spending plans, audit requests, vendor payments, and accounts payable operations. The role shares financial knowledge and best practices with colleagues and attends institutional and external training. The position is an individual contributor with a minimum requirement of a college or university degree in a related field and less than two years of related work experience. It is expected to work at least three days in the office. The role is eligible for University benefits and is paid hourly.

Requirements

College or university degree in a related field.
Less than two years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Strong financial data management and analysis skills.
Good verbal and written interpersonal communication and client service skills.
Good planning and organizational skills, including the ability to balance and prioritize work.
Ability to work effectively with a diverse workforce in a complex research environment.
Strong oral and written communication skills and comfort with a consultative approach to interacting with employees.
Resourcefulness, critical thinking, proactivity, and the ability to anticipate and avert problems.
Ability to handle employment information and issues with absolute discretion.
Proficiency with Microsoft Word and Excel.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in accounting, business administration, economics, or finance, or a minor or concentration in accounting.
Experience submitting grant proposals to a variety of sponsors.
Experience managing post-award activities, especially projects funded by multiple sponsors.
Experience in a higher education or nonprofit environment.
Experience with cross-cultural communications and working at an international organization.
Project management experience.
Experience with core accounting functions, including reconciliations, journal entries, and general ledger maintenance.
Experience with accounts payable or receivable and processing financial transactions in accounting software such as Oracle and Orbit.
Experience maintaining and organizing financial and grant data across multiple systems, with strong attention to accuracy and detail.
Prior experience with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
Experience preparing financial reports, budget-to-actual comparisons, or data summaries for internal and external stakeholders.
Experience with budget planning and forecasting, ledgers, and invoices.
Experience supporting audits or compliance reviews, including organizing documentation and financial records.
Advanced Excel skills.

Responsibilities

Meet regularly with research teams and research portfolio managers to review account portfolios.
Maintain unit-wide fiscal-year cost allocation spreadsheets and execute cost allocation updates in Workday, ensuring accuracy and consistency.
Create journal entries to correct misposted items and perform regular account reconciliations.
Review and facilitate approval of transactions in university financial and procurement systems, ensuring compliance with approved budgets and seeking stakeholder input as needed.
Examine financial reports for accuracy, consistency, and compliance; resolve errors and help prevent recurrence.
Develop and maintain tools for tracking financial data with the Finance & Grants Manager.
Maintain project budgets, prepare forecasts with research teams, and track expenses against budgets.
Review monthly budget-to-actual reports and payroll allocations with research teams and the Finance & Grants Manager, and enter data to implement spending plans.
Assist with annual or monthly fiscal close, including preparing supporting schedules and reconciliations.
Draft financial reports and data summaries for internal stakeholders.
Maintain organized, accessible, transparent, and audit-ready digital financial and accounting records.
Attend training on financial, payroll, reporting, grant submission, financial management, pre- and post-award topics, and computer systems.
Coordinate post-award activities for the assigned DIL portfolio, including interim and final financial reports and award modifications, amendments, no-cost extensions, rebudgeting, PI concurrence, and carry-over requests.
Partner with University Research Administration to monitor post-award activities, timely submissions, budget summaries, and no-cost extension requests.
Handle routine post-award work, including account creation, regulatory and compliance monitoring, salary allocations, effort reporting, grant projections, cost allocations, cost center charges, equipment inventory when applicable, procurement invoices and contracts, grant closing, and account closing.
Maintain accurate, organized, audit-ready grant records and documentation across systems throughout the grant lifecycle.
Work with DIL researchers and partners to develop spending plans for new projects, proposals, and initiatives, and take steps to execute those plans while gathering information and ensuring compliance.
Support proposal development by reviewing sponsor formatting guidelines, preparing supporting documents, and collecting proposal elements.
Help maintain compliance with University and sponsor grant rules and regulations, including for a portfolio that may include federal grants.
Respond to and research accounts receivable and payable inquiries, including vendor payments and individual reimbursements, with guidance from others.
Guide research teams on meeting project goals within compliance constraints.
Support grant audit requests by compiling and organizing financial data and documentation.
Support the full accounts payable cycle and payment operations, including vendor payments.
Review and audit supplier invoices for compliance with Accounts Payable policies and procedures and ensure invoice amounts are within stated budgets.
Coordinate invoice processing with the operations team, reimbursement requests with research teams, and non-payroll payments to individuals and organizations by providing account distributions for payments and contracts.
Review ACH, wire, check, and card transactions, ensuring international vendors are paid by wire.
Prepare aging and business metrics reports on invoices and payment status.
Develop and administer the accounts payable database, analyze and manipulate data, and prepare standard and ad hoc statistical reports.
Assist with vendor contact and supplier setup in University systems and resolve non-payment issues.
Coordinate with the Finance & Grants Manager on back-office audits of staff GEMS expenses.
Prepare budgets, create accounts, and use the financial accounting system to allocate, authorize, monitor, and control expenses.
Prepare monthly reports, correct account errors using established procedures, and advise on financial impacts of human resources and academic affairs decisions.
Perform other related work as needed.