Senior Financial Analyst - Personnel Expense & Financial Reporting

UIOWA•Iowa City, IA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Financial Analyst – Personnel Expense & Financial Reporting plays a key role in the monthly and year-end close processes for University of Iowa Health Care, helping ensure the accuracy and integrity of significant enterprise-wide accounting and financial reporting areas. The position is primarily responsible for personnel expense accounting and related liabilities, including complex compensation accruals, employee benefit obligations, and other estimates requiring strong analytical skills, sound accounting judgment, and close partnership with operational and finance stakeholders. This position is eligible for hybrid work within Iowa. A work arrangement form must be completed upon employment; arrangements are reviewed annually and must comply with the remote work program, related policies, and employee travel policy when working remotely. The role also supports accounting and financial reporting for professional liability and self-insurance, non-patient revenue and receivables, technical accounting, internal controls, and process improvement. It manages assigned components of month-end and year-end close, prepares audit-ready documentation, investigates unusual activity, supports audits, and works with internal and external stakeholders to improve reporting, controls, systems, and processes.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Three years of progressively responsible experience in accounting, auditing, financial reporting, financial analysis, or a related finance function.
Experience preparing complex journal entries, account reconciliations, accruals, financial analyses, and supporting documentation.
Strong understanding of accrual accounting, financial statement preparation, internal controls, and generally accepted accounting principles.
Ability to independently manage significant recurring accounting processes and produce substantially review-ready work with limited supervision.
Ability to exercise professional judgment, investigate unusual or complex transactions, identify accounting or data issues, and develop appropriate recommendations.
Strong analytical skills and ability to work with large or complex datasets and identify trends, anomalies, timing differences, and matters requiring investigation.
Ability to understand business processes and systems beyond the general ledger and determine how operational activity affects financial reporting.
Ability to manage multiple priorities, meet tight deadlines, and work effectively during high-intensity monthly and year-end close periods.
Ability to work independently while recognizing when significant or unusual matters should be escalated.
Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to work effectively with finance and non-finance stakeholders.
Strong attention to detail, organizational skills, and commitment to accurate, well-supported work.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel.
Ability to work effectively in a welcoming and respectful workplace environment.

Nice To Haves

Certified Public Accountant license.
Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
Experience in healthcare, academic medicine, higher education, governmental accounting, or another large and complex organization.
Experience with personnel expense accounting, payroll accruals, variable compensation, employee benefit liabilities, pension, OPEB, compensated absences, or similar complex accounting areas.
Knowledge of GASB standards, including experience with pension, OPEB, or compensated absence accounting.
Experience with self-insurance, professional liability, captive insurance, actuarial estimates, or other significant accounting estimates.
Experience with non-patient receivables, contractual revenue arrangements, or other complex accrual and reconciliation processes.
Experience using PeopleSoft or another large ERP or HRIS environment.
Experience working with payroll, time and attendance, compensation, or other operational systems that feed financial reporting processes.
Experience with relational databases, SQL, Power BI, Tableau, or other reporting and data visualization tools.
Ability to improve accounting processes, strengthen documentation and internal controls, and develop practical solutions to complex or inefficient processes.
Ability to translate complex financial or accounting information into clear explanations for operational and finance stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Serve as process owner and primary preparer for significant personnel expense accounting processes, including salaries and wages, variable and faculty compensation, contract labor, executive compensation, employee benefits, compensated absences, and other personnel-related accruals.
Prepare and analyze complex journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, supporting schedules, and financial statement workpapers related to personnel expenses and liabilities.
Develop and maintain methodologies for recognizing personnel expenses in the appropriate accounting period, accounting for payroll cycles, premium pay, unpaid earned compensation, timing differences, and unusual compensation arrangements.
Coordinate with clinical department administrative officers and other stakeholders to obtain and assess information supporting faculty and variable compensation accruals.
Evaluate the completeness and reasonableness of departmental inputs, investigate unusual activity, and review compensation arrangements when further analysis is needed.
Prepare accounting and financial reporting for pension, other postemployment benefits, and compensated absences, including application of GASB Statements No. 68, 75, and 101.
Prepare journal entries, reconciliations, financial statement support, variance analyses, audit schedules, and other documentation for pension, OPEB, and compensated absence accounting.
Analyze personnel expenses and related liabilities, identify unusual trends, timing issues, data inconsistencies, and unexpected fluctuations, and investigate and resolve issues as appropriate.
Develop working knowledge of PeopleSoft HR and financial data, HR transaction tools, time and attendance data, and other feeder systems and reporting tools affecting personnel expense recognition.
Partner with stakeholders to understand operational and system drivers of personnel expense and assess the financial reporting implications of compensation structures, premium pay practices, and labor agreements.
Independently manage assigned components of the monthly close within the accelerated close timeline and ensure timely and accurate recording, reconciliation, and analysis.
Prepare complex journal entries, account reconciliations, analytical reviews, variance explanations, and supporting schedules for assigned income statement and balance sheet accounts.
Maintain complete, well-supported, easy-to-follow, audit-ready workpapers and reconciliations; investigate unexpected activity and develop resolutions or recommendations.
Support annual financial statement preparation and year-end close, including assigned schedules, financial statement support, footnote information, and audit documentation.
Respond to external and state auditor inquiries and provide supporting documentation and explanations for assigned areas.
Assist with evaluation and implementation of accounting process changes required by GASB pronouncements and other authoritative guidance.
Support internal control narratives, process documentation, accounting methodologies, and other documentation for key financial reporting processes.
Prepare accounting entries, reconciliations, supporting schedules, and periodic internal financial statements for Iowa Medical Mutual Insurance Company (IMMIC).
Coordinate and manage inputs for professional liability actuarial valuations in collaboration with Risk Management, Legal, actuaries, insurance stakeholders, and finance leadership.
Prepare and reconcile estimated professional liability expenses and liabilities; review actuarial reports, claims information, insurance activity, and supporting data to assess recorded balances.
Develop the ability to critically assess actuarial outputs, changes in estimates, and unusual claims or exposure activity.
Prepare and maintain the annual internal malpractice assessment process, including allocation of costs among participating entities, departments, or organizational units.
Prepare assigned premium tax filings, regulatory reports, and recurring IMMIC submissions; maintain audit-ready documentation and support audits, regulatory examinations, and other reviews.
Lead assigned components of month-end and year-end close for non-patient revenue and receivables, including deadline coordination, review of staff work, issue resolution, and escalation of significant risks.
Ensure reconciliation and journal entry support includes purpose, source data, tie-outs, preparer/reviewer evidence, reconciling item explanations, and resolution plans.
Develop and maintain internal control narratives, process maps, RACI matrices, job aids, and standard operating procedures for assigned processes.
Identify control gaps, inconsistent practices, manual workarounds, and recurring bottlenecks; recommend and implement improvements to financial reporting reliability.
Support technical accounting research and implementation planning for new or emerging GASB standards and other accounting matters affecting assigned areas.
Prepare or contribute to accounting memos, implementation workpapers, internal control narratives, and technical documentation.
Use Excel, SQL, Power BI, reporting tools, and other technologies to improve the efficiency, consistency, and transparency of financial reporting processes.
Partner with finance, analytics, Information Technology, and operational stakeholders to improve data access, reporting, automation, and workflow.
Develop process documentation, job aids, and cross-training materials; assist with training and serve as a technical resource to team members when appropriate.
Identify recurring issues, control weaknesses, inefficient processes, and data quality concerns, and recommend practical improvements.
Build working relationships with stakeholders across UI Health Care, the University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine, and external organizations.