Senior Financial Analyst - Personnel Expense & Financial Reporting

University of Iowa•Iowa City, IA

5d•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. The role also covers assigned close and financial reporting activities, Iowa Medical Mutual Insurance Company (IMMIC) and professional liability accounting, non-patient revenue and receivable accounting, technical accounting research, and process improvement. The analyst prepares and analyzes journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, workpapers, audit schedules, and related documentation; investigates variances and unusual activity; supports audits and regulatory processes; and contributes to strong internal controls and reliable financial reporting. The position works with stakeholders across UI Health Care, the University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine, and external organizations. The position is eligible for hybrid work within Iowa. A work arrangement form must be completed upon starting employment. Work arrangements are reviewed annually and must comply with the remote work program, related policies, and employee travel policy when working remotely.

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 recommendations.
Strong analytical skills and ability to work with large or complex datasets.
Ability to identify trends, anomalies, timing differences, and other 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 and recognize 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 feeding 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 explain complex financial or accounting information clearly to operational and finance stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Own and prepare significant personnel expense accounting processes across University of Iowa Health Care, 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 methods to recognize personnel expenses in the appropriate accounting period, accounting for payroll cycles, holiday and 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 for faculty and variable compensation accruals.
Evaluate the completeness and reasonableness of departmental inputs, investigate unusual activity, and review underlying compensation arrangements when needed.
Prepare accounting and financial reporting materials for pension, other postemployment benefits, and compensated absences, including applying GASB Statements No. 68, 75, and 101.
Prepare journal entries, reconciliations, financial statement support, variance analyses, audit schedules, and documentation for pension, OPEB, and compensated absence accounting.
Review personnel expenses and related liabilities, identify unusual trends, timing issues, data inconsistencies, and fluctuations, and investigate and resolve issues as appropriate.
Build working knowledge of PeopleSoft HR and financial data, HR transaction tools, time and attendance data, and other systems and reports 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 monthly close activities within the accelerated close timeline, ensuring timely and accurate recording, reconciliation, and analysis.
Prepare complex journal entries, account reconciliations, analytical reviews, variance explanations, and schedules for assigned income statement and balance sheet accounts.
Maintain complete, well-supported, understandable, audit-ready workpapers and reconciliations; investigate unexpected activity and develop resolutions or recommendations.
Support annual financial statement preparation and year-end close, including schedules, financial statement support, footnote information, and audit documentation.
Respond to external and state auditor inquiries and provide documentation and explanations for assigned reporting areas.
Assist with evaluating and implementing accounting process changes required by GASB pronouncements and other authoritative guidance.
Support internal control narratives, process documentation, accounting methodologies, and documentation for key financial reporting processes.
Prepare accounting entries, reconciliations, schedules, and periodic internal financial statements for Iowa Medical Mutual Insurance Company (IMMIC).
Coordinate inputs for professional liability actuarial valuations with Risk Management, Legal, actuaries, insurance stakeholders, and finance leadership.
Prepare and reconcile estimated professional liability expenses and liabilities, review actuarial reports and related information, and assess whether recorded balances are adequately supported.
Develop the ability to critically assess actuarial outputs, estimate changes, and unusual claims or exposure activity.
Prepare and maintain the annual internal malpractice assessment, including allocating costs among participating entities, departments, or organizational units.
Prepare assigned premium tax filings, regulatory reports, and recurring submissions related to IMMIC.
Maintain audit-ready documentation for professional liability estimates, actuarial inputs, allocations, reconciliations, and judgments; support audits, examinations, and other reviews.
Lead assigned non-patient revenue and receivable close activities, including coordinating deadlines, reviewing staff work, resolving issues, and escalating significant risks.
Ensure reconciliation and journal entry support documents purpose, source data, tie-outs, preparer and reviewer evidence, reconciling items, and resolution plans.
Develop and maintain control narratives, process maps, RACI matrices, job aids, and standard operating procedures for assigned processes.
Identify control gaps, inconsistent practices, manual workarounds, and bottlenecks; recommend and implement improvements to financial reporting reliability.
Research and support implementation planning for new or emerging GASB standards and other technical accounting matters affecting assigned areas.
Prepare or contribute to accounting memos, implementation workpapers, internal control narratives, and technical documentation.
Improve and standardize reconciliations, journal entry support, analytical review, documentation, and recurring accounting processes.
Use Excel, SQL, Power BI, reporting tools, and other technologies to improve process efficiency, consistency, and transparency.
Partner with finance, analytics, Information Technology, and operational stakeholders to improve data access, reporting, automation, and workflows.
Develop process documentation, job aids, and cross-training materials; assist with training staff and serve as a technical resource when appropriate.
Build strong working relationships across UI Health Care, the University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine, and external organizations.