Temporary Finance and Gift Accounting Specialist

University of Chicago•Chicago, IL

23d

About The Position

The primary goal of Financial Services is to support the core mission of the University through exemplary fiscal stewardship. Our services and programs are geared toward providing our customers outstanding response and service while fulfilling compliance and fiduciary obligations. Among many duties, Financial Services has responsibility for accounting and financial reporting; cash, endowment, and debt management; payroll; sponsored award accounting; and purchasing and paying for goods and services. The successful candidate will work extensively with Phoenix, Business Objects, and Oracle systems, requiring the ability to obtain access and become proficient with each platform, including the highly restricted Phoenix system. This role requires a strong attention to detail and analytical skills to review and interpret gift letters, determining whether gifts are faculty-specific, restricted, or require reporting. Responsibilities include examining transactions in Business Objects to accurately classify gifts as internal, external, or commingled. This position demands excellent communication skills to collaborate with ARD and finance stakeholders in reaching consensus on proposed fund mapping. General accounting knowledge is essential to execute mapping corrections, which involve modifying, removing, or adding IADF awards, updating records in Phoenix, and posting corrections in the General Ledger. Additionally, the candidate will be responsible for cleaning up and reallocating gift deposits from the past 15 months to ensure they are accounted to the correct funds. This position is a temporary, non-benefits eligible position expected to last three (3) months.

Requirements

College degree in accounting, finance, or related field required.
Knowledge and skills developed through at least 2 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Familiar with budgets, gift accounting, ledgers, and fiscal reporting.
Knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
Proficiency with Excel.

Nice To Haves

CPA preferred.

Responsibilities

Obtain and maintain access to Phoenix, Business Objects, and Oracle systems.
Become proficient in navigating and utilizing features of restricted systems.
Read and interpret gift letters to identify faculty-specific, restricted, or gifts with reporting requirements.
Determine the nature of gifts, whether internal, external, commingled.
Identify incorrect allocations or classifications.
Document findings related to gifts accurately for finance teams.
Communicate findings and recommendations clearly to ARD and finance stakeholders.
Facilitate agreement on proposed mapping corrections.
Apply general accounting principles to execute mapping corrections.
Modify, remove, or add IADF awards as necessary.
Make adjustments in Phoenix and post corrections in the general ledger (GL).
Clean up gift deposits and rectify misallocated funds from the past 15 months.
Ensure accurate historical and current financial data.
Performs other related work as needed.