Accountant

19653BR

Civil/Environ/Arch Engineering

Position Overview

The Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering Department is comprised of 31 faculty, 7 unclassified and support staff, 18-36 GTA's, 35-40 student hourly assistants, and 5-10 lecturers with a budget in excess of $6 million.  The Accountant serves as the financial resource contact for the department, responsible for accounting work, including budgeting, and payroll activities and HR for state, endowment, and some research related accounts, purchasing, and management of two conferences.  This position communicates daily with faculty, staff, students, and university administrators and advises the departmental chair budgeting and financial matters on a regular basis.

Job Description

60% - Budget & Management
Develop, analyze, and maintain, and provide forecasts on departmental and unit internal budget ledgers to include all general use state funds, income, endowment 70-80 accounts, student project allocations, F&A, individual faculty accounts, startups to ensure internal controls and provide reporting.  Reconcile budgets, startups, and audit expenditures on OAC system, analyzing and correcting discrepancies or deviations and provides reports to the Chair monthly. Perform analyses to identify and implement cost saving measures/techniques across department. Monitor records of past and present operations. Assemble, analyze and provide budget reports and financial advice to the Department Chair. Serve as a funding approver on all purchases, travel and miscellaneous reimbursements, travel authorizations through FITC and Concur systems. Provide leadership to other staff and student office assistant(s) on the matters related to accounting and financial operations.

20% - Payroll & HR
Plan, implement, and maintain an automated accounting ledger to track payroll expenditures for state and endowment funded salary and fringe payments, while assuring internal controls.  Audit salary reports biweekly to ensure accurate payment and adherence to budgeted projections. Request funding transfers when necessary to adequately cover all positions and pools.  Serve as the department's personnel-related staff contact and hiring manager for faculty, lecturers/adjuncts, unclassified professional, university support, teaching assistant and research assistant contracts , and student hourly appointments. Provide oversight on the recruitment of all student appointments. Attend meetings and remain current on payroll, hiring manager, and equal opportunity policy and procedures.  Responsible for interviewing, hiring, and training new administrative and student staff members. Perform the departmental data entry in the university 3G system for Graduate Teaching and Research Assistants. Work with the SSC to hire student employees in accordance with developed student budget plan.

10% - Purchasing
Responsible for purchasing and resource management, following University, KUCR and Endowment guidelines and regulations. Provide oversight and direction to faculty, staff, and students on competitive and direct purchase of supplies, chemicals, equipment with complex specifications, and services according to applicable purchasing regulations.  Attend meetings and consult with Engineering Budget Office, ETE SSC, Comptroller, Endowment and KU Research staff to ensure that purchasing rules and regulations are strictly followed.  Resolve order discrepancies with vendors when necessary. Coordinate with lab personnel to reconcile physical inventory records and maintain inventory monitoring system of assets as applicable to university policies and regulations.

10% - Conference Management
Coordinate participation of speakers for four Annual Engineering Conferences: Geotechnical (Nov.), Asphalt Paving (Dec), Structural (March), Environmental (April). Activities include collection of presentation information for conference program, lodging and meal arrangements, travel reimbursements, and other miscellaneous management support. Share responsibility for planning and management of annual Geotechnical Engineering and Environmental Engineering Conferences.  This includes the following activities: Closely work with conference Chair on selection of sponsors and exhibitors. Market the events to sponsors and exhibitors. Follow up with phone calls and emails to sell exhibitor space. Order promotional signage for exhibitors and sponsors to be advertised at the conferences. Develop budget to estimate revenue and expenditures, collect and deposit payments and interfund vouchers, track expenditures and reconcile data.  Develop financial statements upon completion of the conferences to present to the department and conference Chairs. Reserve blocks of rooms for attendees. Coordinate with Kansas Union to secure the venue, order food, and request audio & visual equipment. Help to assemble conference packages, and deliver them to KU Kansas Union. Coordinate activities during the conference event.

Required Qualifications

1. Bachelor's degree in accounting or related area and one year of experience in professional accounting OR
- Three years of experience in professional accounting and/or audit work; OR
- Six years of experience in accounting support work; OR
- Associates degree in accounting and three years of experience in accounting support work

Preferred Qualifications

1. Bachelor's degree in accounting
2. Accounting experience at an institution of higher education
3. Strong written and verbal communication skills
4. Two or more years of advanced (use of functions, formulas, pivot tables, etc.) experience using Excel software as described in application materials
5. Supervisory experience
6. Experience with ERP system
7. Attention to detail as indicate in application materials
8. Excellent interpersonal skills

Contact Information to Applicants

David Darwin, [email protected]

Additional Candidate Instruction

A complete application consists of the online application, cover letter, resume, & 3 professional references. Only complete applications will be considered.

• Application deadline is August 8, 2021.
• Application review begins August 9, 2021.

Advertised Salary Range

$44,000

Application Review Begins

09-Aug-2021

Anticipated Start Date

23-Aug-2021

Primary Campus

University of Kansas Lawrence Campus

Employee Class

U-Unclassified Professional Staff

Work Schedule

40 hours\\week

Job Family

Administrative/Management-KUL

Work Location Assignment

On-Site

Disclaimer

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university's programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and are the Title IX coordinators for their respective campuses: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, [email protected], Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY (for the Lawrence, Edwards, Parsons, Yoder, and Topeka campuses); Director, Equal Opportunity Office, Mail Stop 7004, 4330 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Fairway, KS 66205, 913-588-8011, 711 TTY (for the Wichita, Salina, and Kansas City, Kansas medical center campuses).