Accountant, Financial Reporting, Financial Analyst

Investment Accounting & Systems Integration Contractor Project Overview

The agency is transitioning from a legacy investment accounting process built on Microsoft Access databases, macros, and queries to a new daily portfolio accounting system using State Street as custodian and NRS Accounting Services for participant-level earnings allocation.

The existing system allocates repurchase agreement balances across three investment portfolios based on account balances from the statewide accounting system (
eMARS
) and portfolio valuations from SS&C CAMRA v8
:

• Intermediate Portfolio – Market value portfolio with an average life of approximately one year
• Limited Portfolio – Amortized cost portfolio with a weighted average maturity limit of 60 days
• Short Portfolio – Market value portfolio with an average life of approximately one quarter

Repurchase agreements are allocated first to the Intermediate and Limited portfolios, with any remaining balance allocated to the Short portfolio, creating portfolio float. This allocation occurs early in the morning of the next business day after eMARS balances are finalized and securities pricing is uploaded into CAMRA.

Realized earnings (accrued interest, premium/discount amortization, and miscellaneous gains/losses) and unrealized gains/losses are calculated in CAMRA and pulled into an Access database. After repurchase agreement interest is included, earnings and management fees are allocated daily to individual eMARS participant funds, with journal vouchers recorded for each portfolio. Monthly XML files are generated to distribute earnings and fees through eMARS.

Under the new system:

• A 3:00 PM balance cutoff will provide same-day eMARS balances to support timely allocation of repurchase agreements and money market funds.
• State Street will provide daily portfolio earnings files for the three portfolios.
• NRS Accounting Services will allocate realized and unrealized earnings to participant-level eMARS funds based on portfolio mappings.
• Daily files will be uploaded to eMARS or stored in a SQL database, with journal vouchers recorded for each portfolio.
• Monthly XML files will be created and uploaded to eMARS to distribute earnings and fees.

The contractor will play a key role in designing, implementing, and validating these processes.

• State Street accounting reports
• NRS daily allocation files
• eMARS daily, monthly, and annual reports
• Design and implement processes to create daily XML files for uploading investment transactions into eMARS
• Design and implement processes to create monthly XML files for investment earnings distributions
• Develop procedures for one-time and ongoing adjustments to resolve discrepancies between systems
• Develop GASB-compliant investment reporting processes and documentation at the individual eMARS fund level

• Experience in portfolio investment accounting and participant-level earnings allocation (similar to transfer agent accounting)
• Strong data query and database design skills, including:
• SQL
• Oracle
• Relational databases (e.g., Microsoft Access)
• Proven experience developing daily, monthly, and annual reconciliations across multiple financial systems
• Hands‑on experience with:
• Bloomberg AIM
• State Street Daily Accounting Reports
• Knowledge of GASB reporting requirements related to cash, cash equivalents, and investments