Accounting Manager

Position Title:

Accounting Manager

Academic Staff

Regular

Financial Manager

The Accounting Manager works in Business Services under the general supervision of the Controller and is responsible for managing staff who utilize the university’s financial systems to process accounting transactions. This position oversees grant accounting, 501(c)(3) accounting, capital equipment inventory, banking, account reconciliations, and financial reporting for the university.

The Accounting Manager’s responsibilities include reviewing journal entries, reconciling accounts, maintaining ledgers, developing procedures, preparing reports, and updating records in the university’s financial systems. The Manager is also involved with establishing internal controls and serves as a campus liaison for issues related to financial systems and transactions.

Candidates are expected to have a strong understanding of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and to acquire knowledge of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (UWL), Universities of Wisconsin (UW) Administration, and State of Wisconsin financial policies and procedures.

• Assist with special reports, surveys, and audits requested by the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) and Department of Administration (DOA).
• Assist with various projects related to internal control assessments and make recommendations for processing methods to ensure the integrity and security of financial assets.
• Develop training programs for faculty and staff related to financial processes and systems.
• Review and recommend updates to the Business Services web pages.
• Conduct campus training related to financial transactions, including the use of Workday financial system, providing ongoing support for issues and questions.
• Communicate changes or updates to processes related to accounting functions to the campus community, including maintaining and updating web pages and publications.
• Identify opportunities for process automation to provide efficient, accurate, and cost-effective accounting operations for the university.
• Other duties as assigned by the Controller.

• Manage staff workloads to ensure the quality and timely completion of responsibilities.
• Establish performance standards. Monitor employee progress and regularly provide mentoring, training, and performance feedback.
• Address and resolve staff conflicts while maintaining a professional environment.
• Administer counseling sessions and corrective discipline where applicable to ensure work rules are being met.
• Ensure staff are provided with professional development opportunities, adequate training, and other resources to perform their job responsibilities.
• Establish work schedules and review leave requests.
• Hold regular staff meetings to keep staff up to date on relevant information.

• Monitor the processing of daily financial reports; resolve processing problems with campus and Information Technology Services (ITS) staff.
• Assist the Controller with coordinating the preparation of campus GAAP reports as directed by UW Administration annually for inclusion in the University of Wisconsin Annual Financial Report.
• Develop, create, and analyze financial management reports; work with campus management to resolve discrepancies in the reports.
• Develop reports for management, campus personnel, UWSA, and others, as requested.
• Oversee the capital equipment inventory and asset management system for GAAP reporting, annual equipment inventory, and various reports requiring capital equipment tracking.

• Oversee journal entry processing in accounting systems.
• Ensure that adequate internal controls are established, operate as designed, and effectively protect the integrity of transactions, while maintaining proper audit trails.
• Conduct integrity checks of general ledger transactions to ensure the accuracy of transactions and to identify and resolve problems as quickly as possible.
• Facilitate campus training on fund accounting, the Workday financial system, and related processes that affect the general ledger. Provide ongoing support for issues and…