Director of Finance

Walnut Hill School for the Arts seeks an experienced Director of Finance to join the Business Office. The Director of Finance oversees the daily operations of the School's Business Office, ensuring the integrity of financial data, maintaining robust internal controls, and producing accurate financial reporting. This role manages general ledger functions, net asset accounting, tuition billing, accounts payable, and payroll reconciliation.

The ideal candidate balances technical expertise as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with a community-minded approach, collaborating closely with School leadership, faculty, and families to support the School’s educational mission.

• Upgrade and financial reporting. This will include implementing two different types of software. Fundriver for tracking endowment and restricted gifts, and a yet to be selected software that bridges Veracross to succinct financial reports;
• Manage daily accounting operations, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash receipts, payroll, and general ledger maintenance;
• In partnership with the Controller, execute the month-end and year-end closing processes, ensuring accurate and timely reconciliation of all bank, investment, and balance sheet accounts;
• Maintain non-profit net asset accounting systems, tracking restricted, temporarily restricted, and unrestricted net assets (including endowment funds); providing monthly updates to budget managers who benefit from temporarily restricted gifts to execute their programs; and
• In partnership with the Director of Strategic Operations, oversee fixed asset accounting, tracking depreciation and capital improvement projects.

• Prepare accurate monthly financial statements and variance reports for the CFO, Head of School and Board of Trustees;
• Lead the annual external audit preparation, serving as the primary point of contact for auditors and compiling all required schedules and work papers;
• Assist in the preparation of Form 990 and other regulatory, state, and federal tax filings; and
• Ensure compliance with GAAP standards, non-profit accounting regulations, and internal school policies.

• Supervise the student billing process, including tuition, fees, auxiliary programs (after-school, summer camps), and financial aid adjustments;
• Serve as the approval support for the Accounting Specialist and for families regarding billing inquiries, payment plans, and collections with a high level of empathy and professionalism;
• Oversee reconciliation student billing sub-ledgers to the general ledger on a monthly basis; and
• Accounts Payable: supervise the accounts payable process, including modernization of how vendors are paid.

• Collaborate with department heads to track budget utilization and analyze variances;
• Assist the CFO in the development of the annual operating budget and long-range financial modeling; and
• Additional duties as needed.

• Supervise the Controller, Accounting Specialist, and School Store Manager; and
• Supervise direct reports, provide regular, clear, and supportive written and verbal feedback, offer resources where needed, and conduct annual evaluations and reviews per the School’s performance evaluation process; provide expertise, guidance, coaching, and leadership to support team growth and development.

• Actively participate in the student community by supporting the Student Life program by chaperoning School events, providing weekend duty (3x per year), or other opportunities for community involvement that arise throughout the school year;
• Speak authentically about the imperative for community and belonging in schools; be committed to learning about and contributing to Walnut Hill’s culture of belonging;
• Attend student performances, art openings, and art events throughout the year; support and engage richly in arts productions, shows, exhibitions, and performances; and
• Attend Family Weekend, Open House, Class Night, Boar’s Head, Candlelight, Awards Ceremony, and Graduation if…