Finance and Budget Assistant

Org. Setting and reporting

This position is located in the financial reporting and contributions service, finance division, office of programme planning, finance and budget (oppfb), department of management strategy, policy and compliance (dmspc). The finance & budget assistant reports to the head of the unit or to a finance & budget officer. The financial reporting service is mainly responsible for the preparation of ipsas compliant financial statements for all funding sources and ensures the sustainability of ipsas-compliant accounting and reporting, as well as global bank reconciliation, global asset and inventory accounting, and integrated finance support.

The finance and budget assistant reports to the head of the unit or to a finance and budget officer.

Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the finance & budget assistant will be responsible for the following duties: (these duties are generic and may not be carried out by all finance & budget assistants.) budget:
• provides support with respect to the review, analyses and preparation of the programme plan and its revisions.
• prepares supporting documents (narrative and supporting tables) with respect to finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements.
• assists managers in the elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions.
• undertakes research and provides support to higher level finance & budget officers with respect to budget reviews of relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies.
• monitors expenditures and compares with approved budget; prepares adjustments as necessary.
• reviews requisitions for goods and services to ensure (a) correct objects of expenditure have been charged, and (b) availability of funds.
• assists in preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analysing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• monitors integrity of various financial databases.
• verifies accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency of data in previous allotments/appropriations to new allotments/appropriations issued.
• co-ordinates with other finance and budget staff on related issues during preparation of budget reports.
• prepare request to controller's office on redeployment of funds and to finance section on movement of funds. Finance:
• scrutinizes source documents for completeness, accuracy and validity of charges.
• investigates erroneous charges and takes appropriate corrective accounting actions.
• communicates with field offices regarding missing documentation or any other issues related to discrepancies between their accounts and those maintained at headquarters.
• reconciles and reviews suspense accounts and ensure proper clearance procedures have been followed.
• extracts details of income, expenditure, assets and liability from accounting system in order to analyze and verify accuracy and validity.
• consolidates data into financial statements.
• assists with the monitoring of expenditures to ensures they remain within authorized levels. Examines the validity of requests for increases in imprest levels; prepares disbursement vouchers to replenish imprest accounts.
• prepares worksheets and assists with the preparation of financial statements.
• audits various accounting transactions, e.g., payroll, education grants, final payments, income tax returns, travel claims, etc., to ensure correctness of disbursements and adherence to relevant staff rules, financial regulations and rules, st/ai issuances or practices.
• serves as approving officer for disbursements up to an authorized level.
• provides guidance and training to colleagues as required.
• supervises other general service staff as required.
• drafts/prepares memoranda and/or cables to various offices, departments and overseas offices.
• responds to queries from staff members and third parties. General:
• keeps up-to-date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to programme, ensuring compliance with intergovernmental recommendations and decisions as well as with united nations policies and procedures.
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