Accounting Specialist - Payroll

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COME JOIN A TRANSFORMATIVE TEAM, with a record of proven, positive impact to the State of Illinois.

The Illinois Office of the Comptroller is seeking applicants for the position of Accounting Specialist for Payroll.

The Comptroller is the chief fiscal control officer for the Illinois government, charged by the Constitution with maintaining the state’s central fiscal accounts and ordering payments into and out of the appropriate funds. The office processes more than 16 million transactions annually and serves as a “fiscal watchdog” to ensure that all state payments meet the requirements of the law. The Comptroller’s office provides meaningful and timely fiscal information to help state policymakers adopt effective policies.

The office continually seeks new ways to improve how it serves the public.

Under administrative direction of the Senior Public Service Administrator of the Payroll Unit, the incumbent determines State Agency and State employee liability for FICA and Medicare, assists State agencies with reconciliation of their FICA and Medicare accounts, and reconciles end‑of‑month reports to balance with Federal and State taxes, FICA, and Medicare.

The Accounting Specialist maintains the position classification number files and assists in maintaining the overall workload of the payroll unit. The incumbent reviews and processes retirement vouchers for payment, reviews and responds to Central Management Services (CMS) back‑wage information requests. The Accounting Specialist assists with end‑of‑month tax accounting, reviews and balances reports and acts as a back‑up for various other payroll procedures as well as performing other duties as needed within the payroll unit.

• Processes retirement system payments.
  • Downloads retirement files.
  • Reviews vouchers and files for errors.
  • Balances files to vouchers.
  • Releases for processing once it has passed all pre‑audit requirements.
  • Balances all reports after processing completes.
• Determines State Agency and State Employee liability for FICA and Medicare and assists State agencies with reconciliation of FICA and Medicare accounts.
• Assists in maintaining the overall workload of the payroll unit.
  • Validates authorized signatures on payroll vouchers.
  • Sorts and distributes mail entering the payroll unit and answers the phones.
  • Assists with filing duplicate tax statement requests, data entry, mailing tax statements, and filing the request documentation.
• Reconciles end‑of‑month tax accounting reports to balance with Federal and State taxes, FICA and Medicare accounts.
  • Maintains the statewide position classification number files.
  • Reviews and responds to CMS back‑wage information requests.
• Provides assistance with incoming phone and/or mail inquiries for state agencies, state employees and retirees as necessary.
• Acts as a back‑up for processing, balancing, auditing lottery files and vouchers.
• Acts as a back‑up to reviewing and entering incoming payroll vouchers and files.
• Acts as a back‑up to other payroll unit staff as necessary.
• Performs other duties as assigned which are reasonable to the duties defined above.

Requires knowledge, skill, and mental development equivalent to completion of two (2) years of college and one…