Financial Advisor

Under the direct supervision of the Manager of Finance, the Financial Advisor provides:

• Functional direction to other employees at Council;
• Prepares the yearly and quarterly financial statements;
• Develops and updates financial policies;
• Conducts analysis of the historical and current financial data to monitor and recommend adjustments to the annual budget and quarterly forecast exercises;
• Reviews and validates the reconciliation and analysis of all transactions related to the investment portfolio (asset of approx. $500M) and ensures proper accounting treatment for the financial statements;
• Is responsible for filing various financial reports to Government of Canada (ie Treasury board, CRA); responds to external requests;
• Assists in managing the approval and tracking process for the financial system content enhancements;
• Provides customer service to all users and responds to financial and technical internal enquiries; provides guidance and training to Council employees on the Finance section’s policies;
• Acts as a liaison with other Sections of Council but also with external stakeholders such as Treasury Board, the Office of the Auditor General and commercial bank;
• Keeps abreast of all changes to the Canadian public sector accounting standards (PSAS) and its impact on the Council’s financial statements;
• Performs quality assurance and review of other team members’ reconciliations and journal entries;
• And performs other related duties.

• An undergraduate degree in accounting or an equivalent combination of education and professional experience related to the responsibilities of the position
• A Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation

• Five (5) years of experience in Canadian accounting practices and principles and budgeting procedures, and in their analysis, preferably in the field of arts administration
• Experience in preparing financial statements as per the Canadian public sector accounting standards (PSAS)
• Experience analyzing financial and statistical data utilizing a computerized system
• Experience in extraction, validation, analysis and presentation of quantitative data
• Experience with Unit 4 financial systems would be an asset

• Extensive knowledge of Canadian public sector accounting standards
• Strong knowledge of budgetary control and financial cost management principles, practices and analysis
• General knowledge of government legislation, regulations and practices such as the Financial Administration Act (FAA) and the Income Tax Act
• Extensive knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite

• Strong ability to analyze financial and statistical data to recognize significant factors, relationships and trends, and provide recommendations
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to work independently without constant supervision
• Strong organizational and communications skills and initiative
• Demonstrated problem solving and decision-making skills
• Ability to make recommendations for improvement to processes/systems
• Strong time management and prioritizing skills

This position requires the use of both official languages. The requirements in the second official language are:

• An advanced level in reading comprehension(C)
• An intermediate level in writing(B)
• An advanced level in oral (C)