Accounting Assistant - NRES

Job Summary

Accounting Assistant – Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, College of ACES, University of Illinois Urbana‑Champaign. Supports the business and financial processes and policies within the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences.

• Manage creation and termination of CFOPs with University Accounting and Financial Reporting.
• Coordinate processing of gifts in collaboration with the University of Illinois Foundation and the ACES Office of Advancement.
• Oversee financial activity within all Banner account statements, departmental account reconciliations, and related accounting and financial reports for multiple funding sources (State, ICR, service, federal, grant/contract, and gift accounts) to ensure accuracy and compliance with campus, college, and departmental policies and procedures.
• Serve as an expert advisor to NRES end users on procurement, payment request procedures, special requests, accounting structures, and related University policies.
• Approve and manage all purchasing and payable functions (iBuy, Emburse), including standing and departmental purchase orders, evaluating transactions for budget availability and appropriateness.
• Advise end users about departmental contracts (facilities use, technical testing, and revenue‑generating agreements) and manage them using the Contracts+ system.
• Create and monitor new activity service rates working with the campus Office of Government Costing and/or University Accounting and Financial Reporting.
• Process invoicing through the General Accounts Receivable system in Banner for revenue‑generating activities for both on‑campus and off‑campus customers.
• Approve NRES appointment requests and process labor redistributions in Banner.
• Create special reports as requested by the department (examples: closeout summaries for State and federal fiscal year‑end; specific College report requests).
• Assist the Assistant Head, Business and Strategic Planning, in the evaluation, implementation, and operation of automated accounting systems including spreadsheets and/or databases, and serve as a training resource for these systems.

• Monitor grant termination dates to ensure accurate and timely closeout of funding per Sponsored Programs Administration guidelines.
• Serve as a resource for project principal investigators for expenditure allowability based on the funding sponsor guidelines.
• Approve sub‑award invoices after reviewing them for compliance and funding availability.
• Provide requested reports for project principal investigators upon request such as expense forecasts and personnel expense projections.
• Coordinate processing of sub‑award invoices working with the project principal investigator to ensure accuracy of invoice and budget availability.
• Serve as back‑up for grant proposal submissions.

• Manage the financial records filing system ensuring all records are maintained in accurate order and are easily accessible for review.
• Outline and manage the retention of NRES financial records.
• Manage the transfer and tracking of financial records to intermediate storage. Request and execute the disposal of financial records in accordance with University regulations.
• Other duties as assigned.

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Any one or combination totaling one (1) year (12 months) from the following categories:
• A. Course work in accounting, where 6 semester hours equals one year.
• B. Course work in any discipline, where 30 semester hours equals one year.
• C. Work experience in bookkeeping, office support, or closely related experience.
• Preferred:
  Possess or have the ability to immediately obtain:
  Business Administrator Certification Program;
  Illini Certified Research Administrator;
  Travel Card Certification;
  Purchasing Card Certification; JV Processing Certification;
  Accounts Receivable Processing;
  Cash Handling;
  Service Activity Advanced.

• Knowledge of the application of basic bookkeeping methods and procedures.
• Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems…