Accounting Assistant - NRES

Accounting Assistant - Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

College of ACES

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The Accounting Assistant will be responsible for supporting the business/financial processes and policies within the Department of NRES.

• Manage the creation and termination of CFOPs with University Accounting and Financial Reporting.
• Coordinate the processing of gifts in collaboration with the University of Illinois Foundation and the ACES Office of Advancement.
• Oversee the financial activity within all Banner account statements, departmental account reconciliations and related accounting and financial reports for multiple funding sources including 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. Evaluate these 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 re‑distributions 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. 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, personnel expense projections, etc.
• Coordinate processing of subaward 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.

Preferred:
Possess or have ability to immediately obtain:

• Business Administrator Certification Program
• Service Activity Advanced

• Knowledge of the application of basic bookkeeping methods and procedures.
• Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, spreadsheets, managing files and records, and other office procedures.
• Skill in critical thinking.
• Skill in time management.
• Ability to communicate effectively as appropriate for the needs of the…