Accounting BSA; Business Systems Analyst

An Accounting BSA (Business Systems Analyst) plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between accounting teams and IT or system development teams. Their primary responsibility is to ensure that financial systems and processes are aligned with business needs and regulatory requirements. Here’s a breakdown of their key responsibilities:

Must Have Technical/Functional Skills

An Accounting BSA (Business Systems Analyst) plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between accounting teams and IT or system development teams. Their primary responsibility is to ensure that financial systems and processes are aligned with business needs and regulatory requirements. Here’s a breakdown of their key responsibilities:

Partner with accounting, finance, and insurance operations to gather and document business requirements.

Analyze insurance-specific workflows: policy administration, premium billing, claims accounting, commissions, and reinsurance settlements (ceded/assumed).

Translate business requirements into system designs, process maps, user stories, and acceptance criteria.

Support implementation, configuration, and testing of ERP and insurance platforms (e.g., SAP FI/CO, Oracle Cloud, Guidewire Billing/Policy/Claims, Duck Creek).

Design and validate system integrations between policy, billing, claims, and general ledger modules.

Create and execute test plans (unit, SIT, UAT); manage defect triage and remediation; support change control.

Build and optimize accounting processes for premium recognition, unearned premium reserves (UPR), loss reserves, IBNR, claims payments, and commissions.

Implement system logic for reinsurance (treaty/facultative; proportional/non-proportional), bordereaux, and settlements.

Partner with actuarial and underwriting on loss ratio, combined ratio, and reserve-related data and reporting.

Ensure data completeness, accuracy, and reconciliation across sub-ledgers and the GL.

Develop dashboards and financial/insurance KPIs (e.g., written/earned premium trends, loss & LAE, expenses).

Support statutory and regulatory reporting (e.g., NAIC statements, Schedule P, Schedule

F) and management reporting.

Ensure adherence to GAAP, SAP (Statutory Accounting Principles), SOX, and state insurance regulations.

Design and maintain internal controls; support audit requests and walkthroughs for insurance-specific areas.

Document end-to-end process controls, segregation of duties, and data lineage across systems.

Act as a liaison between Accounting, IT, Insurance Operations, Actuarial, Underwriting, Claims, Billing, and Compliance.

Facilitate workshops, sprint planning, and stakeholder alignment; manage expectations and timelines.

Create and deliver training for end users on enhancements and new features.

Maintain process documentation, configuration guides, data dictionaries, and SOPs.

Accounting Expertise: GL, sub-ledgers, reconciliations, month-end close, revenue recognition, reserves.

Insurance Knowledge:
Policy lifecycle, billing, claims, reinsurance structures, statutory reporting.

Technical

Skills:

SQL, Excel (advanced), data modeling, APIs/integrations, reporting tools (Power BI/Tableau).

Analysis & Problem-Solving:
Root-cause analysis, process re-engineering, control design.

Communication & Stakeholder Engagement:
Clear documentation, workshops, cross-functional alignment.

Project/Change Management:
Prioritization, risk management, change control, UAT coordination.

Strong understanding of accounting principles.

Experience with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle R12, Net Suite).

Proficiency in SQL, Excel, and reporting tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau).

Analytical thinking and problem-solving.

Communication and project management skills.