Accounting Manager

* Manage staff workloads to ensure the quality and timely completion of responsibilities.
* Establish performance standards. Monitor employee progress and regularly provide mentoring, training, and performance feedback.
* Address and resolve staff conflicts while maintaining a professional environment.
* Administer counseling sessions and corrective discipline where applicable to ensure work rules are being met.
* Ensure staff are provided with professional development opportunities, adequate training, and other resources to perform their job responsibilities.
* Establish work schedules and review leave requests.
* Hold regular staff meetings to keep staff up to date on relevant information.
* Monitor the processing of daily financial reports; resolve processing problems with campus and Information Technology Services (ITS) staff.
* Assist the Controller with coordinating the preparation of campus GAAP reports as directed by UW Administration annually for inclusion in the University of Wisconsin Annual Financial Report.
* Develop, create, and analyze financial management reports; work with campus management to resolve discrepancies in the reports.
* Develop reports for management, campus personnel, UWSA, and others, as requested.
* Oversee the capital equipment inventory and asset management system for GAAP reporting, annual equipment inventory, and various reports requiring capital equipment tracking.
* Oversee journal entry processing in accounting systems.
* Ensure that adequate internal controls are established, operate as designed, and effectively protect the integrity of transactions, while maintaining proper audit trails.
* Conduct integrity checks of general ledger transactions to ensure the accuracy of transactions and to identify and resolve problems as quickly as possible.
* Facilitate campus training on fund accounting, the WISER financial system, and related processes that affect the general ledger. Provide ongoing support for issues and questions related to these items.
* Implement new initiatives related to the general ledger, such as financial system upgrades, policy changes, and system-to-system interfaces.
* Coordinate the month-end and fiscal year-end closing procedures, including developing schedules, communicating with UW Administration and UWL stakeholders, and working with staff to meet deadlines.
* Perform necessary year-end closing entries and prepare financial statements.
* Establish, implement, and maintain written policies and procedures for departmental functions relating to financial transactions and systems. Ensure procedures maintain institutional compliance with UW Administration, State of Wisconsin, and U.S. Federal reporting requirements.
* Communicate process changes and updates related to financial transactions and system functions to the campus stakeholders, including the maintenance of web pages, guides, etc.
* Oversee preparation and accuracy of various reconciliations (bank, student loan, scholarship, etc.), ensuring variances are explainable for Controller review.
* Assist with developing the institutional internal control plan and provide support for internal and external audits, including implementing recommendations related to financial transactions and systems.
* Review new account requests for reasonableness and assign account numbers based on the university's financial structure.
* Develop, establish, and maintain reporting processes for financial information.
* Collaborate with campus departments to manage the account tables and trees in the Shared Financial System (SFS); perform ongoing maintenance and date changes for reporting purposes.
* Assist with special reports, surveys, and audits requested by the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) and Department of Administration (DOA).
* Assist with various projects related to internal control assessments and make recommendations for processing methods to ensure the integrity and security of financial assets.
* Develop training programs for faculty and staff related to financial processes and systems.
* Review and recommend updates to the Business Services web pages.
* Conduct campus training related to financial transactions, including the use of WISER, providing ongoing support for issues and questions.
* Communicate changes or updates to processes related to accounting functions to the campus community, including maintaining and updating web pages and publications.
* Identify opportunities for process automation to provide efficient, accurate, and cost-effective accounting operations for the university.
* Other duties as assigned by the Controller.
* Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a business-related field from an accredited institution.
* Minimum five years of professional financial experience with demonstrated increasing responsibility.
* Knowledge of GAAP.
* Strong aptitude for understanding and analyzing accounting systems.
* Strong ability to review, analyze, and interpret financial data, policies, procedures, and regulations to…