Cost Accountant - Finance

The Broadlawns Medical Center campus includes an acute care hospital, primary and specialty care clinics, urgent care and emergency services, lab, radiology, dentistry, inpatient and outpatient mental health, crisis team, and community-based behavioral support services. Broadlawns accepts all forms of insurance and its approach to healthcare and quality outcomes earned a Level 3 rating from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the highest achievable status for a medical delivery model.

We are a safety net hospital and our Patients are our North Star! With a dedicated staff of over 160 physicians and 1,600 employees, Broadlawns Medical Center ensures that our community has access to high quality healthcare that is coordinated, compassionate and cost-effective. We provide our employees a top-rated benefits package, supportive work culture, and more! 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Under the direction of Finance leadership, the Cost Accountant supports the financial stewardship and operational decision-making of Broadlawns Medical Center through the development, maintenance, analysis, and communication of cost, reimbursement, accounting, and related financial information. This position prepares financial analyses and cost reports for management, regulatory, contractual, grant, audit, and community-reporting purposes, including support for the Medicare Cost Report. The Cost Accountant collaborates with Finance leaders and organizational stakeholders to promote accurate reporting, sound financial controls, regulatory and contractual compliance, and continuous improvement in financial processes and decision support.

CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES

• Develops, maintains, and applies cost-accounting methodologies, allocation processes, system structures, and analytical tools to produce accurate and meaningful cost information.

• Maintains and performs periodic reviews of cost-accounting system dictionaries, allocation statistics, and related data to ensure validity, consistency, and accuracy.

• Prepares and distributes cost-accounting, departmental, service-line, clinic, provider, and program reports for management and organizational decision-making.

• Analyzes financial, cost, volume, utilization, reimbursement, and other relevant data to evaluate performance and identify trends, variances, risks, and opportunities.

• Prepares physician clinic and other operational profitability analyses and communicates findings to appropriate leaders and stakeholders.

• Supports preparation of the Medicare and Medicaid hospital cost reports, including applicable wage index, occupational mix, and other governmental reimbursement schedules and workpapers.

• Supports governmental and third-party reimbursement activities, including payer-contract analysis, rate evaluation, and assessment of the financial effect of reimbursement arrangements and regulatory requirements.

• Performs financial administration for assigned grants, contracts, and programs, including budgeting, accounting, billing, reconciliation, expenditure monitoring, compliance documentation, reporting, renewals, and closeout activities.

• Prepares monthly grant expenditure reports, reconciles activity to the general ledger, bills grant funds, and analyzes assigned grant and contract accounts for accuracy and compliance.

• Assists with grant and contract budgets, proposals, applications, annual reports, supporting schedules, and required financial and statistical information.

• Reconciles assigned balance-sheet and related income-statement accounts and prepares journal entries and supporting documentation as needed.

• Prepares and maintains financial schedules, surveys, reports, reconciliations, and supporting documentation required for audits, regulatory submissions, governmental reporting, industry data requests, and organizational publications.

• Supports external financial, cost-report, grant, and regulatory audits by compiling complete, accurate, and timely workpapers and responding to information requests.

• Safeguards confidential financial, employee, patient, payer, grant, and organizational information in accordance with applicable requirements and policies.

• Participates in the development and improvement of financial systems, reports, methods, policies, procedures, and workflows.

• Maintains current knowledge of healthcare finance, cost accounting, reimbursement, accounting standards, and applicable regulatory requirements.

• Manages assigned priorities and deadlines with accuracy, sound judgment, and appropriate follow-through.

• Performs other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business administration, or a closely related field; or an equivalent combination of education and directly related experience.

• Two or more years of professional accounting, cost accounting, reimbursement, financial analysis, grant accounting, or related experience.

• Knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles, account reconciliation, financial reporting, internal controls, and cost-allocation concepts.

• Demonstrated ability to analyze complex financial and operational data, identify variances and trends, and communicate relevant findings.

• Proficiency with spreadsheet, financial, accounting, and reporting applications.

• Effective oral and written communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively with leaders, departments, auditors, payers, regulators, and other stakeholders.

• Strong attention to detail, organization, problem-solving, and time-management skills.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet recurring financial, audit, grant, and regulatory deadlines with limited supervision.