Financial Accountant - School of Medicine

Why Work at BYU 

As the flagship higher education institution of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young University (BYU) strives to be among the exceptional universities in the world. At BYU, we are devoted to our faith and to our students. We take an active role in the University's Mission: "To assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life.” 

Our unique mission, deeply rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, provides countless ways to serve and make an impact. This, along with our remarkable culture of belonging, weekly devotionals, and endless opportunities for learning and growth—all situated within a beautiful and historic campus—make it hard to imagine a more inspiring place to work. 

Brigham Young University strongly prefers to hire faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Financial Accountant - School of Medicine

The Financial Accountant provides financial accounting, transaction support, reporting, budgeting, and compliance assistance for the BYU School of Medicine. This position supports departmental accounting operations and helps research teams manage unrestricted institutional research funds. This position will also provide support to the University Grants and Contracts Office for state, federal, and other externally funded projects as needed.

This position is critical to the success of the BYU School of Medicine, a newly established organization within the university. As the school continues to launch and grow, a successful candidate must demonstrate adaptability and a willingness to take on evolving responsibilities and assignments to support its effective implementation and ongoing operations.

What you will be doing in this position

Departmental Financial Accounting, Transactions, and Reconciliations

• Review, prepare, and approve routine departmental accounting transactions, including journal entries, budget transfers, and expense corrections.
• Monitor departmental budget to actual results, accounts, cost centers, projects, and funding sources to ensure transactions are accurate and within budget, properly documented, timely, and consistent with university policy and internal procedures.
• Prepare and review reconciliations, investigate discrepancies, resolve transaction issues, and coordinate corrections with faculty, staff, central offices, vendors, and other university partners.
• Support accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing card, travel, supplier invoice, customer invoice, refund, and deposit activity for assigned departments or programs.
• Provide occasional secondary support to assistant dean for finance and administrative team members for deposits, invoices, reimbursements, purchase requests, procurement activity, and other departmental financial transactions.
• Maintain organized financial records and documentation to support internal controls, audit readiness, management review, and continuity of departmental operations.

Institutional Funded Research Accounting Support

• Provide accounting support for research-related funds including restricted and unrestricted institutional funds used to support research projects.
• Help research teams create operational budgets, track project-level budgets, commitments, expenditures, available balances, and projected funding needs.
• Coordinate with the University Grants and Contracts Office for proper administration of extramural funding activity, including state, federal, sponsored, contract, gift, and other restricted funds. This responsibility includes responding to questions from the Grants and Contracts Office and follow up with principal investigators, helping ensure expenses follow funding requirements and university policy.
• Review institutional research expenditures such as supplies, travel, equipment, personnel charges, subaward or service costs, and project-related purchases for allowability, documentation, and alignment with the approved purpose of the funds.
• Assist with institutional award setup, budget uploads, expense monitoring, cost-sharing documentation, closeout preparation, and sponsor or university financial reporting when applicable.
•  Support the Grants and Contract office when Federal and state awards require compliance with Uniform Guidance

Research Project Budget Development and Financial Planning

• Work with faculty, principal investigators, research administrators, and department leaders to develop project budgets for research initiatives.
• Prepare budget models and projections that include personnel, supplies, equipment, travel, services, facilities, indirect costs when applicable, and other project-specific financial assumptions.
• Help researchers understand available funding, spending constraints, projected burn rates, budget variances, and future resource needs.
• Support proposal and internal funding requests by preparing budget schedules, financial summaries, and supporting documentation.
• Identify potential deficits, funding gaps, compliance issues, or unusual spending patterns and recommend corrective action to researchers and supervisors.

Financial Reporting, Analysis, and Management Support

• Design, prepare, and distribute financial and management reports for faculty, research teams, department leaders, and school leadership.
• Analyze budget-to-actual results, spending trends, balances, commitments, projections, and financial performance indicators.
• Provide clear explanations of financial data and help stakeholders understand policy, transaction details, account structure, and budget implications.
• Support month-end, year-end, and periodic financial review processes by gathering data, reconciling activity, and preparing summaries for leadership decision-making.
• Develop reports, processes, and tracking tools that improve accuracy, transparency, efficiency, and service to departments and research teams.

Policy Compliance, Internal Controls, Training, and Process Improvement

• Interpret and apply university accounting policies, sponsor requirements, and internal school procedures to routine and moderately complex financial situations.
• Serve as a resource to faculty, researchers, staff, and students on accounting procedures, allowable expenses, documentation standards, budget management, and transaction workflow.
• Strengthen internal controls by documenting procedures, identifying risks, recommending improvements, and helping maintain consistent financial practices across departments and research teams.
• Assist with college audits, desk reviews, compliance inquiries, and information requests by gathering documentation, preparing explanations, and coordinating responses with the supervisor and central offices.
• Participate in finance system improvements, report development, cross-training, and other school or university initiatives related to accounting and research administration.

What qualifies you for this role

Education/Experience

Minimum Required: Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business administration, public administration, or a related field and three years of progressively responsible financial accounting, budgeting, grants accounting, research administration, or closely related experience; or an equivalent combination of education and directly related experience.

Preferred: Experience in higher education, academic medicine, research administration, sponsored programs, institutional funds management, Workday Finance, grant accounting, or faculty-facing financial support. Experience preparing research project budgets and supporting state, federal, foundation, contract, gift, or other externally funded projects is preferred.

Skills, abilities, knowledge, licenses, certifications:

Required:  

• Working knowledge of financial accounting, reconciliations, internal controls, budget management, financial reporting, and transaction processing.
• Ability to analyze financial activity, identify errors or risks, interpret budget-to-actual results, and communicate findings clearly.
• Strong spreadsheet, reporting, data analysis including experience using Adaptive Planning, Tableau or equivalent analytic software.
• Ability to learn and apply university policies, funding requirements, and research accounting practices.
• Ability to work effectively with faculty, researchers, administrators, central offices, vendors, students, and staff in a service-oriented environment.
• Strong attention to detail, confidentiality, judgment, problem-solving ability, and commitment to accuracy and compliance.

Preferred:

• Experience with Workday Finance, university chart of accounts, grant-management systems, dashboard reporting, and research budget tools.
• Ability to translate complex financial information into practical guidance for faculty and research teams.
• Experience developing standard operating procedures, training materials, financial templates, and process improvements.

What we offer in return:

This position comes with fantastic benefits, including:

• 401k. BYU automatically contributes 8% at no cost to you. Additionally, if you contribute 5%, BYU adds an additional 4% (Rehires may qualify for different retirement plans) 

• Excellent work-life balance: 13 paid holidays + 22 days paid vacation + 12 sick days, accrued annually 

• Employee assistance program, available to the employee and all members of their household 

• Tuition benefits for employees and eligible family members 

• Access to athletic facilities 

• Excellent medical/dental benefits 

• Short/long-term disability benefits 

• Paid parental and maternity leave 

• Wellness Program 

• Free on-campus parking 

• Free UTA passes for employees, spouses, and qualified dependents 

• Discounts at the BYU Store and for many events at BYU 

Pay Grade: 53

Typical Starting Pay: $73,000-$95,000

The actual compensation offered will take into consideration internal equity and may vary based on the candidate’s job-related experience, knowledge, skills, and other relevant factors. Candidates with very significant work-related experience may receive an offer higher than the posted typical range.

Required Documents:

All Staff positions require a resume.

Refer to the Job Posting for any additional required documents.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must hold and be worthy to hold a current temple recommend.

Brigham Young University is an equal opportunity employer, including disability and protected veteran status.

Brigham Young University (BYU) is widely recognized not just for its world-class education, but for its deep commitment to inspired religious values. Gathered together in a Christ-centered atmosphere, BYU employees are a vital part of a community of belonging, where we value the experiences, perspectives, and talents of each individual. If you share in our devotion to faith and to excellence, we have a place for you here at BYU!