Staff Accountant

Job Overview

The role of the Staff Accountant resides in the Accounting Department of the Controller's Office. The Controller's Office team is comprised of accounting and finance professionals who are responsible for the general accounting, treasury management, financial and tax reporting and compliance for both the University and the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, a nonprofit tax-exempt corporation and supporting organization of Monmouth University.

The Staff Accountant is expected to possess familiarity and adherence to standard accounting principles/GAAP. Ability to contribute to the Accounting Office by performing various accounting functions such as conducting daily system routines to post financial transactions to the general ledger, importing financial data from sub-ledgers, overseeing the internal departmental charge process, preparing journal entries for non-student related refunds, and completing monthly reconciliations for various accounts. In addition, the candidate would be expected to perform various general accounting functions, including account analyses and preparation of internal financial reports for the Bruce Springsteen Center.

This is an in-person, on-campus, non-remote position

Responsibilities

• Conduct daily system routines to accurately post financial transactions received from various University systems into the general l Perform daily reconciliation of general ledger entries, ensuring accurate posting of all transactions. Investigate and promptly resolve any discrepancies, exceptions, or errors that may arise during the posting process.
• Responsible for efficient processing of electronic journal entry import submissions. Including, formatting the Excel file according to the Ellucian required import format and syntax before accurately importing and posting the submission to the general l
• Responsible for reviewing journal and budget entry form submissions for compliance with the mandated approval signatures. Execute entry and posting of approved forms into the University's general ledger system. Organize and file completed forms in the designated area within the Controller's Office.
• Perform daily execution of Interface system routines for University Advancement Gift activity, encompassing both MU and Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music Corporation. Responsibilities include executing imports for Web Gifts, Gift Adjustments, POS Gifts, and Pledge Gifts. 
• Examine Interdepartmental Charge (IDC) forms received from Facilities Management, Conference & Program Services, Federal Work Study, Outlook, University Police, and other areas to assess their alignment with service charging or cost-sharing of expenditures. Prepare and implement necessary entries as per the analysis. In the case of cost-sharing identified on IDC forms, liaise with departments to ensure coordinated expense splitting through Accounts Payable for future transactions. Accounts Payable will facilitate expense allocation during payment processing.
• Perform timely execution of payroll, FWS, and end-of-month GL import interfaces following each pay date and month-end. Collaborate with the Payroll department to address posting exceptions related to invalid accounts. Facilitate the processing of account corrections to the import file and ensure accurate posting.
• Conduct review and initial sign off of journal entries prepared by the Treasury Services Coordinator relating to University Advancement gift refunds.
• Provide the Treasury Services Coordinator assistance as needed with the processing of manual refunds by reviewing transactions, accounting codes, and conducting review of and sign off of manual refund Expense Vouchers before submission to Accounts Payable processing.
• Responsible for daily performance of the Cash Receipt System's cash closing procedures, which includes reconciling daily cash receipt sessions, comparing the totals with the daily bank report, and verifying and sealing daily bank deposit bags. 
• Conduct reviews of the monthly payment activity, using Informer reports, to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the daily cash receipt transactions and the timely resolution of bank reconciliation items.
• Identify all cash receipts for revenue cutoff at the end of each calendar year and fiscal year, including preparation of fiscal year end accruals and reversals.
• In the absence of the Treasury Services Coordinator, perform daily reconciliation of TouchNet eCommerce payments to the cash receipt system, download daily Bank Composite reports and record non student related Wire activity and email Bursar Office of student related wires. Provide coverage of other duties as needed including; processing U.A. Gifts bank deposits, Marketplace & TouchNet Gift refunds, review of ACH returns. (Regular-Coverage during any PTO). 
• Act as a backup for manual refund processing and monitoring of mucashiers@monmouth.edu inbox (Regular-Coverage during any PTO). 
• In the absence of the Director of Treasury Operations, assist with placing and releasing Ellucian cash receipt Holds from students' accounts, the resolution of TouchNet posting errors and GL exception errors; adding new non-AR codes in the cash receipt system; and performing updates to Informer Reports used for the Outside Scholarship reconciliation. (Regular-Coverage during any PTO). 
• Process and setup of New Department and New Object Code Forms in Ellucian system; scan and file completed forms in Document Folder on Shared Directory. 
• Access Banking online system and perform monthly electronic download of paid checks and run monthly system utility to reconcile AP checks in Ellucian system. 
• Prepare and process monthly journal entry to record the Digital Copy Center monthly charge activity using monthly activity report. Identify correct fund for Department activity and obtain any approvals needed for restricted accounts. 
• Review and process Mailroom Postage monthly charge activity journal entries submitted for completeness and ensure correct fund is being used for Department accounts. 
• Perform monthly reconciliation of the Web Gift Clearing, Scalefunder Clearing, and Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music Corporation Web Gift Clearing Accounts to ensure their balances are accurately cleared to zero.
• General accounting and bookkeeping tasks for the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music Corporation, including but not limited to preparation of budget versus actual analysis; review of monthly expense activity for financial reporting accuracy of natural and functional expense classifications, maintain due to/due from reconciliation, record miscellaneous accounts receivable when needed. 
• Prepare internal financial reports and account analyses for the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music Corporation. 
• Monitor Monthly Close Sign-off Sheet and communicate to members who have not signed off by due date. After all sign-offs are completed; perform various monthly and annual general ledger closing routines as required. 
• Support the departments ongoing efforts to enhance operational efficiencies and assist as required in automating specific processes. 
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration
• Three (3) years of related experience
• Familiarity and adherence to standard accounting principles/US GAAP
• Intermediate to advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Word 2024
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Strong analytical, planning and organizational skills
• Ability to multitask, prioritize work and meet deadlines
• Must be able to treat confidential and sensitive information appropriately

Preferred Qualifications

• Work experience in higher education, non-profits, or fund accounting
• Experience working with ERP system (Ellucian Colleague preferred)
• Experience in operational efficiency assessment and/or business process automation and redesign
• MBA or CPA preferred

Questions regarding this search should be directed to:
Barbara Santos at bsantos@monmouth.edu or 732-263-5629

Note to Applicants:

Please keep in mind that a job posted as “Open until filled” may close at any time without notice. As such, we encourage you to submit your application and all required documentation as quickly as possible to ensure consideration for the posted position.

Working at Monmouth University perks:

• 403(b) Retirement Plan
• Generous Paid Time Off
• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance Benefits
• Tuition Remission for employee upon hire
• Tuition Remission for spouse or civil-union partner and IRS dependent
  after one-year of full-time continuous employment
• Employer paid Short & Long-Term Disability
• Employer sponsored Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP), FSA, Telehealth and more

To view a full list of benefits, visit our benefits page at: Employee Benefits Information | Human Resources | Monmouth University

Department:

Division of Accounting

Work Schedule:

Monday through Friday

Total Weeks Per Year

52

Hours Per Week:

36.25

Expected Salary:

$55,000 - $57,500

Union:

N/A

Job Posting Close Date:

Open until filled