Accountant I

Title: Accountant I

Executive Area: Student Affairs & Campus Life

College/School/MBU: Student Affairs Administration

Department: SACL Shared Services

Work Location: Amherst

Schedule: Full time

Work Arrangement: Hybrid

Job Summary

The Accountant I performs a variety of duties including the review of financial statements, preparation of financial reports, assist with budget processes and reconciliation of accounts. Works closely with other accounting personnel, internal departments, and external parties.

Essential Functions

Prepares monthly and quarterly financial and summary reports including statements of current funds and statements of financial position to reflect financial status. Maintains and reconciles financial documents, records, transactions, and statements to ensure conformance with established standards and procedures. Gathers, maintains, and analyzes historical data on revenues and expenses.

Performs monthly reconciliation of internal records against PeopleSoft financial records for assigned SACL chartfield strings.

Prepares for approval and review: vouchers, journal entries, and fund transfers as well as provides documentation to substantiate individual transactions.

Receives, verifies, records and processes deposits and other receipts for SACL. Supports use of e-Commerce products as permitted by the University, ensuring PCI compliance. Provides notifications of payments received to departments and performs reconciliation of funds received. Maintains and updates cash handling policies and procedures ensuring compliance with internal controls and regulatory requirements. Investigates and resolves any cash-related discrepancies, working closely with internal stakeholders and external parties as necessary.

Investigates, researches and analyzes financial inquiries, provides troubleshooting assistance to Fund Managers and others in areas regarding fiscal policies and procedures, by utilizing PeopleSoft (including queries) and Summit reporting systems and notifies Assistant Director of any issues.

Confirms intradepartmental recharges with SACL staff.

Assists in the preparation and construction of the SACL budgets by gathering information, analyzing financial data, and compiling the budget documents.

Enters budget changes into the Budget Change System (BCS) for assigned areas of SACL. Maintains these changes in the budget spreadsheets.

Works in partnership with other team members to provide the monitoring and reporting of grant funds to ensure compliance with grant requirements, ensure that expenditures are consistently aligned with related grants and program budgets. Participates with principal investigators in post-award management of grants and contracts. Prepares and maintains reimbursement expenditure reports for grants, performs regular grant closures, and reconciles monthly grant reports and cash requests to monitor final grant reports for consistency to funding requirements.

Assistsstaff and students with authorized reimbursements, preparing documents to process payments, related forms and disbursement documents.

Prepares procedures manual pertaining to duties of position.

Contributes to the overall success of the team by performing all other duties and responsibilities as assigned, maintaining high levels of accuracy, a professional demeanor and appropriate levels of confidentiality, providing excellent customer service.

Other Functions

Performs related duties, as assigned or required.


Understands responsibilities with respect to Title IX, Clery, and other compliance requirements.

Demonstrates capacity, skill and willingness to engage students, and contribute to student success.

Works collaboratively with other campus stakeholders. Understands responsibilities, with respect to conflicts of interest, and behaves in ways consistent both with law and with University policy.

Contributes toward creating a positive, respectful workplace. Uses access to sensitive and/or not yet public University related information only in the performance of responsibilities of position and exercises care to prevent unnecessary disclosure to others.

Minimum Qualifications

High school diploma or equivalent, with two (2) years of experience in auditing or accounting; or an associate's degree or higher in a related field.


Knowledge of the principles and practices of general accounting including terminology.

Knowledge of the methods of general report writing.

Ability to analyze and determine the applicability of accounting data, to draw conclusions and to make appropriate recommendations.

Ability to read and interpret documents such as financial reports, accounts, and ledgers and discuss conclusions in a clear and logical manner.

Ability to understand, apply and explain the laws, rules, regulations, policies, procedures, etc. governing assigned unit activities.

Ability to gather information by examining records and documents and through questioning of individuals.

Ability to perform mathematical calculations using formulas to solve accounting problems.

Ability to understand and carry out oral and written instructions.

Ability to maintain accurate records.

Ability to prepare general and financial reports.

Ability to give oral and written instructions in a clear, understandable manner.

Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, to include Excel, Word and other database packages.

Ability to organize and prioritize work effectively and organize multiple tasks/projects simultaneously.

Ability to establish and maintain appropriate working relationships with persons from varied backgrounds; ability to work in a team setting.

Ability to deal tactfully with others, exercise sound judgment, and use discretion in handling confidential information.

Preferred Qualifications

Knowledge of University and SACL's financial and budgetary policy/procedures, principals/practices, terminology and forms.

Knowledge of policies and procedures when working with student-initiated groups, i.e. Student Government Association (SGA), Graduate Student Senate (GSS), Registered Student Organizations (RSO) .

Knowledge of the laws, rules and regulations governing Federal Grant Administration.

Knowledge of PeopleSoft accounting system, Summit Reporting systems, BuyWays Procurement system, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive and Outlook.

Additional Details

Supervision received:

Works under the direct supervision of the Accounting Manager who assigns duties and reviews work for completeness and accuracy; under the technical guidance of the Assistant Director for Finance and Budget for SACL.

Working Conditions

Work is performed in a standard office or indoor university environment and involves minimal physical exertion.

Work Schedule and Work Arrangement

Monday - Friday; 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.

This position has the opportunity for a hybrid work schedule, which is defined by the University as an arrangement where an employee's work is regularly performed at a location other than the campus workspace for a portion of the week. As this position falls within the University Staff Association, it is subject to the terms and conditions of the University Staff Association collective bargaining agreement.

Salary Information

Pay Grade: USA/MTA Grade 15

Click here to view the Classified Step Scale.

Special Instructions for Applicants

Along with the application, please submit a resume. References will be checked at the finalist stage. Please be prepared to provide contact information for three (3) professional references.

This position will remain open for the time period required by any applicable collective bargaining agreement and will continue until a suitable candidate pool is identified. Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early.