Government Grants Accountant

Position Type: Temporary / Project-Based
Department: Finance

Reports To: CFO/Dotted line to CPO

Employment Type: Immediate Temporary/Project Assignment with Potential Temp-to-Permanent Conversion

Location: New York, NY/In Person

Position Summary

The organization is seeking an experienced Government Grants Accountant to join the Finance team immediately on a temporary, project-based, or temp-to-permanent basis.

This position is needed urgently to provide additional Finance capacity during a period of transition and increased workload, including the transition of the fractional CFO, the annual audit, and changes in the Finance team’s bookkeeping capacity.

The immediate priority is to bring in an experienced grants professional who can quickly assess the current government grants portfolio, establish and maintain a reliable grants tracking system, and ensure that government grant billing, vouchering, accounting, compliance, reporting, and reimbursement activities continue moving forward without interruption.

The initial assignment may be structured as a project or temporary engagement, with the potential to transition to a permanent position based on organizational needs, performance, and mutual interest.

Immediate Priorities

During the initial assignment, the Government Grants Accountant will focus on:

• Assessing the current status of all active government grants.
• Establishing or updating a comprehensive government grants master tracker.
• Identifying outstanding vouchers, invoices, reimbursement requests, reports, and other required submissions.
• Determining which reimbursements are currently outstanding and the expected timing of receipt.
• Identifying whether delays are attributable to:
  • Missing information or documentation from HOPE;
  • Outstanding reporting or compliance requirements;
  • Accounting or billing issues;
  • Pending approvals; or
  • Delays in processing by the government funding agency.
• Establishing clear next steps, responsible parties, and deadlines for outstanding items.
• Supporting the existing government grants staff member and providing additional capacity for the grants workload.
• Ensuring timely vouchering, reimbursement submissions, grant accounting, and reconciliations.
• Preparing grant schedules and documentation needed for the upcoming audit.
• Providing the CFO with a reliable view of government grant receivables and expected cash receipts.

Critical Deliverable: Grants Pipeline & Cash-Flow Visibility

A primary responsibility of this position will be to maintain an accurate, continuously updated grants pipeline that allows the CFO and leadership to understand the organization’s government funding position.

The tracker should enable Finance to answer, at any point:

• What has been awarded?
• What has been spent?
• What has been earned?
• What has been billed?
• What has been received?
• What is outstanding?
• When should we receive it?
• What is holding it up?
• Who needs to take action?
• When will the issue be resolved?

The Government Grants Accountant will proactively monitor this information rather than simply updating the tracker after the fact.

Project Structure:

The organization is open to several engagement structures depending on candidate availability and organizational needs:

• Immediate temporary assignment to address urgent grants and Finance needs;
• Project-based engagement focused on grants cleanup, tracking, reimbursement, compliance, and audit readiness; or
• Temp-to-permanent placement for a candidate who demonstrates the ability to become a long-term member of the Finance team.

Candidates who can begin immediately and have experience taking over or stabilizing an existing government grants portfolio are strongly encouraged to apply.

Key Responsibilities

Government Grant Tracking & Reimbursement

• Maintain a comprehensive master schedule of all government grants.
• Track award amounts, budgets, expenditures, earned revenue, billings, reimbursements, receivables, reporting requirements, and grant deadlines.
• Monitor outstanding reimbursements and follow up proactively with funding agencies.
• Identify the specific reason for delayed reimbursement and the action required to resolve it.
• Track expected government cash receipts and communicate changes to the CFO.
• Escalate aging or material receivables and unresolved issues.

Vouchering & Billing

• Prepare, review, and submit government grant vouchers, invoices, and reimbursement requests.
• Ensure submissions are accurate, complete, timely, and adequately supported.
• Follow up on rejected, returned, or delayed submissions.
• Coordinate with program and Finance staff to obtain missing documentation.

Grant Accounting

• Reconcile grant activity to the general ledger.
• Review grant-related revenue, expenditures, receivables, and allocations.
• Prepare or support grant-related journal entries.
• Assist with budget-to-actual analysis.
• Identify accounting issues that could affect grant reimbursement or reporting.

Compliance & Audit

• Monitor grant-specific compliance and reporting requirements.
• Maintain organized grant documentation.
• Prepare grant schedules and supporting documentation for the annual audit.
• Respond to auditor requests related to government grants.
• Support grant closeouts and resolution of outstanding compliance requirements.

Budgeting

• Assist with government grant budget preparation and monitoring.
• Monitor spending against approved grant budgets.
• Identify potential underspending, overspending, or budget modification requirements.
• Provide information needed for grant revenue and cash-flow forecasting.

Process Improvement

• Establish consistent procedures for grant tracking, vouchering, reimbursement follow-up, reconciliation, and closeout.
• Create practical checklists and controls to prevent missed deadlines.
• Clarify ownership of outstanding grant requirements.
• Identify and resolve gaps in the existing grants process.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of relevant experience in government grants accounting, nonprofit finance, government contracting, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience with government grant billing, vouchering, reimbursement, compliance, and reporting.
• Strong accounting and reconciliation skills.
• Strong Excel skills and experience maintaining detailed financial tracking schedules.
• Ability to quickly assess an existing grants portfolio and identify outstanding issues.
• Strong follow-through and ability to independently manage deadlines and follow-ups.
• Experience with NYC, New York State, or federal government grants preferred.
• Nonprofit accounting experience preferred.
• Experience with government grant portals preferred.  Grants Gateway, SFS, PASSPORT, etc..
• Ability to begin work quickly and operate effectively in a transitional environment.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a hands-on grants accounting professional who can walk into an existing portfolio, quickly determine what is outstanding, and start moving things forward without requiring extensive training or supervision.

This is not simply a data-entry or voucher-processing role. The successful candidate will take ownership of the grants pipeline, proactively follow up on outstanding reimbursements and documentation, and provide the CFO with clear information about what money is coming in, when it is expected, and what is preventing it from being received.

This is an urgent search open to someone who can start as a 30–90 day project/temporary resource with a temp-to-perm path. 

Estimated Start: Immediate

Compensation: Hourly rate $45-$55 an hour commensurate with experience and qualifications.

The HOPE Program is an equal opportunity employer.

WWW.THEHOPEPROGRAM.ORG

Salary : $45 - $55