Accountant

Are you a detail-oriented person who likes helping others navigate processes? We need a new accountant at Portland State to work on the Student Activities and Leadership Program team. You will be using your organizational skills to process and record accounting requests from students and staff, using your communication and problem-solving skills to help students learn and navigate systems, while working on a fun, multidisciplinary team to support student life on campus.

Position Summary:

The Accountant for Student Activities and Leadership Programs employs generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to record, classify, and interpret revenue, expenditure, and other business data for the Student Activities and Leadership Programs (SALP) department. This position is critical to the financial oversight of SALP’s diverse programs, including Student Government (ASPSU), Student Media, Student Organizations (100 ), and Student-Operated Services (e.g., Food Pantry, event programming). The accountant will become specialized in the policies and processes of the student-run funding boards in order to be able to provide clear support and guidance. The employee works with interrelated accounts, ensuring timely and accurate processing, reconciliation, reporting, and maintenance of accounting controls necessary to support SALP’s mission of student leadership development and involvement. Nearly all departmental financial transactions, including procurement card purchases, personal service contracts, invoice payments, and travel arrangements, are completed by the accountant with support from student employees.

Job Duties:

• Apply relevant general accounting methods and controls to functional areas such as budgets, funds, accounts payable (A/P), and accounts receivable (A/R) for SALP programs, ensuring timely and accurate processing. Must track about 1500 individual transaction requests per year for $1million of budget.
• Prepare and process financial transactions, including procurement card transactions, personal service contracts, purchase orders, invoice payments, reimbursements, travel expenses, journal vouchers, adjusting entries, and internal fund transfers, ensuring compliance with institutional policies and State statutes.
• Classify revenues (e.g., student fees, grants, donations) and expenditures to appropriate funds for about 150 accounts (index codes).
• Post, balance, and close accounts. Regularly reconcile various accounts, identifying variances, tracking errors, and making necessary correcting entries.
• Engages in daily contact with SALP department staff, program advisors, student leaders, and university staff to discuss account balances, payment authorizations, budget questions, and accounting policy/procedure questions.
• Directly supervises 1-3 student employees who provide accounting and administrative support. Responsible for training, delegation, and performance management of student staff.
• Use accounting records and supporting documentation to compile financial statements, budget recaps, and special reports for internal use.
• Assist in preparing quarterly and annual financial reports required by the Student Fee Committee and Senior Fiscal Officer.
• Participate in budget preparation by compiling financial data, fiscal projections, and statistical analysis to assist SALP managers and student government representatives in the allotment of funds.
• Ensure all accounting practices conform with institution policies, State/Federal statutes, and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with CPA or PA certificate; OR Bachelor’s degree with 30 quarter (20 semester) hours of college-level Accounting; OR 30 quarter (20 semester) hours of Accounting courses and three years of Accounting experience.
• Accounting experience must include at least 3 of the following: Preparing transactions to be recorded in records of original entry; Preparing journal entries, posting from journals to general ledger, or preparing original general ledger entries; Summarizing data from a ledger to a trial balance; Closing accounts at the end of an accounting period; Applying PC spreadsheet, database, and word processing software; Processing data using a computer.
• Experience with Microsoft Office Suite
• Proficient in Excel, including creating spreadsheets with formulas and filtering
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in writing, in-person, and over the telephone
• Excellent organization skills, especially document management and filing

Compensation:

The starting hourly pay rate for this position will be between $24.99 and $28.75. The starting salary may be negotiable above this range; however, it will be dependent upon the knowledge, experience, skills, and abilities of the chosen candidate, the budget of the hiring department, and approval from HR. PSU’s excellent benefits package includes 95% premium paid healthcare; a generous retirement and vacation package; and reduced tuition rates for employee, spouse or dependent at any of the Oregon Public Universities