Controller

Position Summary/Objectives

Controller serves as the Finance Department's senior accounting professional, with responsibility for managing SOWIB's day-to-day finance and accounting operations, integrity of the general ledger, monthly close, fund and grant accounting, reconciliations, accounting workflows, financial system operations, and grant financial management.

Operating in a complex nonprofit and grant-funded environment with approximately 50 funding sources, Controller applies strong accounting knowledge, analytical judgment, and problem-solving skills to ensure reliable accounting operations and financial information.

Controller works closely with the Finance Director to support financial reporting, analysis, compliance, and organizational decision-making.

Responsibility and Decision Making

Controller is expected to independently manage & resolve accounting, grant accounting, reconciliation, system, and operational matters within established SOWIB policies, accounting methodologies, grant requirements, and internal controls. The position requires the accounting expertise & professional judgment necessary to perform these responsibilities with limited technical direction.

Controller provides oversight of transaction processing by monitoring workflow quality, reviewing transactions & supporting documentation as appropriate, reviewing exceptions, and ensuring established procedures are followed. Controller's review focuses on accounting accuracy, compliance, unusual activity, exceptions, and matters requiring professional judgment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Accounting Operations and General Ledger Management

• Manage accounting operations & Finance workflows.
• Maintain the accuracy, completeness, and integrity of the general ledger.
• Manage the monthly accounting close and ensure timely & accurate completion of required close activities.
• Ensure accounting batches, imports, journal entries, and other transactions are completely and appropriately posted as part of the accounting and close process.
• Prepare and review recurring journal entries, accruals, payroll-related entries, corrections, and other routine accounting activity.
• Manage account reconciliations, including bank, credit card, balance sheet, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll accounts; investigate and resolve reconciling items, discrepancies, and unusual balances.
• Maintain approved account, fund, grant, program, project, and other accounting dimensions and attributes.
• Generate reliable closed financial data, preliminary financial statements, and supporting schedules for reporting and analysis.
• Serve as backup for payroll processing.

Fund and Grant Accounting

• Manage grant & restricted funding accounting across approximately 50 funding sources throughout the award lifecycle.
• Ensure revenues & expenditures are accurately coded to the appropriate fund, grant, program, account, and other required dimensions.
• Monitor grant & funding source balances, award periods, budget utilization, burn rates, pass-through funding activity, and other financial indicators.
• Manage routine grant revenue recognition, receivables, deferred or conditional revenue, and reimbursement activity in accordance with established accounting policies.
• Prepare or oversee grant reimbursement requests and required financial reports.
• Monitor compliance with financial provisions of grant agreements and applicable funding requirements, including addressing allowability, allocability, funding source, and accounting treatment within established policies.
• Maintain appropriate accounting support for net assets with and without donor restrictions.
• Maintain accurate accounting for pass-through and subrecipient funding, including amounts reported, and charged to applicable awards; reconcile related activity and ensure appropriate treatment in grant financial, and management reporting.

Program and Grant Financial Management

• Serve as the primary Finance contact for routine program financial matters.
• Lead recurring budget-to-actual and financial discussions with program staff.
• Analyze program and grant financial performance, including budget variances and funding utilization, and identify significant variances, projected underspending or overspending, funding gaps, coding issues, and compliance concerns.
• Partner with program leadership on expenditure projections and proposed budget revisions for individual awards.
• Provide timely financial information and guidance to program staff.

Accounts Payable and Expense Management

• Manage SOWIB's accounts payable and employee expense processes.
• Monitor the quality, completeness, and timeliness of AP and ensure established procedures are consistently followed.
• Resolve non-routine or complex coding, documentation, funding, allowability, and accounting issues.
• Ensure AP and expense activity is completely and accurately reflected in the general ledger.

Financial Systems Administration and Accounting Integrity

• Maintain the operational and accounting integrity of Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT and its interfaces with BILL, Expensify, Paycor, Omatic, and other Finance systems.
• Monitor system integrations and ensure transactions are completely and accurately transferred to the general ledger.
• Resolve failed imports, unposted batches, mapping exceptions, and other routine system or data flow issues.
• Maintain approved accounting mappings and routine system configurations.
• Test & validate system enhancements, reporting changes, integrations, and configuration changes from an accounting and operational perspective; support related documentation, data cleanup, and post-implementation stabilization activities.
• Identify & recommend improvements to financial systems, workflows, and accounting processes, and partner with the Finance Director and technical resources to implement approved enhancements.

Compliance, Audit and Internal Controls

• Monitor adherence to established accounting policies, procedures, internal controls, and applicable financial requirements; identify control weaknesses, recurring issues, and process risks and recommend corrective actions.
• Maintain accounting schedules, reconciliations, documentation, and other records necessary to support audit and monitoring activities; prepare audit schedules and coordinate routine audit information requests.
• Support grant monitoring, financial reviews, and other compliance activities.

Financial Reporting and Analysis Support

• Prepare grant, program, management, audit, and supporting Board reporting schedules as assigned.
• Provide variance explanations, accounting exceptions, supporting schedules, and other information necessary for management reporting and analysis.
• Support development & testing of new or enhanced financial reports.
• Provide accounting data & supporting analysis for forecasting and other financial reporting initiatives.

Finance Operations Leadership

·       Supervise Finance staff, including establishing work expectations and priorities, providing technical guidance, monitoring performance & recurring deadlines, address workflow, processing, or quality issues.

• Maintain accounting procedures, close checklists, and other operational documentation.
• Promote cross-training and documented backup procedures for key Finance functions to strengthen departmental continuity and capacity.
• Serve as the Finance Department's primary operational leader and maintain continuity of accounting operations in the Finance Director's absence.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Advanced knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting.
• Strong working knowledge of fund, grant, and restricted funding accounting principles & practices.
• Ability to interpret & apply grant, contract, accounting, and financial compliance requirements.
• Strong analytical & critical thinking skills, and ability to identify unusual financial activity, evaluate underlying causes, and exercise sound accounting judgment.
• Strong understanding of integrated financial systems, accounting dimensions, system interfaces, and data flows.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, recurring deadlines, and accounting workflows in a complex, multi-funded environment.
• Ability to communicate financial & accounting information clearly to Finance, program, and organizational staff.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel & computerized accounting systems.

Minimum Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or a closely related field.
• At least five years of progressively responsible accounting experience, including substantial responsibility for general ledger accounting, monthly close, account reconciliations, journal entries, accruals, financial reporting, and accounting analysis.
• Professional experience with fund accounting, grant accounting, or restricted funding in a multi-fund, multi-grant, or similarly complex funding environment, including responsibility for accounting across multiple programs, grants, contracts, funds, or other accounting dimensions.
• Demonstrated experience supervising or providing substantive leadership to accounting or Finance staff.
• Demonstrated ability to independently analyze accounting activity, investigate discrepancies & unusual financial results, and resolve accounting problems.
• Experience working with integrated accounting or ERP systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• CPA, CPA candidate, CMA, relevant advanced degree, or other applicable professional credential.
• Nonprofit, governmental, workforce development, or other complex grant-funded accounting experience.
• Experience with federal awards & Uniform Guidance.
• Experience accounting for indirect cost and shared cost allocations in a grant-funded environment.
• Experience with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT or another sophisticated fund accounting ERP.
• Experience with BILL, Expensify, Paycor, Omatic, or comparable integrated financial systems.
• Experience supporting annual financial statement audits & grant monitoring.