Position Overview

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is seeking a highly qualified individual with a strong background in procurement to serve as an Accountant Advanced this individual will independently receive, verify and post financial information into the Agency's accounting system ERP-SRM in relation to contracts and obligations in the Procurement Section of the Agency under the direction of the Agency Purchasing Officer (APO).

The benefits of working at the EPA include a 37 ½ hour work week, a generous salary and benefits package (paid time off for vacation, sick or personal leave, holidays) pension and other retirement benefits, tuition reimbursement, and insurance eligibility on day one (medical, dental, vision, and life).

Essential Functions

40% 1. Serves as an Enterprise Resource Planning – Supplier Relationship Management (ERP-SRM) in relation to contracts and obligations in the Procurement and Contract Monitoring Section of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).

• Independently receives, verifies and posts financial information into the Agency's accounting system.
• Verifies a variety of complex financial documents, including invoices, contracts, and obligations for accuracy of information.
• Reviews for compliance with State regulations, account assignments, general ledger codes and attaches all support documents.
• Verifies, adjusts and reconciles any discrepancies.
• Prepares complex and difficult financial reports for management review.

Essential Functions Continued

• Responsible for obligating/de-obligating/tracking all Agency contracts and agreements, maintaining funding splits and internal orders, increasing and decreasing obligations in order to process invoices, including rental and maintenance contracts, loans, basic ordering agreements, assets, master contracts, grants and intergovernmental agreements.
• Serves as liaison between Fiscal and Bureaus regarding obligation amounts and amendments for current and upcoming fiscal years.
• Provides information to procurement staff to assist in obligating the contracts entered into BidBuy.
• Serves as liaison between Agency and ERP team for obligation resolutions.
• Enters contract information into contract shell in ERP-SRM.
• Creates shopping carts and produces purchase orders for processing invoices.

15% 2. Examines complex departmental budgetary reports in relation to contracts and obligations.

• Assists in coordinating budgetary unit activities with financial accounting or expenditure accounting units
• Prepares budgetary projections with obligations based on discussions with program staff and future program needs
• Analyzes appropriation balances to determine amount of money remaining for new agreements.

Essential Functions Continued

15% 3. Independently performs complete or sample type audits in accordance with the audit program in relation to obligations including the Agency Contract Report (SC-14) and Obligation Activity (SC-15) reconciling and reporting.

• Prepares information for the SCO-560 report annually.
• Analyzes obligation information to ensure contracts and agreements are in compliance with Illinois Office of the Comptroller guidelines.

10% 4. Reviews encumbrances to ensure properly obligated and verifies obligation balances are adequate to process invoices;

• Verifies the vendor data and ensures the Federal Employee Identification Number (FEIN) matches the Comptroller’s records.
• Coordinates and communicates with Procurement staff to obtain the financial disclosures, certification, Forms A or B and any other forms necessary to complete the obligation packet.

Essential Functions Continued

10% 5. Serves as secondary auditor of invoices from Agency contractors.

• Analyzes transactions.
• Determines if the charges are valid and consistent with the terms of negotiated contracts/agreements.
• Reviews invoices to ensure calculations are accurate.
• Determines is supporting documentation is authentic and adequate.
• Verifies applicable cost and contract balances.
• Files and retrieves information for historical and auditing purposes

05% 6. Reviews and conducts cost and/or price analysis relative to Job and Work Orders

• Analyzes cost proposals, bids, and change orders
• Compiles cost fees for Cost section on contracts and contract amendments

05% 7. Performs other duties as required or assigned, which are reasonably within the scope of duties enumerated above

Minimum Qualifications

1. Requires knowledge, skill, and mental development equivalent to completion of four years college, with courses in business administration and accounting.
2. Requires two years of professional experience in accounting, external auditing, budgetary planning and control or public accounting.

Preferred Qualifications

1. Prefers extensive knowledge of accounting and audit theory, principles, methods and procedures.
2. Prefers extensive knowledge of laws, rules and regulations relating to state or non-state accounting or auditing procedures.
3. Prefers ability to prepare comprehensive accounting reports.
4.  Prefers ability to review detailed work including written or numerical data and to make calculations rapidly and accurately.
5. Prefers skill and ability to evaluate more difficult accounting problems and to analyze and interpret more complex accounting records.
6. Prefers ability to establish and maintain satisfactory working relationships and to deal tactfully with controversial problems.
7. Prefers the ability to utilize a personal computer with knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel software.
8. Prefers experience in analyzing and reconciling contracts and obligations, determining compliance with Accounting Management Systems, the State Finance Act, and Procurement regulations.
9. Prefers experience in utilizing Enterprise Resource Planning-Supplier Relationship Management (ERP-SRM).

Conditions of Employment

1. Requires ability to travel
2. Requires ability to pass a background check
3. Requires ability to work at various times outside of normal office hours to meet deadlines.

The conditions of employment listed here are incorporated and related to any of the job duties as listed in the job description