ACCOUNTANT

City of Chicago; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 62,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

City of Chicago is seeking an Accountant in the Department of Planning & Development, Bureau of Finance, located at City Hall. The role entails maintaining journals, auditing financial documents, monitoring funds, and producing detailed financial reports. Typical hours are 8:30am–4:30pm, Monday–Friday.

Starting salary is $68,616.00 per year. Applicants must meet CPA or accounting degree requirements and will undergo an interview with a skills assessment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting with 15 semester hours in Accounting.
• Bachelor’s degree with CPA licensure.

Responsibilities

• Codes, records, and updates journal entries using spreadsheets.
• Audits financial documents for accuracy and compliance.
• Monitors account balances and reallocates funds as needed.
• Prepares program and operating budgets and financial statements.
• Analyzes historical data and forecasts expenses and revenues.
• Processes payments and grant-related payments.

Skills

Accounting

Budgeting

Financial reporting

Auditing

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting

CPA licensure

Job description

ACCOUNTANT

DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

BUREAU OF FINANCE

Number of Positions: 1

Starting Salary: $68,616.00

This position is open to the public and all current City employees covered under the City’s collective bargaining agreement with AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY, AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES (AFSCME) & BARGAINING UNIT 1, 3, 4 & 5. Only employees in City job titles in this bargaining unit are eligible to bid.

Applications for this position will be accepted until 11:59pm CDT on 11/17/2026

Location: City Hall, 10th Floor

Days: Monday – Friday

Hours: 8:30am – 4:30pm

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Codes, records, and updates journal entries (e.g., expenditures, account transfers, budget revisions) using manual and computerized spreadsheets
• Audits financial documents to ensure entries are accurate, appropriately allocated to accounts, and comply with contract and funding guidelines, and documents errors and reconciles accounts, as required
• Monitors account balances and adjusts spending levels and fund re-allocations to ensure the availability of funds to cover expenditures
• Prepares various reports (e.g., program and operating budgets, financial statements, balance sheets, financial reports) of a moderately complex nature using computer spreadsheets
• Analyzes historical records and anticipated economic trends and forecasts future expenses and revenues
• Participates in the compilation and analysis of fiscal data for inclusion in complex financial reports
• Processes payments for various parties (e.g., editing, reapplying, and confirming receipt of payments, processing direct and order payment vouchers for grant-funded programs)
• Calculates and prepares grant/project revenue collection reimbursement
• Reviews grant/project applications and awards
• Examines sub-grant agreements for any fiscal related requirements
• Reviews departmental requests for appropriating funds, authorizing grant/project obligations, monitoring and reporting grant/project expenditures, recording receivables and collections and closing out grant/project awards
• Coordinates and submits final close-out reports to various grantors
• Maintains and reports in-kind awards and expenditures incurred by the sub-grantees

QUALIFICATIONS

• Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's degree or higher in Accounting or a directly related field, plus 15 semester hours in Accounting, OR
• Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s degree or higher, plus licensure as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

SELECTION REQUIREMENTS

This position requires applicants to complete an interview which will include a skills assessment as part of the interview. The interviewed candidate(s) possessing the qualifications best suited to fulfill the responsibilities of the position, based on the oral and written parts of the interview will be selected.

For Information on our employees benefits please visit our benefits website at: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/fin/benefits-office.html

For Information on our salary and title structure visit our classifications website at: https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/dhr/supp_info/JobClassification/2025_Classification_and_Pay_Plan.pdf

APPLICATION EVALUATION

Initial evaluation will be based on information provided on the application and the documents submitted. Department of Human Resource staff will review applications after the final posting date. Staff will follow any and all required Employment/Hiring Plan provisions, federal, state and local laws, and Collective Bargaining Agreements when applicable. Staff will apply hiring preferences as required by the municipal code. Placement on an eligibility list is not an offer or guarantee of an interview nor employment with the City of Chicago.

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY

To further our commitment to hiring applicants with diverse experience the City of Chicago has adopted the following ordinances 2-74-020 and 2-74-075. The ordinances provide a preference to applicants who meet minimum qualifications and who are veterans of the Armed Forces, and/or residents of Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Areas (SEDA) and/or Chicago Public School (CPS) high school graduates to be referred to departments for consideration. These hiring preferences do not apply to bidders, as Collective Bargaining Agreements define the hiring process for bidders. For positions covered by a collective bargaining agreement, bidders will be considered before external candidates.

ALL REFERENCES TO POLITICAL SPONSORSHIP OR RECOMMENDATION MUST BE OMITTED FROM ALL APPLICATION MATERIALS SUBMITTED FOR CITY EMPLOYMENT.

The City of Chicago is an Equal Employment Opportunity, Military Friendly, and Fair Chance Employer.

City of Chicago
Brandon Johnson, Mayor