Accountant II

UW-Madison College of Engineering; Madison (WI); Hybrid; USD 59,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at UW–Madison seeks an Accountant II to provide financial management support, preparing budgets, journals, ledgers, and reports. You will train staff, work with a small team, and ensure accuracy across financial processes while adapting to changing priorities.

Responsibilities include preparing statements, handling reconciliations, and presenting data to stakeholders. This role offers a hybrid work arrangement with on-site collaboration.

Qualifications

• Extensive professional experience processing invoices, travel payments/reimbursements, allocating expenses to funds, using employer credit card and other financial transactions.
• Moderate experience interpreting and adhering to regulatory frameworks, including state statutes and organizational policies.
• Extensive experience providing customer service in an administrative setting.
• Experience with financial statements, journals, and reports would be beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Provides and prepares budgets and projections based on existing data and established policies and procedures.
• Assists with accounting and reviewing reconciliations, journal entries, schedules, and reports.
• Develops and maintains automated financial systems, recommending controls to ensure data integrity.
• Prepares and analyzes financial data, reports and records, identifies discrepancies and implements solutions.
• Prepares and/or approves financial transactions and payments.
• Answers questions and provides accounting information to stakeholders per policies.

Skills

Invoice processing

Travel reimbursements

Excel

Regulatory compliance

Customer service

Education

Associate degree or higher

Tools

Workday

Excel

Job description

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.

Job Category

Academic Staff

Employment Type

Regular

Job Profile

Accountant II

Job Summary

The Department of Mechanical Engineering is a large, research-intensive department with over 55 faculty, 1,800 students, and more than $36M in annual operational and research expenditures. The department is supported by an innovative and collaborative administrative team of 15.

Under general supervision of the Academic Department Manager, Accountant II provides financial management and support for the department working closely with Accountant III, four Research Administrators and two Financial Specialists.

The Accountant II organizes, prepares, and updates financial statements, monthly and year-end journal entries, accounts, ledgers, and reports for various financial needs within an automated financial system to ensure accurate recording and reporting of financial transactions. The position prepares and analyzes financial data, reports and records, identifies discrepancies, investigates, recommends, and implements solutions as needed. Assists with accounting and reviewing reconciliations, journal entries, schedules, and reports. Provides and prepares budgets and projections based on existing data and established policies and procedures, and answers questions and provides accounting related information to internal and external stakeholders according to established policies and procedures. This position also helps train and support two Financial Specialists. The successful candidate should:

• Have the ability to create, manage, and coordinate financial spreadsheets and reports, projects, and programs.
• Possess excellent organizational skills, a propensity for detailed accuracy, and the ability to organize and coordinate diverse activities.
• Will be able to make a wide variety of decisions, analyzing situations, and exercising good judgment.
• Practice excellent interpersonal human relations, and oral/written communication skills.
• Possess excellent customer service and professionalism. Be courteous, respectful, responsive, cooperative.
• Have the ability to adapt to and apply new and changing methods, requirements, and priorities.
• Have excellent time management skills and ability to work quickly and accurately with strict time deadlines and under pressure. Ability to work independently with limited supervision and manage multiple priorities at the same time.
• Have an interest in working in a cohesive team environment, contribute, and learn with others.

Additional Information

• The successful applicant will be responsible for ensuring eligibility for employment in the United States on or before the effective date of the appointment. University sponsorship is not available for this position.
• This position may require some work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non-campus work location. The anticipated hybrid work schedule will be up to two days remote, with 3 days onsite after an initial 6 month training period which will require working 5 days on site.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Provides and prepares budgets and projections based on existing data and established policies and procedures
• Assists with accounting and reviewing reconciliations, journal entries, schedules, and reports
• Develops and maintains automated financial systems, recommending controls to ensure system reliability and data integrity
• Prepares and analyzes financial data, reports and records, identifies discrepancies, investigates, recommends, and implements solutions as neededOrganizes, prepares, and updates financial statements, monthly and year-end journal entries, accounts, ledgers, and reports for various financial needs within an automated financial system to ensure accurate recording and reporting of financial transactions
• Prepares and/or approves financial transactions and payments
• Answers questions and provides accounting related information to internal and external stakeholders according to established policies and procedures

Department

College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Compensation

The starting salary for the position is $65,000, but is negotiable based on experience and qualifications.

Required Qualifications

• Extensive professional experience processing invoices, travel payments/ reimbursements, allocating expenses to appropriate funds, using and/or managing an employer credit card and other financial transactions.
• Moderate experience using Excel or other spreadsheet applications (comfortable with basic navigation, data entry, simple functions and formatting)
• Moderate experience in a role responsible for interpreting and adhering to regulatory frameworks, including state statutes and organizational policies.
• Extensive experience providing customer service (internal or external customers) in an administrative setting

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience using Workday to process financial transactions and generate reports
• Experience working collaboratively on process improvement initiatives Experience supporting non-finance employees and students with financial transactions
• Experience working in a professional position higher education

Education

Associate’s degree or higher

Contact Information

Alissa Girdler

1513 University Ave

Madison, WI 53706

[e-mail]

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