Accounting Technician - Procurement

Chico State Enterprises; Chico (CA); Hybrid; USD 30,000 - 37,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

FSA

Paid holidays

Personal holiday

Vacation accrual

Sick leave

403(b) plan

Life insurance

Long-term disability

Job summary

Chico State Enterprises provides specialized services to support Chico State’s research and education programs. We seek an Accounting Technician to support the P-Card program, perform compliance tasks, and assist with accounts payable and purchasing activities.

The role requires collaboration with cardholders, project directors, procurement, and finance staff, ensuring accurate documentation and adherence to policy while maintaining confidentiality.

Qualifications

• Experience in accounting, accounts payable, procurement, or financial administration.
• Ability to review financial transactions, identify discrepancies, and apply policies.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and standard office and financial systems.
• Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information.

Responsibilities

• Process requests to issue, modify, suspend, and cancel P-Cards.
• Review card applications and verify required approvals and training.
• Maintain cardholder records, limits, restrictions, and approving-official assignments.
• Serve as primary contact for cardholders, officials, departments, and bank.
• Assist with declined transactions, lost/stolen cards, fraud, disputes, and access issues.
• Maintain complete P-Card records per retention requirements.
• Review monthly packets, statements, receipts, justifications, and codes for compliance.
• Verify purchases align with CSU and internal policies.
• Identify prohibited items, split transactions, missing docs, and tax issues.
• Escalate violations and assist management with corrective action.
• Provide P-Card training and guidance to users and officials.
• Develop training materials, forms, procedures, and FAQs.
• Offer responsive assistance to employees, project directors, campus partners, and vendors.
• Reconcile P-Card activity with bank statements and records.
• Prepare reports on spending, exceptions, and compliance trends.
• Suggest improvements to processes and monitoring practices.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Organizational skills

Written communication

Customer service

Follow-up

Microsoft Excel

Tools

MS Excel

Office suite

Financial systems

Job description

STATUS: Full-Time / Benefited / Hourly / Non-Exempt

COMPENSATION: $21.57 - $26.50 per hour

LOCATION: Chico State Enterprises - 25 Main Street, Suite 103, Chico, CA. This is a hybrid work environment that is eligible for partial telecommuting.

RECRUITMENT ID: 462 – T2

RESIDENCY: Candidate must be a California resident. Chico State Enterprises is not a sponsoring agency for staff and management positions (i.e., H-1B Visas).

Chico State Enterprises (CSE) provides specialized business services to support Chico State’s innovative research programs, community partnerships, entrepreneurial projects and other education-related activities. Funded by public and private grants, contracts, and gifts, CSE is a rapidly expanding organization with annual revenues of $111 million supporting 2000 full-and part-time faculty, student, and staff employees. We are seeking a highly collaborative individual with strong interpersonal skills to join the dynamic finance and accounting team.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: Chico State Enterprises is seeking a candidate with a passion for accounting and impressive people skills. The accounting technician will have the opportunity to support some of Chico State’s most exciting, research, educational, and philanthropic initiatives. The accounting technician will be instrumental in facilitating accounting functions and business services for research, service, and entrepreneurial programs led by Chico State faculty and project directors and managed through CSE.

Under the general supervision of the procurement services manager, the accounting technician performs technical accounting, administrative, and compliance-related duties supporting the organization’s procurement card (P-Card) program and related purchasing and accounts payable functions.

The position serves as a primary resource for cardholders, approving officials, project directors, and administrative staff. The accounting technician reviews financial transactions and supporting documentation to help ensure compliance with CSE policies, applicable California State University requirements, federal and state regulations, sponsored-project requirements, and established internal controls.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

P-Card Program Administration

• Process requests for the issuance, modification, suspension, and cancellation of P-Cards.
• Review card applications and verify that required approvals and training have been completed.
• Maintain cardholder records, transaction and monthly credit limits, merchant-category restrictions, and approving-official assignments.
• Serve as the primary contact for cardholders, approving officials, internal departments, and the issuing bank.
• Assist with declined transactions, lost or stolen cards, suspected fraudulent activity, disputed charges, and account-access issues.
• Maintain complete and accurate P-Card records in accordance with applicable record-retention requirements.

Transaction Review and Compliance

• Review monthly P-Card packets, statements, receipts, business-purpose explanations, account coding, and approvals for accuracy, completeness, and compliance.
• Verify that purchases are allowable under CSE procurement, travel, hospitality, information-technology, sponsored-project, and other applicable policies.
• Identify prohibited purchases, split transactions, missing documentation, sales-tax issues, personal expenditures, and other exceptions.
• Communicate documentation deficiencies and obtain corrections or additional information from cardholders and approving officials.
• Document repeated or significant violations and refer compliance concerns to management for review and corrective action.
• Escalate suspected fraud, misuse, conflicts of interest, or other serious concerns to management.

Training and Customer Support

• Provide P-Card training and guidance to cardholders and approving officials.
• Explain allowable purchases, documentation standards, reconciliation requirements, submission deadlines, and appropriate procurement methods.
• Develop and update training materials, forms, desk procedures, frequently asked questions, and program communications.
• Provide responsive and professional assistance to employees, project directors, campus partners, and vendors.

Reconciliation, Reporting, and Audit Support

• Reconcile P-Card activity with bank statements, accounting records, and cardholder submissions.
• Monitor outstanding documentation, unreconciled transactions, credits, disputes, and past-due submissions.
• Prepare reports concerning spending activity, policy exceptions, card limits, inactive accounts, and compliance trends.
• Identify and recommend improvements to P-Card processes, procedures, training, and monitoring practices.

Working Relationships

• The accounting technician works closely with cardholders, approving officials, project directors, procurement services, accounts payable, finance and accounting, sponsored-program personnel, information-technology staff, and representatives of the issuing bank.

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS:

• Education or experience providing the knowledge and abilities required to perform technical accounting and financial-recordkeeping duties.
• Experience with accounting, accounts payable, procurement, purchasing cards, or financial administration.
• Working knowledge of financial recordkeeping, transaction reconciliation, and documentation requirements.
• Ability to review financial transactions, identify discrepancies, and apply policies and procedures consistently.
• Ability to maintain accurate records and manage multiple deadlines.
• Strong organizational, written communication, customer-service, and follow-up skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and standard office and financial systems.
• Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information appropriately.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience administering or supporting a procurement-card or corporate-card program.
• Experience working for a California State University auxiliary organization, higher-education institution, nonprofit organization, or sponsored-program environment.
• Knowledge of CSU and auxiliary procurement, travel, hospitality, and information-technology purchasing requirements.
• Experience reviewing expenditures charged to grants and contracts.
• Experience using an issuing bank’s online card-management platform and an enterprise financial system.
• Experience preparing procedures and delivering employee training.

COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Satisfactory completion of a background check (including a criminal records check) is required for employment. Chico State Enterprises will make a conditional offer of employment, which may be rescinded if the background check reveals disqualifying information, and/or it is discovered that the candidate knowingly withheld or falsified information. Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect the continued employment of a current Chico State Enterprises employee who was conditionally offered the position.

BENEFITS:

Benefits for employees working 30 hours or more per week include employer paid life insurance ($50,000) and long-term disability; options for health, dental, and vision insurance; FSA; paid holidays including 1 personal holiday; vacation accrual (initially 10 days/year); sick leave (up to 12 days/year); employer contributions to a 403(b) retirement plan (up to 8%).

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:

Consistent with California law and federal civil rights laws, Chico State Enterprises provides equal opportunity in employment without unlawful discrimination or preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. It is Chico State Enterprises’ policy to hire only United States citizens and aliens lawfully authorized to work in the United States. All new employees must provide proof of identity and authorization to work.