Financial Controller

Universal Surety Company; Lincoln (NE); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Universal Surety Company is seeking a Financial Controller to direct all financial and accounting activities for our insurance operations. You will ensure GAAP and SAP compliance, lead the monthly close, and drive timely regulatory filings while maintaining a rigorous internal control environment.

The role requires deep expertise in insurance accounting, including premium recognition, loss reserves, and reinsurance accounting, and will oversee the preparation of statements and audits.

Qualifications

• 5–7 years of progressive accounting experience within an insurance company or a public accounting firm auditing insurance clients.
• CPA or other relevant certification is preferred.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. GAAP and SAP, plus insurance-specific accounting practices.

Responsibilities

• Direct the monthly close process and ensure accuracy of financial statements (GAAP and SAP).
• Oversee statutory/regulatory filings, NAIC reports, premium tax returns, and examinations.
• Maintain internal controls per MAR/SOX guidelines where applicable.
• Manage insurance accounting functions (UPR, DAC, reinsurance allocations, LAE reserves).
• Coordinate external audits, examinations, and internal audit reviews.

Skills

Insurance accounting

GAAP knowledge

Regulatory filings

Internal controls

Team leadership

Tax provision

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance

CPA preferred

Tools

NetSuite

Workday

SAP

Wings

Booke

Job description

The Financial Controller will direct all financial and accounting activities for our insurance operations. This role is responsible for ensuring the integrity of the general ledger, managing the monthly close process, and ensuring compliance with both U.S. GAAP and Statutory Accounting Principles (SAP). The ideal candidate possesses deep expertise in insurance accounting (including premium recognition, loss reserves, and reinsurance accounting) and will lead the team in delivering timely regulatory filings and maintaining a rigorous internal control environment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

include, but are not limited to, the following

Financial Reporting & Statements: Oversee the production of accurate monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP and Statutory Accounting Principles (SAP).

Statutory & Regulatory Filings: Direct the preparation and timely submission of all state insurance department filings, including the NAIC Annual and Quarterly Statements (Yellow Books), premium tax returns, and state examinations.

Internal Controls & MAR Compliance: Maintain and enforce a strong internal control environment. Ensure complete compliance with the Model Audit Rule (MAR) or Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) guidelines where applicable.

Insurance Technical Accounting: Manage the specialized accounting functions unique to insurance, including unearned premium reserves (UPR), deferred acquisition costs (DAC), reinsurance premium/loss allocations, and loss adjustment expense (LAE) reserves.

Audit Management: Act as the primary liaison for external financial audits, state insurance department examinations, and internal audit reviews. Ensure all workpapers are audit-ready.

Tax Provision:Calculate and analyze permanent and temporary differences, effective tax rates (ETR), and deferred tax asset (DTA) admissibility rules unique to insurance products.Prepare and draft tax footnotes, disclosures, and rate reconciliations for SEC and NAIC statutory filings.

Budgeting & Forecasting: Partner with the leadership team and actuaries to develop forward-looking corporate budgets, cash flow projections, and variance analysis.

Other duties as assigned.

Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field; and
• 5-7 years of progressive accounting experience within an insurance company or a public accounting firm auditing insurance clients; or
• an equivalent combination of experience and education.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations

• Valid Driver’s License
• CPA or other relevant certification is preferred.
  

Computer Skills

Proficiency with enterprise accounting systems (e.g., NetSuite, Workday, SAP) and specialized insurance software (e.g., Wings, Booke, or automated state filing platforms). Advanced Excel capabilities are mandatory.

Other Qualifications

• Thorough understanding of U.S. GAAP, SAP, NAIC guidelines, and insurance-specific tax compliance.
• Must be able to meet time sensitive deadlines, ability to muti-task as required, and follow through on project list, and take on new projects.
• Must maintain confidentiality of financial records.

Other Skills & Abilities

• Attention to detail, accuracy and thoroughness.
• Strong ability to collaborate with actuarial teams to interpret reserves, loss ratios, and operational trends.
• Strong analytical, reasoning, organizational and problem-solving skills; with ability to adapt to business operational changes.
  

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to sit. The employee is frequently required to use hands and fingers to handle or feel. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

The noise level in the office work environment is usually very quiet, while on-site plant operations will be louder.A business casual work environment. This is a tobacco free campus.

Condition of Employment

Candidate is required to meet the above qualifications, task frequency and PPE requirements.Approval of pre-employment reference & background checks, and post-offer drug/alcohol testing with back screens (if required) are required as conditions of employment.

Disclaimer

The job duties, elements, responsibilities, skills, functions, experience, educational factors and the requirements and conditions listed in this job description are representative only and not exhaustive of the tasks that an employee may be required to perform. The employer reserves the right to revise this job description at any time and require employees to perform other tasks as circumstances or conditions of its business, competitive considerations or the work environment change. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions

Accessibility: If you need an accommodation as part of the employment process please contact Human Resources at
Phone: Call us at 402-434-1212
Email: [e-mail]
Equal Opportunity Employer, including disabled and veterans.
If you want to view the Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal poster, please choose your language: English – Spanish – Arabic - Chinese
English – Spanish – Chinese