SENIOR GRANT ACCOUNTANT

Children's Law Center of California; Monterey Park (CA); Hybrid; USD 82,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee Assistance Program

Company-Sponsored Benefits (Medical, D

Up to 6% employer matched retirement

Generous Parental Leave

Fitness/Wellness Program

Health Care & Dependent Day Care FSA

Transit + Parking Benefits

Durfee Professional Development funds

Job summary

Children’s Law Center of California is seeking a Senior Grant Accountant to lead post-award finance for diverse grants and ensure GAAP compliance in a nonprofit setting. Hybrid work from Monterey Park headquarters, three days on-site per week, with strong Excel-driven forecasting and reporting expectations.

The role partners with program directors and finance leadership to deliver monthly spend-down and grant deliverables, while maintaining tight controls and audit trails.

Qualifications

• Solid understanding of US GAAP for nonprofit accounting and fund accounting.
• Advanced Excel skills including complex formulas, lookups, and pivot tables.
• Experience building and maintaining grant allocation schedules and post-award tracking.

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end post-award financial administration for federal, state, local, and private grants.
• Develop and maintain dynamic Excel allocation models for grant expenses and allocations.
• Prepare monthly grant reporting packages and variance analyses for leadership.

Skills

GAAP Nonprofit

Advanced Excel

Analytical precision

Interdepartmental collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting

Tools

Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT

ERP systems

Job description

Accounting Manager

(based on experience and qualifications)

Location / Working Model: Hybrid (3 days per week at Monterey Park Headquarters, or as needed)

Job Snapshot

Description

POSITION TITLE: SENIOR GRANT ACCOUNTANT

Department: Finance

Reports to: Accounting Manager

Salary Range: $82,000 to $100,000 annually

Location / Working Model: Hybrid (3 days per week at Monterey Park Headquarters, or as needed)

Job Snapshot

CLC is seeking to hire a Senior Grant Accountant to join our dynamic Finance team. We are a 500+ employee-focused nonprofit organization with an annual budget of over $70 million.

Reporting directly to the Accounting Manager, the Senior Grant Accountant is responsible for overseeing the post-award financial administration of federal, state, and private grant awards.

This role is responsible for building dynamic Excel allocation models, managing complex funding streams, executing accurate revenue recognition, and delivering comprehensive monthly financial and deliverable packages to program directors and finance leadership.

The ideal candidate brings a strong foundation in GAAP non-profit accounting, advanced Excel proficiency, exceptional analytical precision, and a proactive, self-directed work style to maintain balance sheet integrity, track milestone deliverables, and partner effectively across departments.

Your Impact on the Mission | Core Responsibilities

• Post-Award Grant Leadership: Oversee the end-to-end post-award financial administration for federal, state, local, and private grant awards, ensuring full compliance with GAAP, funding guidelines, and Uniform Guidance.
• Excel Allocation Modeling: Develop, maintain, and manage custom Excel allocation models to accurately calculate, allocate, and track direct program expenses and grant allocations across various funding streams.
• Projections & Variance Analysis: Perform monthly budget-to-actual variance analyses and update financial projections, reconciling Excel tracking models directly to the General Ledger and funder-approved grant budgets.
• Dynamic Allocation & Restrictive Funding Prioritization: Adapt flexibly to mid-period funding changes by strategically reallocating expenses to prioritize the most restrictive grant funds first, ensuring maximum fund utilization across all awards.
• Model Maintenance & Audit Trail Execution: Recalculate allocations as funding streams shift, ensuring all changes are meticulously documented, updated across dynamic Excel schedules, and reflected accurately in the General Ledger.
• Cross-Departmental Coordination & Proactive Tracking: Maintain proactive, persistent communication with Grant Managers and Program Directors to follow up on pending grant renewals, secure delayed initial grant budgets, and verify that all vendor invoices are received and coded correctly prior to billing cutoffs.
• Program Manager Reporting: Issue regular financial reports (at least monthly) to department and program managers to review spend-down rates, evaluate budget-to-actual variances, ensure expenses are properly coded, and make proactive operational adjustments well before grant end dates.
• Executive Month-End Close Package: Prepare and present a comprehensive monthly grant reporting package to finance leadership (Accounting Manager, Controller, CFO) that includes grant financial statements, spend-down status reports, variance analyses, and a deliverable tracking log. The package must proactively demonstrate that grant spending is on track, all unresolved issues are identified with action plans, and a structured, forward-looking schedule with clear milestones is in place to meet all reporting and billing deadlines ahead of time.
• Deliverable & Schedule Management: Independently track and manage all grant deliverables and compliance schedules (e.g., invoice due dates, funder expenditure reports, and program reports due to managers) to consistently meet all deadlines well ahead of time without needing reminders.
• Revenue Recognition & Compliance: Prepare and record grant-related journal entries, ensuring accurate revenue recognition (e.g., deferred revenue vs. earned grant revenue) in compliance with GAAP and donor restrictions.
• Balance Sheet & Subledger Integrity: Reconcile grant balance sheet accounts—including grant receivables, deferred revenue, and restricted net asset roll forwards to the General Ledger monthly.
• Continuous Learning: Staying informed and adapting evolving social dynamics to better engage and support colleagues from all backgrounds.

Requirements

The Assets You Possess/Essential Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or equivalent experience.
• Experience: 5+ years of progressive non-profit accounting experience, with at least 3+ years dedicated to grant/fund accounting in a complex, multi-funder environment.
• Solid understanding and practical application of US GAAP, fund accounting principles, conditional vs. unconditional grant revenue recognition, and tracking net restricted assets.
• Working knowledge and proficiency in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT (or enterprise ERP systems) preferred.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills (e.g., complex formulas, lookups, pivot tables, Power Query) with demonstrated experience building, maintaining, and updating dynamic multi-funder expense allocation schedules preferred.
• Exceptional attention to detail in applying complex allocation methodologies (e.g., prioritizing restricted/conditional funding streams first) and maintaining clean, version-controlled Excel audit trails.
• Strong self-management skills with a demonstrated ability to establish detailed work plans, map out milestone schedules, track open items to resolution, and provide finance leadership with clear, forward-looking status updates on all grant deliverables.
• High-initiative self-starter capable of independently tracking deliverables, prioritizing tasks, anticipating leadership reporting needs, and consistently meeting tight deadlines ahead of schedule.
• Strong interpersonal and diplomatic communication skills, with a proven ability to partner effectively across program departments, follow up persistently on pending information, and articulate financial concepts clearly to non-finance staff.

Perks + Benefits Employees of CLC Enjoy:

Health + Wellbeing

• Employee Assistance Program
• Company-Sponsored Benefits (Medical, Dental, Life Insurance) *
• Up to 6% employer matched retirement plan*
• Generous Parental Leave + Additional Leave Options*
• Fitness/Wellness Program*
• Health Care & Dependent Day Care FSA *
• Transit + Parking Benefits *

Growth + Development

• Durfee Professional Development funds are available for all employees, in good standing, who have been with CLC for at least two years.

Flexibility + Additional

• Flexible working environment (depending on position requirements)
• Paid vacation/sick/holiday time
• CLC will pay the current year’s mandatory bar dues for all attorneys actively employed on the date bar dues are owed and who have no known plans to end employment with CLC within 30 days of the due date. CLC will also pay bar dues for new admittees who are actively employed on their initial payment due date and have no known plans to end employment with CLC within 30 days of the due date.
• Must meet eligibility requirements upon open enrollment

About CLC

CLC is the largest children's legal services organization in the nation, advocating for tens of thousands of children and youth in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Placer County foster care systems. We are a powerful voice for our clients, fighting in and out of the courtroom for family reunification, permanence, educational opportunity, health and mental health services, self-sufficiency, and overall well-being. We want all of California’s children to have the support they need to succeed. We work to accomplish this goal through direct legal representation for children, multidisciplinary advocacy and support, and public policy.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commitment : All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, individual with disability, medical condition, marital status, ancestry, military status, veteran status, protected veteran status, genetics or any other legally protected group status or non-job related characteristic of an individual as directed by law.

Equal Employment Opportunity—Reasonable Accommodation Assistance: Children’s Law Center of California is committed to maintaining an environment of equal opportunity. If you need a reasonable accommodation to access the information provided by this organization, please contact [e-mail] further assistance regarding job postings.

Salary Description $82,000 to $100,000