Special Revenue & Enterprise Funds Sr. Financial Analyst

County of Berks; Reading (Berks County); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The County of Berks is looking for a finance professional responsible for budgeting, financial analysis, and compliance monitoring. The role requires advanced knowledge in accounting and six years of experience in public sector finance.

Key responsibilities include managing budgets, analyzing funding changes, and ensuring compliance with financial regulations. The position requires a Bachelor's degree and proficient skills in Excel and financial software.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in accounting or related field is necessary.
• Six years of experience in public sector financial accounting or budgetary analysis.
• Knowledge of government accounting principles is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain annual budgets for assigned departments.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly budget analyses.
• Monitor grant compliance and cash flow.

Skills

Budget management

Financial analysis

Attention to detail

ERP platforms experience

Excel proficiency

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or business

Tools

Enterprise financial software

Microsoft Excel

Job description

POSITION SUMMARY

This position is primarily responsible for multiple Human Service, Enterprise, General Fund, and Agency Funds budget review, evaluation, and monthly monitoring, including evaluation of relevant weekly budget transfer and appropriation requests. This position is responsible for grant compliance and monitoring as it impacts expected revenues and cash flows for assigned departments. This position is expected to assist in the supervision and review of the work of various departments’ fiscal managers and officers and fiscal support staff.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES

Essential Functions:

• Works directly with budget manager, department heads, and fiscal managers and officers to develop and maintain an annual budget for assigned general fund and agency departments. Provides guidance to fiscal managers within assigned departments and provides the necessary technical expertise to ensure the accuracy of financial information. Which includes:
  • review of accounting
  • recommendations for accounting adjustments
  • reconciliation of accounts, and/or review of reconciliations, including providing templates to ensure the accounting is accurate and reliable from a financial reporting, data analysis, and decision support perspective
  • reconciliation of compliance reporting to accounting records
  • review of compliance reports and reconciliations (occurs on a weekly basis)
• Prepares monthly and quarterly analyses that: monitor the impact of changes in funding certifications on budgeted county match, ensure accuracy of booked receivables and payables, and project year-end fund balances.
• Maintains complex and technical budget and budget progression records that support annual budget development and proactive decision-making. Also monitors grant compliance as it pertains to revenues, expenditures, and cash flows.
• Converts annual budget information to cash basis for cash flow forecasting and maintains analysis that supports the development of the annual cash flow forecast, as it pertains to assigned departments. Monitors the actual results to plan on a monthly basis with relevant variance analysis.
• Create a five-year forecast for all accounts related to assigned department complement.
• Monitors ongoing compliance with Commissioner/budgetary mandates, generally accepted government accounting principles, and regulatory and legislative changes as they relate to revenue, expense, operating and quasi-external transactions.
• Create, maintain, and review complex financial analysis and schedules for various functions within the county, such as fringe benefits expense, position control, ad-hoc analysis used for Union negotiations, cost statements, and cost-accounting allocations.
• Create and maintain financial analysis that supports staffing levels, build versus buy, ROI, break-even analysis, in-source versus outsource decisions, department performance metrics, Six Sigma financial impact statements.
• Other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or business with emphasis in accounting. Advanced degree such as CGFM/MBA preferred.
• Six (6) plus years of recent experience in public sector financial accounting and/or budgetary analysis or related private sector experience. Applicable experience and training may be substituted for any requirement at the discretion of the Director of Budget and Finance.

MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Working knowledge of generally accepted government accounting principles as they pertain to fund accounting (preferred).
• Ability to analyze Regulatory Acts and translate the economic provisions into budget dollars and related general fund impact (preferred).
• Significant experience with export and query functions of enterprise financial software packages (preferred).
• Experience with the use of ERP platforms for financial analysis and budgeting (preferred).
• Ability to analyze complex financial-related activities (required).
• Accomplished user of Excel to create financial analysis, including creation of pivot tables and use of import function (required).
• Extremely organized and attention to detail (required).
• Ability to multitask and reprioritize goals and deliverables on a daily, weekly basis (required).
• Excellent oral and written communication skills (required).
• Ability to collaborate both on projects and teams or committees and independently (required).
• Physical presence in the office is required.
• Ability to handle stress.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

Work involves standing, walking, sitting, lifting, carrying, talking, hearing, using hands to handle, feel objects, tools, or controls, and reaching with hands and arms. Vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds a distance of 15 feet or less. Eyestrain - Long periods of time looking at a computer screen. Long periods of sitting are required when analysis must be completed.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

Normal office environment

NOTE

This position description serves as a guideline for communicating the essential functions and other information about the position to the applicant/employee. It is not intended to create a binding employment contract, nor to cover every detail of the position, and may be changed where appropriate.