Budget Analyst

Budget Analyst
University of Puget Sound
Job ID: 6278
Location: Office of Finance
Full/Part Time: Full Time
Regular/Temporary: Regular

Staff Posting Details
Appointment: regular, full-time, (1.0) FTE.

Position Summary:

Responsible for complex analysis and reporting of budgets, projections, and actual results. Manage the collection, reconciliation, upload, and update of operating and other budgets. Compile, analyze, and validate budget variance projections received from budget managers and prepare institution-wide budget variance reports, with variance explanations, for review by executives and the board of trustees. Prepare and/or review other budget and financial reporting, including academic program financial reports and international program revenues and expenses. Calculate fringe benefit rates applicable to federal grants. Effectively communicate with team members and campus constituents, which includes planning and leading meetings and making presentations. Serve as point of contact for university community members with questions relating to budgets within PeopleSoft Financials. Continuously look for, recommend, and make improvements to processes, reports, and methods of analysis.

Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities:

• Coordinate receipt and analyze financial projections prepared by others to prepare the university-wide Budget Variance Report (BVR).
• Serve as Office of Finance point of contact for Associated Students of the University of Puget Sound (ASUPS) by attending regular meetings, providing training, answering questions, and managing and processing requests in adherence with the ASUPS financial code and Senate minutes.
• Facilitate budget data collection from budget managers. Review and reconcile operating budgets for educational and general (E&G) operations, auxiliary operations, ASUPS (student government), and other budgets as needed.
• Coordinate ResNet, international programs, and residential programming (RA/CC, RD, and RHA) budgets and transfers to “true-up” the budgets.
• Coordinate, review, and approve budget-related entries, including budgeted transfer entries.
• Build relationships with faculty and staff, through training on budget management within ERP and other tools, planned budget and budget variance workshops, and other budget support..
• Develop, coordinate, and maintain monthly fringe benefit expense allocations, staff compensation redistribution between E&G and auxiliary, and budget allocations to cover actual student employment wages across campus.
• Serve as functional lead for the commitment control (budget) module ERP. Design, test, implement, and maintain budget configuration setting and security rules, recommend and execute test plans to implement upgrades and new functionality, and reconcile as part of closing process.
• Coordinate with Payroll and Finance staff responsible for grant accounting to:
  • ensure approved fringe benefit rates are entered into and properly applied within the university's ERP system and other systems as applicable to accurately allocate benefit expenses to federally funded grants.
• Coordinate with other Finance and CES staff to prepare and maintain the campus-wide (E&G, Auxiliary, and ASUPS) student employment budget.
• Maintain a deep understanding of Puget Sound's budget and continuously look for ways to improve information, processes, and service delivery to budget managers.

Budget Variance Projections and Reporting (BVR)

• Proactively coordinate and recommend an appropriate calendar/timeline for each BVR.
• Proactively and effectively communicate the timeline for each BVR with all involved in the BVR process.
• Review BVR projections and analysis prepared or collected by others. Ensure projections are appropriately documented, reasonable, conservative, and analytically sound.
• Reconcile BVR to the Long Range Plan (LRP), prepare supporting analysis with accurate and succinct BVR explanatory notes. Reconcile BVR to financial statements.
• As part of the fiscal year close process, partner with Finance leadership team members to confirm appropriate benefit expense accruals are made and ensure fringe benefit expenses are fully and appropriately allocated.

Academic Program Financial Reporting:

• Maintain graduate program financial models, coordinating modeling and reporting as scheduled or requested. This includes proactively ensuring that accurate graduate program compensation budgets are loaded and the administrative overhead rate is calculated.
• Maintain academic program cost models and reports.
• Develop other reports or analysis as needed.

Other:

• Develop effective relationships and communications with team members and constituents.
• Support other modeling needs of the university as needed
• Support and develop automation and process efficiencies, including work towards a budget dashboard utilizing Tableau, and automated reporting utilizing Nvision and ERP
• Prepare or review benefit-related and possibly other financial surveys, ensuring analysis of results and timely and accurate submission.
• Cross-train and back up other Finance team members. Serve as primary backup for daily receipting and deposit activities.

Supervisory Responsibilities: May supervise student staff or temporary staff

Budget Responsibilities: No direct budget authority exists for this position

Qualifications:

• Requires a bachelor's degree, with accounting or finance major preferred. Masters degree preferred.
• Requires a solid understanding of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and GAAP financial statements, preferably for private colleges/universities and/or not-for-profit organizations.
• Requires significant, increasingly complex financial analysis experience including budget development, projections, variance analysis, and financial reporting.
• Requires the ability to analyze, understand, and document business processes, identify relevant questions, and create effective financial models.
• Requires excellent written and verbal communication skills, including creating and delivering presentations. Must be able to communicate complex financial ideas to people without a deep understanding of finance.
• Requires the ability to work in cooperation with other team members to achieve university and Finance department goals and objectives.
• Requires the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously while maintaining high quality and accurate work and adhering to deadlines.
• Requires flexibility and positive response to changing circumstances.
• Requires the ability to recognize sensitive information and maintain its confidentiality.
• Must demonstrate initiative, self-direction, ownership of projects, ability to meet deadlines, attention to detail, strong analytical skills, and excellent organization, follow-through, and problem solving skills.
• Requires a quick and continuous learner with a high degree of curiosity.
• Must have superior aptitude for and skill with technology, including learning new technology, understanding relational databases (SQL experience is a plus). Position needs advanced MS Excel, Word and Outlook experience. Experience with data visualization software such as Tableau, PeopleSoft and nVision is a plus.
• Ability to respectfully work, communicate and provide leadership within a diverse campus community.

Compensation and Benefits: Decisions about starting salaries are made based on the extent and relatedness of the candidate's education and experience and on internal equity and market considerations.

Puget Sound offers a generous benefits package. For more information, visit: https://pugetsound.edu/human-resources/benefits

Application Deadline: Review of applications will begin immediately. Search and selection procedures will be closed when a sufficient number of qualified candidates have been identified.

Required Documents:

Resume Letter of Interest

Applications submitted without the required attachments will not be considered.

All offers of employment are contingent on successful completion of all required background checks. All new hires will be required to submit proof of current COVID-19 vaccination (including booster) or receive an approved medical or religious exemption from the university.

Diversity Statement:

We acknowledge the richness of commonalities and differences we share as a university community; the intrinsic worth of all who work and study here; that education is enhanced by investigation of and reflection upon multiple perspectives. We aspire to create respect for and appreciation of all persons as a key characteristic of our campus community; to increase the diversity of all parts of our University community through commitment to diversity in our recruitment and retention efforts; to foster a spirit of openness to active engagement among all members of our campus community. We act to achieve an environment that welcomes and supports diversity; to ensure full educational opportunity for all who teach and learn here; to prepare effectively citizen-leaders for a pluralistic world.

Puget Sound is committed to an environment that welcomes and supports diversity. We seek diversity of identity, thought, perspective, and background in our students, faculty, and staff. To learn more please visit: https://pugetsound.edu/about-puget-sound-0/mission-core-values/institutional-equity-diversity

The University of Puget Sound is an equal opportunity employer.


How to Apply
For complete job description and application instructions, visit: www.pugetsound.edu/employment

About Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a selective national liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, drawing 2,600 students from 48 states and 20 countries. Puget Sound graduates include Rhodes and Fulbright scholars, notables in the arts and culture, entrepreneurs and elected officials, and leaders in business and finance locally and throughout the world. A low student-faculty ratio provides Puget Sound students with personal attention from faculty who have a strong commitment to teaching and offer 1,200 courses each year in more than 40 traditional and interdisciplinary fields, including graduate programs in occupational and physical therapy and in education. Puget Sound is the only nationally ranked independent undergraduate liberal arts college in Western Washington, and one of just five independent colleges in the Pacific Northwest granted a charter by Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s most prestigious academic honorary society. Visit "About Puget Sound" (http://www.pugetsound.edu/about) to learn more about the college.

As a strategic goal and through our core values, University of Puget Sound is committed to an environment that welcomes and supports diversity. We seek diversity of identity, thought, perspective, and background in our students, faculty, and staff. EOE/AA



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