Budget Analyst - Princeton, United States - Princeton University

Description

The Budget Analyst is responsible for supporting a wide range of Facilities Budget Procurement & Analysis (FBPA) partners throughout the Facilities organization, minimizing risks to Facilities and the University while meeting finance and budget objectives and ensuring compliance with policies and procedures. The Budget Analyst will be responsible for processing purchase order requisitions, accounts payable management, purchasing support to various departments in Facilities, preparation of accounting worksheets and performing reporting analysis, as needed. As a key member of the FBPA team, other duties include partnering with team members to drive efficiency in the process.

With a $150M annual operating budget, the Budget Analyst will support the Manager & Associate Director, FBPA by partnering with all Facilities departments to provide focused support, including accounts payable management, trend analyses, and process improvements and reporting to advise key stakeholders on complex financial matters. Though this role actively supports the Manager & Associate Director, there is a level of independence and autonomy that is required. The Budget Analyst will assist with complex financial reconciliations, transactional processing & analytical reporting to advise key stakeholders, such as Finance & Treasury, Office of General Counsel, Office of Audit & Compliance, and the Office of Community & Regional Affairs, on financial matters. In addition, the Budget Analyst will work closely with the Manager & Associate Director for Finance & Budget on various special projects, including some involving cross-departmental teamwork. Examples include Facilities strategic initiatives and project requests from the Office of Audit & Compliance and the Office of Community & Regional Affairs. The Budget Analyst will support and work collaboratively with the other additional Analysts that work on the FBPA team.

Department Purchase Order Support & Analysis

• Process approximately 100 purchase order requisitions per month in PeopleSoft for all departments within the Facilities organization and provide purchasing support.
• Work closely with staff from various departments to determine and support their purchasing needs. Perform purchasing trend analyses to provide relevant data reporting to all department Directors and Associate Vice Presidents.
• Manage open and outstanding purchase orders and other encumbrances.
• Perform various financial reporting in PeopleSoft to assist customers with the tracking of their purchase orders and payments.
• Back up in coordination and execution of the supplier onboarding process within the FBPA team and assist the central purchasing staff in setting up and managing suppliers during the onboarding process.

Financial Analysis & Reporting

• Provide information and data to the Manager/Associate Director for Budget and Finance to ensure smooth operation of the operating budget, including aspects related to the Office of Finance & Treasury and internal Facilities partners. This will include report generation, transaction detail analysis and clear communication of financial information.
• In addition to the day-to-day operations tasks needed to keep the department running effectively and efficiently, the position is expected to provide analysis and strategic vision with respect to financial aspects of the department and respective areas of the operating budget.
• Perform various reporting and analysis, as necessary. For example, reporting requests are received from various departments on campus that require preparation and analysis.

Financial & Accounting Administration

• Provide support to the Manager & Associate Director, FBPA during the annual year-end close process, which includes, but is not limited to the preparation of journals for purchase order accruals, inventory account balance reconciliations, amortization calculations and entry posting and support with annual utility distribution posting.
• Perform financial trend analyses to provide relevant data reporting to all department Directors and Associate Vice Presidents.
• Verify and post transactions to journals, ledgers and other records, and prepare supporting documentation for account reconciliations.

Compliance Guidance & Training

• Collaborate with Facilities and other campus stakeholders to provide guidance and direction to ensure compliance issues are understood and resolved. (e.g. Finance & Treasury, Office of General Counsel, Office of Audit & Compliance, and the Office of Community & Regional Affairs).
• Complete regular training for new employees hired within Facilities serve as the subject matter expert in Facilities for the electronic requisitioning system known as ePaw. Hold administrative rights within the system and update/maintain approval workflow for the system.

Accounts Payable Administration, Coordination & Analysis

• Establish effective working relationships with the accounts payable team in Finance & Treasury to ensure proper payment of invoices.
• Manage the invoicing process for various departments and ensure that each invoice is accurately and properly applied. Facilities processes a significant number of invoice payments to vendors/suppliers, annually. This role is responsible for timely payments to minimize risk exposure to Facilities & the University.

Special Projects

• Collaborate with FBPA team members to support the development and implementation of future utility payment management, as the department embarks on the implementation of a new utility database system.
• Serve as a core working group member for the Rethinking Purchasing Initiative.

Essential:

• Requires a bachelors degree in a related field and 5-7 years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience.
• Strong financial analysis skills and familiarity with interpreting and analyzing financial data and reports to quickly gather facts and perform root cause analysis and draw conclusions.
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility, professionalism and a commitment to excellence at work. This role works with highly confidential information and requires the ability to handle confidential and sensitive information with discretion.
• High attention to detail.
• Technology savvy; Must have strong Microsoft Excel skills.
• Excellent communication (verbally and written) and relationship building skills with an ability to prioritize and work with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong customer-service orientation - as part of a shared-service operation, must be highly focused on partner needs.
• Ability to work well in a team setting.
• Ability to collaborate and multi-task in a high-volume environment.

Preferred:

• Prior accounting, accounts payable or purchasing experience.
• Knowledge of PeopleSoft, Maximo, Onbase

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS