Accounting Assistant

The Accounting Assistant, a member of the facilities business operations team, performs accounting tasks in a varied and highly complex environment exercising a high degree of judgment in selecting and applying guidelines and policy. Many duties involve access and use of confidential information. 

Employees in this position enters, processes, and reconciles a wide variety of financial transactions such as purchase requisitions, invoices, vendor statements using a variety of university and departmental software systems and spreadsheets. 

About the Work Unit: 

Facilities annual budget exceeds $100 million in operating expenses and includes 500 employees. Facilities manages major capital project expenditures totaling ~$125 million annually and facility renewal, replacement and large maintenance project expenditures totaling ~$20 million annually. The Facilities Business Operations Center provides support to the entire Facilities department, in the areas of Finance, Employee Engagement, Systems, Communications and General Administration.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Purchase Requisitions

• Accurately and thoroughly enter requests for purchase requisitions into the Oracle system. 
• Track approval process including answering any questions from approvers and following up as needed to ensure timely processing of purchase orders.
• Send notification to applicable parties once purchase order has been implemented.

Invoices

• Review invoices to verify accuracy and completeness, including checking labor rates or other specific line details against the work contract.
• Coordinate with operational and project managers to confirm work has been sufficiently completed and payment can be issued.
• Follow up with Payment Services to investigate and resolve any delays in payment processing.
• Log invoices into applicable systems (e.g., work order system or captial project management system).

Utilities and Permits

• Download utility bill from utility provider websites several times per week.
• Log utility bills into the system, ensuring accuracy of the invoice.
• Prepare, process, and maintain records for payments required to the State of Tennessee including boilers and other various permitting needs. 

Project reconciliation

• Under supervision and training from the Senior Financial Unit Manager, complete periodic project reconciliations between captial project management system (eBuilder) and the general ledger (Oracle).

Supervisory Relationship:

This position does not have supervisory responsibilities. This position reports administratively and functionally to the Senior Financial Unit Manager for Plant Operations.

Education and Certifications:

• Associate’s degree
• Three (3) years of experience in a related environment
• Experience with facilities operations is preferred.
• Experience with work order management (AiM) preferred.
• Experience with capital project management system (eBuilder) preferred.
• Experience with enterprise general ledger (Oracle) preferred. 

Experience and Skills:

• Demonstrated skill in using Microsoft Office suite of applications, especially Excel
• Clear communication skills.
• Effective organizational skills must be able to track many outstanding issues simultaneously. 
• Requires strong documentation and follow up skills.