Accounts Payable Finance Analyst I/II/Senior

Salary : $72,750.35 - $124,483.93 Annually
Location : Ventura County Government Center, CA
Job Type: Full-Time Regular
Job Number: 0921AUD-23AB (EO)
Department: Auditor-Controller
Opening Date: 11/30/2023
Closing Date: Continuous
Description
WHAT WE OFFER

• General Salary Increase -4% effective 12/24/2023 and 3.50% effective 12/22/2024.
• Educational Incentive - An educational incentive of 2.5% for completion of an associate's degree, 3.5% for completion of a bachelor's degree, OR 5% for completion of a graduate's degree.
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Incentive - An incentive of an additional five percent (5%) of your base salary may be paid for an active CPA Certification.
• Bi-lingual Incentive - Incumbents may also be eligible for bilingual incentive depending upon operational needs and certification skills.
• Annual Leave - 208 hours per year, increasing to 288 hours after 5 years of service.
• Annual Leave Redemption - The ability to "cash in" or redeem up to 100 hours of Annual Leave per year after using 80 hours in the preceding twelve months.
• Deferred Compensation- Eligible to participate in the County's 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or the Section 457 Plan. This position is eligible for up to a 3% match on your 401(k) contributions.
• Health Plans - You are afforded a flexible credit allowance for purchasing medical, dental, and/or vision insurance from a group of authorized plans. For Plan Year 2023 tier one for employee only is $497 per pay period, tier two for employee plus one is $678 per pay period and tier three for employee plus family is $825 per pay period. Effective December 24, 2023, these biweekly amounts will increase to $502 (employee only), $730 (employee plus one), and $905 (employee plus two or more).
• Flexible Spending Accounts - Choice of participation in the Flexible Spending Accounts which increase spending power through reimbursement of pre-tax dollars for IRS approved dependent care and health care expenses.
• Pension Plan - Both the County and employees contribute to the County's Retirement Plan and to Social Security. If eligible, reciprocity may be established with other public retirement systems, such as PERS.
• Holidays - 12 paid days per year which includes a scheduled floating holiday.

THE AUDITOR-CONTROLLER'S OFFICE
By State Law, the Auditor-Controller is charged with the responsibilities normally associated with that of the Chief Financial Officer. The office is charged with the establishment and supervision of the accounting and financial operations of all activities under control of the Board of Supervisors. The Auditor-Controller provides the County with professional fiscal leadership to protect the interests of the citizens of Ventura County; promotes public oversight; and provides accountability. These services are performed in a customer oriented, efficient, economical, and effective manner.
THE POSITION
Under general direction, conducts studies to evaluate existing fiscal controls, accounting standards, accounting systems, financing requirements and/or legislative impact for the Accounts Payable Section of the Auditor-Controller's Office. Performs countywide oversight duties and coordinates multi-agency fiscal programs/systems. Develops recommendations/strategies to address financial systems or structural accounting issues and options. Coordinates the implementation of new/upgraded accounting/financial systems or programs that cross over multiple agencies.
Each successive level in the Finance Analyst series is distinguished by the scope of independence and responsibility with the level being commensurate with the complexity of tasks, special projects and studies assigned.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
The ideal candidate must possess:

• Working knowledge of large automated financial systems;
• The ability to act as team lead and play a major role in a large project implementation;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications such as Excel and Word;
• Considerable experience in project management;
• Strong analytical skills; and,
• A desire to continually expand his/her knowledge in the areas of accounting and computer systems.

Finance Analyst I
At the entry level, the emphasis is on learning the operations and processes related to Financial Management conducting simple to moderate fiscal studies that are limited in scope and complexity. Work typically involves a well-defined segment of a major program, or is guided by well precedented projects. As experience is gained, and over a period of time, incumbents will assume the increasingly responsible duties associated with the full journey level of the series; however, formal assignment to the journey level is at the discretion and approval of management.
Finance Analyst II
This is the fully experienced journey-level competent to independently perform the full range of duties assigned and conducts fiscal studies that are difficult in nature requiring an in-depth and practical knowledge and skill in applying this knowledge to the analysis and development of new solutions, methods, approaches or procedures.
Senior Finance Analyst
This is the advanced journey level and conducts the most complex fiscal studies that require a significant level of independent judgment requiring a specialized technical or functional expertise including performance of duties in a project management capacity. Supervisory duties over lower level staff may also be included.
PAYROLL TITLES AND ANNUAL SALARIES:
Finance Analyst I: $72,750.35 - $99,486.04
Finance Analyst II: $80,833.73 - $113,167.20
Senior Finance Analyst: $88,917.10 - $124,483.93
NOTE: If appointed at the lower level, incumbent may be promoted to the higher level without further examination upon meeting the minimum requirements, demonstrating satisfactory performance, and in accordance with the business needs of the department.
The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill current and future Regular, Temporary, Fixed-term, Intermittent, or Extra Help vacancies for this position only within the Auditor-Controller Department. There is currently one (1) Regular vacancy within the Accounts Payable Section. The position may be filled at the Financial Analyst I, II or Senior level depending on the qualifications of the individual selected and the business needs of the department.
The Financial Analyst I is a Management non-exempt classification and eligible for overtime compensation. The Financial Analyst II and Senior are Management exempt classifications and not eligible for overtime compensation.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
OPENING DATE: Thursday, November 30, 2023
CLOSING DATE: Continuous and may close at any time; therefore, the schedule for the remainder of the process will depend upon when we receive a sufficient number of qualified applications to meet business needs.
(Previously:Friday, December 15, 2023, at 5:00 p.m.)
REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS: Applications will be reviewed on a weekly basis beginning the week of December 11, 2023.
(Previously: Application Review Complete: Week of December 18, 2023.)
Examples Of Duties
Duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Conducts complex and time-sensitive review of Board letters and contracts;
• Assists in development and implementation of new/upgraded systems to ensure proper integration with other financial accounting systems or compliance with Federal and State standards;
• Regularly interfaces with vendors, contractors, and department accounting staff;
• Prepares comprehensive calculations, evaluations, and data analysis and makes recommendations to executive management;
• Interacts with centralized information technology staff to resolve issues and problems related to platforms, beta testing, and productions;
• Manages and evaluates daily, monthly, and annual work processes, systems, and procedures for efficiency of workflow and conformance to accounting principles. This may include manual and automated accounting systems, budget projection systems, as well as e-commerce platforms;
• Assists departmental management in the ongoing maintenance of accounting information systems;
• Develops reports of system transactions and statistics;
• Evaluates internal controls and security of new and existing automated accounting systems to ensure adherence to internal control standards;
• Writes policies, procedures and desk manuals, and develops training materials;
• Trains County department employees in the operation of accounting systems.

In addition to the above duties, the Senior Finance Analyst may also perform the following duties:

• Researches and analyzes changes in legislation, Internal Revenue Service, Franchise Tax Board, Employment Development Division, and California Department of Tax and Fee Administration guidelines;
• Evaluates countywide fiscal/accounting impact and recommends policies, systems and procedures to implement the changes;
• Advises and coordinates with departments/agencies on new accounting structures, internal controls, and reporting requirements;
• Evaluates and reviews accounting policies and reporting systems for large County agencies or groups of agencies for compliance with regulations and reporting requirements;
• Reviews the work of accounting and programming staff in managing, developing or modifying systems or procedures;
• May develop and coordinate training programs for staff; and
• Performs other duties as required.

Typical Qualifications
These are entrance requirements to the examination and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on the eligible list.
EDUCATION, TRAINING and EXPERIENCE
Considerable education and experience which has led to the acquisition of the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.
The required knowledge, skills, and abilities can also be obtained by a Bachelor's degree with at least eighteen (18) semester units of accounting coursework including

• Upper-division Managerial Accounting;
  
• Six (6) units of upper-division coursework in the business administration field;

AND
Finance Analyst I
Four (4) years of progressively responsible professional experience as an accountant, auditor, or analyst which included responsibilities for accounting, financial reporting, or auditing.
Finance Analyst II
Five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience as an accountant, auditor, or analyst which included responsibilities for accounting, financial reporting or auditing; OR one (1) year as a Finance Analyst I for the County of Ventura.
Senior Finance Analyst
Six (6) years of progressively responsible professional experience as an accountant, auditor, or analyst which included responsibilities for accounting, financial reporting or auditing with one (1) year of which must be at the Project Leader level; OR two (2) years as a Finance Analyst II for the County of Ventura.
Verification of the required college degree and 18 semester units of accounting coursework is required. Transcripts or grade reports from an institute of higher learning recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation which include your name, grades, units per class, and that the courses were completed is to be submitted to County Human Resources within three (3) business days of the closing date of this recruitment. If they are not submitted, your application may be screened out and you may not be allowed to continue in the process. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable. If you need additional time to submit transcripts, please contact the recruitment analyst referenced near the bottom of this bulletin.
If the name on the documentation is different from the name on your application, include documents that show the name change.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: Applicants who attended a college or university that is accredited by a foreign or non U.S. accrediting agency must have their educational units evaluated by an educational evaluation service.
DESIRED

• Experience in Accounts Payable in a public sector environment.
• Experience with purchase orders and contracts.
• Experience in project management.
• Experience with using Microsoft Access.
• Knowledge of databases and tools for SQL data queries.
• Well-developed skills in time management, setting priorities, planning and organizing work and delegating when necessary.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES
Considerable knowledge of:

• Large automated financial systems;
• Accounts Payable operations and activities;
• Laws and regulations affecting governmental Accounts Payable operations;
• Fiscal monitoring and control methods; and
• Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Skill in:

• Applying financial principles and regulations within Accounts Payable;
• Reconciling financial statements;
• Use of computers, Microsoft Office applications including Word and Excel and related technology including software applications specific to work performed;
• Developing clear and concise fiscal reports and related documents;

Ability to:

• Learn and perform complex analytical and critical examination of Accounts Payable operations and activities;
• Exercise sound judgment;
• Understand interrelationships among financial records and documents;
• Analyze financial/accounting data and draw logical conclusions;
• Analyze and evaluate administrative and abstract accounting concepts and procedures;
• Understand, interpret, and apply professional principles, standards, and procedural requirements;
• Evaluate and reconcile financial data from multiple accoun...