Position Overview

The Accounting Specialist administers day-to-day finance activities and business service processes in Housing & Residence Life (HRL) at the University of Kansas. HRL houses about 5500 students on the Lawrence campus in residence halls, apartments, and cooperative houses known as scholarship halls and manages an auxiliary budget of over $50 million. This position will use accounting skills to perform financial support functions, provide accurate and timely information to make decisions, and ensure efficient transaction processing to student accounts and vendors. This position is supervised by the Financial Analyst Senior and is the primary administrative contact to students, parents, and external offices regarding housing and dining charges, including email, phone, and in person communication. This position works closely with other areas within Housing & Residence Life to ensure accuracy of charges.

This position regularly interacts with other KU staff, vendors, contractors, students, parents, and guests. The Accounting Specialist maintains records and process transactions efficiently and accurately. A thorough knowledge of the policies, regulations, guidelines, and administrative practices of the University is vital to the successful functioning of this position.

Job Description

40% Student Accounts Systems Maintenance

• Processes daily and monthly billing of room and meal charges to KU Enroll & Pay, including account adjustments, payments, and credits after review and analysis of financial details.
• Accesses information in housing database (StarRez) used for room assignments, billing, and applications to review and maintain student accounts.
• Completes account maintenance by reviewing for payment, adjustment, etc. to ensure accuracy of financial accounts.
• Responds to email, telephone, and in-person requests from residents, families, and sponsors for student account information by reviewing Mercury and/or Enroll & Pay details.
• Understands and follows all relevant compliance rules and regulations (FERPA, PCI, Clery, NCAA, Endowment, etc.) and maintains privacy with respect to student information and other requirements.
• Authorize temporary release of student record/enrollment financial holds as authorized or assigned by Financial Analyst Senior.

35% Business and Fiscal Management

• Coordinates and manages scholarship hall food, supplies, and equipment ordering, ensuring that internal budgets are followed through budget reconciliation, generating budget reports to staff and students, and processing all invoices for payment within established parameters.
• Manages reconciliations for SOFAS accounts for all communities, and for assigned suppliers for services within HRL communities.
• Creates and submits DARBI requests for SOFAS, camps and conferences, and other campus partner billing as needed.
• Reviews and submits invoices, P-Card receipts, travel, SOFAS with funding to the Shared Service Center (SSC) for payment.
• Process purchase requisitions through university financial systems and provide appropriate funding cost centers for purchases for HRL while ensuring purchasing guidelines are followed, including but are not limited to programming supplies for student governments and Residence Life staff; office supplies; orders for furniture, equipment, and services; custodial supplies; kitchen, household, and recreational items for housing units; locksmith materials; and, services for such as shred, printing services, furniture rental, cell phones, etc.
• Prepares details for SSC to process deposits for laundry commissions, food rebates, trust fund allocations, miscellaneous deposits, refunds, travel requests and reimbursements, invoices for payment, Journal Request Change forms, and other miscellaneous transactions.
• Coordinates departmental purchasing cards and ensures timely processing of receipts.

25% Additional Duties

• Communicates regularly with other campus departments including but not limited to KU Dining, Student Accounts & Receivables, Financial Aid & Scholarships, and Shared Service Center.
• Attend regular meetings, training sessions, and professional development.
• Ensures that records retention policies are followed related to housing financials.
• Provides back-up support for co-workers in HRL finance area.
• Special projects and other duties as assigned by the Financial Analyst Senior, including serving on department-wide or campus-wide task groups or committees.