Assistant Accountant

The State of Connecticut, Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), is an agency whose mission is to provide accounting and financial services, to administer employee and retiree benefits, to develop accounting policy and exercise accounting oversight, and to prepare financial reports for the state, federal and municipal governments and the public.  The Accounts Payable Division at the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) manages the centralized accounts payable function for the state, maintains a database of all state vendor profiles, initiates and monitors the process for paying and settling the state's obligations, examines state encumbrances and expenditures for compliance, conducts pre-audits of procurement requests for $1 million or more, and addresses a variety of necessary federal and state requirements and Freedom of Information requests.

If this sounds like a team you would love to be a part of, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity as an Assistant Accountant.  In this role, you will be responsible for examining vendor profile forms, agency supplier update requests, and supporting documentation for accuracy, completeness and conformance with State statutes, regulations, and agency policy based upon knowledge of how the various components of the Core-CT vendor file populate and affect the various documents processed through the entire financial accounting module.

Additional responsibilities of this position include:

• Reviewing requests to ensure updates will not compromise the state's offset procedures, 1099 reporting, or assignment procedures;
• Using Core-CT on-line queries and ad hoc reports to determine impact of requested change on State contracts, valid purchase orders, and vouchers;
• Making corrections as required, and advising agency of corrections;
• Using independent judgment to determine if Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reporting is required and type of reporting necessary;
• Determining when the W-9 is required and ensure that a properly completed form is received from vendors;
• Verifying the information on the W-9 form to the Core-CT vendor file to ensure compliance with Federal 1099 reporting;
• Performing an examination of vendors and analyze results for duplicates;
• Providing technical and educational assistance to supervisor for training new and/or lower level employees;
• Maintaining written and verbal contact with vendors to ensure accuracy of vendor information;
• Assisting supervisor in implementation of the ACH/EFT program for vendor payments;
• Reconciling vendor ACH payments monthly;
• Providing appropriate forms to vendors and their financial institution;
• Advising State agencies when a vendor's payment method has changed;
• Preparing reports for supervisory and managerial use;
• Investigating returned checks and inactivate vendors if necessary to prevent payments from being issued to invalid addresses;
• Reviewing various contracts, financial documents and financial reports to ensure compliance with state statutes, federal regulations, and generally accepted accounting principles and practices;
• Performing other related duties as required.

The position is currently located at 165 Capitol Avenue in Hartford, CT in a state of the art building offering an on-site cafeteria, free garage parking, and ergonomic workspaces.  The selected candidate will work 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday.

The Office of the State Comptroller participates in a competitive benefits plan that includes healthcare coverage, a retirement plan, as well as paid time off. 

Candidates must meet the minimum qualifications as indicated to apply for this position.  State employees currently holding the above title or those who have previously attained permanent status in the class may apply for a lateral transfer.

All applicants must include a resume within the “Resume Tab” of their JobAps application.  Candidates invited to interview will be required to submit their last two performance evaluations and last two years of attendance records, as well as three (3) business references.

INCOMPLETE APPLICATION PACKAGES AND THOSE RECEIVED AFTER THE CLOSING DATE INDICATED ABOVE WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.  Questions about the required documents should be directed to the hiring agency's human resources office: Ginger Frasca/ ginger.frasca@ct.gov.

In a state agency this class is accountable for performing a combination of a full range of basic professional and highly complex clerical work in accounting or financial examination work.

Maintains an interrelated group of accounts including classifying and recording transactions, taking trial balances and reconciling accounts; prepares simple financial statements; assists in preparation of complex financial statements; examines financial documents to ensure accuracy and conformance with requirements by reviewing related records, provisions and/or regulations; maintains accounts receivable including preparing and processing billings, maintaining related accounts, managing accounts receivable, making and recording adjustments, cancellations or remissions and computing interest due and penalties; calculates rates involving complex arithmetical formulas; responsible for accounts payable including maintaining disbursement records, distributing charges to proper accounts, encumbering appropriation accounts for purchase orders, authorizing routine expenditures, auditing invoices or payments for accuracy and compliance with state regulations; gathers and consolidates payroll and expenditure data to facilitate budget preparation; ensures expenditures plus encumbrances are within appropriation limits; ensures routine payments are in compliance with contract provisions; performs related duties as required.

Knowledge of bookkeeping and financial record keeping principles and practices; knowledge of basic governmental accounting principles and practices including general accounting, accounts payable, accounts receivable and budget control; oral communication skills; basic interpersonal skills; considerable arithmetical ability; auditing ability; ability to understand and apply statutes and regulations; ability to utilize EDP systems for financial information.

Four (4) years of experience in complex clerical accounting or financial examining work. Complex clerical accounting or examining work is interpreted as independent responsibility for generally routine bookkeeping, financial record keeping or financial record examining at the level of Financial Clerk.

1. College training may be substituted for the General Experience on the basis of fifteen (15) semester hours equalling one-half (1/2) year of experience to a maximum of two (2) years.
   
2. One (1) year as a Pre-Professional Trainee in an accounting class may be substituted for the General Experience.

Preference will be given to applicants with the following experience and training:

• Knowledge of ERP systems (i.e. Core-CT, PeopleSoft, Oracle or other)
• Strong analytical and computer skills including extensive use of Microsoft Access Databases and Excel Macros 
• Familiarity with SQL and/or VBA a plus
• Customer service experience and strong interpersonal skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.  If you are requesting special accommodations under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) please contact Ginger Frasca at 860-702-3340 or Ginger.Frasca@ct.gov.