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La Grange Park, Illinois
West Palm Beach, Florida
Posted: 17-May-23
Location: Washington, D.C.
Type: Full Time
Salary: 65-75K
Categories:
Position: Grants Accountant
Department: Finance
FLSA Status: Exempt
Reports to: Director of Finance
Date Issued: April 2023
About Program
Polaris is leading a data-driven social justice movement to fight sex and labor trafficking at the massive scale of the problem - 25 million people worldwide are deprived of the freedom to choose how they live and work.
For more than a decade, Polaris has assisted thousands of victims and survivors through the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, helped ensure countless traffickers were held accountable and built the largest known U.S. data set on actual trafficking experiences. With the guidance of survivors, we use that data to improve the way trafficking is identified, how victims and survivors are assisted, and how communities, businesses, and governments can prevent human trafficking by transforming the underlying inequities and oppressions that make it possible. More details about our programs and history can be found on our website at www.polarisproject.org.
About Opportunity
Polaris is seeking a Grants Accountant on a full-time basis. Under the direction of the Director of Finance, the Grant Accountant will be a member of the Finance team and will support staff across the organization. The Grant Accountant provides primary supervision in accounting for grants and sponsored programs. They are responsible for managing restricted grants and contracts, including federal, state, local, and private grant reporting; preparing or reviewing reconciliations of expenditures and budget to actual; and preparing, reviewing and approving invoices. Additionally, this role will prepare financial summaries, reconciles accounting data, and assists with documentation of accounting processes to identify and implement internal controls.
Responsibilities
- Works closely with senior leadership on contracts & grants to create and manage grant budgets, procurement and reporting. Works closely with grant owners to ensure accuracy and timeliness of award setup, invoicing and closeout.
- Develops and implements policies and procedures for budget development, tracking and reporting for all grants and contracts.
- Performs grant-related & post-award functions, including budget and expense analysis, periodic invoicing, financial reporting, labor distribution changes, reconciliations, re-budgeting and grant closeout functions required by the grantor.
- Prepare accurate and timely financial reports to donors as required.
- Prepare accurate and timely financial reports on grants for internal management purposes.
- Work with the Director of Finance on cash flow forecasts for programs.
- Review invoices and provide account codes, when appropriate, for proper project accounting.
- Prepare and distribute periodic invoices for project reimbursement.
- Communicate monthly financial results with appropriate program staff, informing them of the financial position of the project.
- Journal entry preparation when required.
- Perform balance sheet account reconciliations.
- Review accounts receivable aging report and pursues collection for outstanding payments.
- Assist with preparing external audit schedules as needed.
- Maintain contracts database and manage RFP process.
- Track spending against all contracts.
- Other duties as assigned
Requirements
This job description provides a summary of the major duties and responsibilities performed by individuals in this position. Incumbents may be asked to perform other tasks not specifically written in this job
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree preferred or minimum 5 years of Grant Accounting work experience in lieu of degree
- Minimum of 3 years managing federal grants or cooperative agreements
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of GAAP
- Knowledge of principles and practices for contracts/grant administration and monitoring
- Ability to compile, analyze, evaluate, and interpret data and transactions
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
- Experience with cloud-based accounting software
- Experience with Google Suite & Office 365 etc.
- Customer service oriented
- Proactively problem-solves and effectively communicates with team members
Preferred Qualifications
- Familiar with Intacct accounting software and Paylocity
- Experience working in a non-profit environment
Communication (“External” Changes based upon position)
- Internal: Ability to communicate with supervisors and peers;
- External: Ability to respond quickly and calmly in alarming situations. Frequent contact with law enforcement, service providers, and government agencies
Working Conditions
- Typical office setting
Physical Requirements (can change with position)
- Prolonged sitting, chiefly at a computer terminal;
- Occasional bending, stooping and stretching;
- Requires eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity sufficient to operate a computer, telephone, calculator, and other office equipment;
- Requires normal range of hearing and eyesight to record, prepare, and communicate in writing, in person and by phone;
- Requires occasional lifting up to 25 pounds.
Values Statement
The work of Polaris is grounded in a set of values and organizational beliefs that provide a common starting point for all of our activities. At Polaris, we look for talented individuals who are passionate about combating all forms of human trafficking and who will strive to embody and model these values within the Polaris community and in the anti-trafficking field. Please take a moment to make yourself familiar with these values and our mission statement before submitting your application. You can find a full description of our values here.
Diversity Statement
Polaris designs and implements data-driven strategies to prevent and disrupt human trafficking, and restore freedom to survivors. Achieving this ambitious goal requires both trafficking-specific systemic interventions and broader cultural and structural shifts that reduce the inequities that lead to human trafficking. While Polaris alone cannot build a more diverse, just, equitable, and inclusive society, both the success of our work and our organizational values require modeling in the workplace the change we want to see in the world.
This means cultivating a workforce, organizational culture, and priorities that respect and celebrate a dynamic, multi-disciplinary team made up of individuals with different identities, lived experiences, and backgrounds. Within both our team and across every part of our work, we strive to integrate and elevate the full range of survivor voices.
This is a living commitment. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are values to be manifested daily, in the work we do, the decisions we make, and the way that we treat each other and the people we seek to serve. This means creating space where staff can be included, heard, valued, and set up for success, and where everyone feels empowered to bring their full, best selves to work. We will not check boxes and consider it done. We will push new innovations and different ways of thinking, and treasure the community built and strengthened by each of our contributions.
