Accountant IV - Fire Accounting Manager

Full Job Description

Requirements

The Executive Director's Office (EDO) is the backbone of the Colorado Department of Public Safety, providing effective administrative and management services to the Department's operating divisions. The EDO includes the following:

• The Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director – Oversees strategic direction and operations for the department.
• Administrative Services Office - Provides division and department-level administrative and support functions encompassing accounting, procurement, budget, and logistics services (fleet, facilities, warehousing, material management and fabrication) to support the operations and programs of CDPS divisions.
• Human Resources Office - Supports recruitment, hiring, evaluation, benefits management, personnel actions, payroll and all other human resources functions.
• Compliance and Professional Standards Office – Develops policies, assesses and manages risk, and ensures compliance with state and federal requirements and professional standards.

Colorado Integrated Criminal Justice Information Systems – develops cost-effective information sharing services to provide access for criminal justice agencies while maintaining information security.

CICJIS is a collaborative program designed to facilitate information sharing at key decision points in the criminal justice process.

There are five participating CICJIS agencies: The Department of Corrections, Judicial, the Colorado District Attorney’s Council, the Division of Youth Corrections, and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

• Colorado School Safety Resource Center – assists local schools and communities to create safe and positive school climates for pre-k through higher education schools in Colorado.

The Administrative Services Office provides internal administrative support to the Divisions within CDPS and include the following sections:

• Chief Administrative Officer’s office
• Accounting Services led by the Controller
• Budget and Policy led by the Budget Director
• Procurement and Commercial Cards led by the Purchasing Director
• Logistics Services Section led by the Logistics Director
• Property Services Section led by the Property Services Director

Accounting exists to meet statutorily required fiscal controls, accounting and financial reporting services to the Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS).

Included in these services are employee payroll processing, vendor payments, revenue accounting and collections, expenditure monitoring, capital asset accounting and inventory, contract administration, accounts receivable monitoring and ongoing financial reporting and analysis.

• Hybrid, minimum of two days onsite in the Lakewood office

• Work unit core business hours, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., with some flexibility available

The purpose of this position is to serve as a subject matter expert providing professional accounting oversight to the Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS) under the guidance and leadership of the Executive Director’s Office Administrative Services Office.

This position interprets and applies accounting theories, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Governmental Accounting Standards (GASB), and other professional accounting standards to ensure financial data is complete and accurate.

Working knowledge of GAAP, GASB, basic accounting theory, and financial tools such as Excel are required.

Working knowledge of state and departmental accounting, the state’s financial system of record (CORE), and fire finance is preferred, but not required.

This position manages the relationship and data accuracy between the Fire Billing System (FBS) and CORE, including strategic analysis of complicated accounting and fiscal data, billing, cash collection and reconciliation.

This analysis requires the application of known and established accounting theory, principles, conceptual models, professional standards, and statewide system rules and regulations.

This position will provide strategic review and oversight of the DFPC Accounting processes, procedures, internal controls and will utilize strong written and verbal communication skills to balance the needs and requirements of different stakeholders.

This position will manage all the accounting functions in support of DFPC which includes direct supervision of the two Accountant III supervisors for the DFPC Accounting Unit and Fire Billing Unit, reviewing transactions in CORE, reviewing federal reporting, reviewing reconciliations, and reviewing financial results.

Fire Billing Unit Oversight and DFPC Wildfire Program Support

This position is the subject matter expert regarding accounting, internal controls and strategic direction of the Fire Billing Unit.

Designs, implements, and maintains financial procedures and workflow processes in support of the Fire Billing Unit.

The position will oversee the process of defining and maintaining internal controls within the Fire Billing Unit, including accounting systems used to accurately reflect the financial position of Fire Billing operations.

Prepare, analyze and interpret financial reports, statements and accounts, assemble data for financial projections to support the annual indirect rate, ensure account reconciliations are completed between the Fire Billing System and CORE, calculate and estimate effects of proposed changes in operating programs or accounting operations, review financial processes, ensure revenue recognition is complete and accurate, review cooperator payroll and benefit information to verify accuracy of amounts cooperates bill for reimbursement, make account recommendations and take responsibility for account troubleshooting and problem solving.

The position works with both the Fire Billing Unit Supervisor, the Accounting Supervisor for DFPC, and DFPC Wildland Fire program staff to ensure clear communication, understanding, and consistency between teams.

As a subject matter expert, this role will maintain positive working relationships with stakeholders and serve as a liaison when stakeholders have competing or conflicting needs.

This position will occasionally provide guidance and consultation to division management as it pertains to Fire Billing accounting.

This position will analyze the environment, make appropriate procedural recommendations to the department controller, and then guide and participate in the development and documentation of relevant processes, procedures, and policies.

In addition, this role will conduct periodic reviews of various fire billing transactions to reasonably ensure compliance and accuracy and will assist with internal and external audit responses, variance analyses, and research unusual or unanticipated account activity.

Financial Analysis and DFPC Accounting Unit Oversight

This position is responsible for the financial activity of the DFPC Accounting Unit.

This position provides professional senior accountant-level expertise in the application of accounting theories and practices to ensure the accounting processes are complete, accurate and in conformance with established policies, procedures and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

This position reviews and approves journal voucher transactions entered in CORE to ensure reasonability and compliance with state fiscal rules, GAAP, department policies and procedures, and any other relevant rules or regulations.

This position reconciles financial data in CORE to the data in the Fire Billing System used by the Fire Billing Unit and identifies, documents, and corrects any errors.

All reconciling errors will be communicated to the Fire Billing Unit and/or the DFPC Accounting Unit to coordinate correction and through deliberate analysis and experience, determine if processes and procedures need to be updated.

This position will evaluate the relevance and importance of accounting theories, concepts, and GAAP and tailors them to develop a different approach or plan to fit specific DFPC Wildfire program accounting needs and circumstances in order to maintain interaction between the Fire Billing System and CORE.

This position will also analyze large volumes of payroll data provided by the Fire Billing Unit and prepare journal vouchers to allocate DFPC payroll to fire incidents.

This position utilizes technical and analytical skills to identify and implement process improvements related to DFPC accounting, including the Fire Billing Unit functions.

Coordinate year-end financial activity in conjunction with the CDPS Controller and Deputy Controller.

Fire Accounting Supervision

Provides supervision of the DFPC Accounting Unit and the Fire Billing Unit and directly supervises two Accountant III Supervisors.

Assigns tasks, monitors progress and workflow, and ensures execution of tasks and deliverables. Determines performance expectations for subordinates.

Develops performance management plans, provides regular feedback on job performance to subordinates, and addresses performance shortfalls and excellence in a timely manner.

Establishes clear performance expectations and objectives. Adheres to State Personnel Rules and CDPS policy and procedures.

Provides training and professional development opportunities for accounting staff to build capacity and expand capabilities of the unit.

Solicits performance feedback from internal and external stakeholders to ensure staff deliver excellent customer service and being accountable to stakeholders. Determines staff work schedules.

Verifies employee timekeeping, monitors and approves personnel leave, and approves travel expenditures.

Qualifications

Note, to be considered for this position, you must meet one of the following options for consideration.

Proven Experience, Knowledge, Skills:

• Nine (9) years of relevant GAAP accounting experience related to the work assigned to this position

OR

A combination of related education (coursework requires 27 semester hours completed in accounting or auditing) and relevant GAAP accounting experience related to the work assigned equal to nine (9) years.

If you are using education to meet the minimum qualifications, transcripts must be attached at the time of application.

Current, valid licensure as a CPA by the Colorado Board of Accountancy will count for six (6) years of the requirement. If you are using CPA licensure to meet the minimum qualifications, a copy must be attached at the time of application.

Preferred Qualifications and Competencies:

• Highly proficient using Excel for financial reporting

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

• Supervisory experience

• Demonstrated experience with interpretation and application of GAAP and fiscal policy

• Experience monitoring, evaluating, and reconciling financial subsystems

Conditions of Employment:

• Must be a resident of Colorado at the time of application

• Requires successful completion of an extensive background investigation including reference checks, a polygraph examination, and a fingerprint based criminal background check.
  

Appeal Rights
If you receive notice that you have been eliminated from consideration for the position, you may protest the action by filing an appeal with the State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director within 10 days from the date you receive notice of the elimination. Also, if you wish to challenge the selection and comparative analysis process, you may file an appeal with the State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director within 10 days from the receipt of notice or knowledge of the action you are challenging. Refer to Chapters 4 and 8 of the State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures, 4 CCR 801, for more information about the appeals process. The State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures are available at www.colorado.gov/spb. A standard appeal form is available at: www.colorado.gov/spb. If you appeal, your appeal must be submitted in writing on the official appeal form, signed by you or your representative, and received at the following address within 10 days of your receipt of notice or knowledge of the action: Colorado State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director, Attn: Appeals Processing, 1525 Sherman Street, 4th Floor, Denver, CO 80203. Fax: 303-866-5038. Phone: 303-866-3300. The ten-day deadline and these appeal procedures also apply to all charges of discrimination.

Additional Information

• Applications are considered complete and accurate at the time of submission. Therefore, additional information may not be solicited or accepted after your application has been received.

Closing Date: All applications that are received by the closing of this announcement will be reviewed against the Minimum Qualifications in this announcement.

Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications may proceed to the next step.

Colorado Revised Statutes require that state employees are hired and promoted based on merit and fitness through a comparative analysis process.

Supplemental Question: Effective responses to Supplemental Questions will directly relate to your professional experience, career accomplishments, and views about organizational values and approaches, and how they relate specifically to this position and requirements as you understand them.

Answers generated by AI-tools will typically be unresponsive.

Transcripts: An unofficial copy of transcripts must be submitted at the time of application should education be used as qualification.

Transcripts from colleges or universities outside the United States must be assessed for U.S. equivalency by a NACES educational credential evaluation service.

This documentation is the responsibility of the applicant and must be included as part of your application materials.

Failure to provide a transcript or credential evaluation report may prevent your application from moving forward in the selection process.

Military Veterans: If you are a military veteran you must submit a copy of your DD-214, Member 4 Copy, and VA disability letter if available/applicable at the time of application so we can determine if you are eligible for veteran's preference points.

Military personnel who are stationed outside of Colorado may be eligible for this position by submitting the completed DD-2058 "State of Legal Residence" form.

• Application Tips: For an overview of State of Colorado application process and application tips, please view this video.

• Resumes, Cover Letters, or other documents submitted will not be reviewed, assessed, or used in the initial stages of the comparative analysis (transcripts submitted to verify that the applicant meets either the education requirement or minimum qualification substitution are exempt from this).

Notifications: All correspondence regarding your status in the selection/examination process will be sent via email to the email address listed on your application.

Include your current working email address on your application and check the email provided on your application frequently as you could receive time sensitive correspondence regarding this position.

We highly recommend that you set up your email to accept messages from "state.co.us" and "info@governmentjobs.com" addresses.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your email will accept these notices and/or review your junk mail and spam filtered email.

• Comparative Analysis Steps may include (dates are tentative and subject to change):

  • Online skills assessment - March 18-22

  • Structured application review by a panel of SMEs - March 23-26

  • One-way Interview (via SparkHire) - March 26-30

  • Panel interview - April 13-17

  • Estimated start date - June 1