FISCAL ANALYST 2

Full Job Description

Fiscal Analyst 2
**This is an internal recruitment for internal Commerce employees**
At the Department of Commerce, we’re reimagining what’s possible in government. We’re builders, thinkers, and change-makers, working at the intersection of innovation, community, and impact. From unlocking critical funding to fueling inclusive economic growth, we’re turning big ideas into real-world solutions that uplift people and places.

Our agency’s strength lies in the diversity of our workforce and the breadth of the lived experiences and perspectives employees bring to the work.

We believe equity is not just a value but a practice, which is reflected in how we design programs, engage communities, and deliver outcomes.

We foster a workplace culture where curiosity is encouraged, bold thinking is welcomed, and collaboration drives our impact.

Let’s build what’s next, together.

The Financial Services Division (FSD) provides professional accounting, budget, contracting, and internal control services that support Commerce’s financial health and compliance objectives and ensures financial compliance with state and federal regulations and accurate financial reports for the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR).?

The Payroll Team, under the General Accounting Manager, strives for constant improvement whether it be with individual performance, team performance, standardizing processes, or finding efficiencies. We support over 700 employees and maintain their payroll records across multiple systems.

This position provides information on benefits and retirement to Commerce employees acting as the primary contact while supporting daily payroll functions and semi-monthly payroll processing.

This position is based in Olympia and has an in-office requirement.

Requirements

Benefits Analyst

Tasks include:

• Alongside the HR Training Team, present Benefit and Payroll information at New Employee Orientation (NEO) for all new hires
• Assist Commerce employees with benefit-related questions and log-in assistance following NEO and as needed
• Serve as the Benefits 24/7 Specialist assisting Commerce employees with open enrollment, special open enrollment (SOE) and providing dependent verifications, and SOE verifications
• Create, monitor, and resolve Health Care Authority (HCA) tickets to address employee issues
• Perform new employee benefit deduction audits and running EOS benefit reports
• Assist employees with 3^rd party benefit sites such as HealthEquity and Navia
• Create VEBA accounts for retiring employees

Retirement Analyst

Tasks include:

• Alongside the HR Training Team, present Retirement information at New Employee Orientation (NEO) for all new hires
• Ensure new employees complete Department of Retirement System (DRS) plan election and beneficiary forms within 90 days of employment
• Ensure new employees understand Deferred Compensation Plan (DCP) options and participation deadlines
• Be familiar with the differences of PERS 2, PERS 3, and DCP to answer general questions and provide resources to employees
• Be familiar with the DRS site and resources to guide employees
• Complete post-payroll error file mitigation before the next payroll processing cycle
• Complete DRS Employer Reporting Application (ERA) error corrections and manual entries in a timely manner
• Complete DRS account reconciliation on a monthly basis to resolve balances

Payroll period entries - primary

Tasks include:

• Monitor and manage payroll shared inbox, responding or routing as necessary
• Complete assigned monthly 035 GL reconciliation ensuring completeness and accuracy
• Responsible for entering the following payroll items:
  1. Withholding W4 forms
  2. Direct deposits
  3. Work schedule changes
  4. Combined Fund Drive (CFD) charity entries
  5. Cell phone stipends
  6. Overpayment & underpayment entries
  7. Clear TIDALSAP errors
  8. verifications of employment
• Enter the following payroll items as requested:
  1. Union dues
  2. Hourly CAT2 entries
  3. Overtime entries
  4. State of Emergency premium pay
  5. New hires, rehires, and transfers to Commerce
  6. Internal PAR review and updates
  7. Timesheet review and approval
  8. New employee setup in SuperSTAR and updates to employee profiles as needed
  9. SuperSTAR reports and Win Shuttle reporting during payroll processing
  10. SuperSTAR NO2 (work schedule) and leave report uploads

Payroll processing and post-payroll reports and duties

Tasks include:

1. Enter and ensure accuracy of:
   1. commute trip reduction (CTR)
   2. holiday substitutions
   3. ACA code and corrections
   4. taxable travel/meals reports
2. Assist with the review and clearing of post-payroll AFRS errors
3. Run, review, and address logged changes reports

Process documentation and evaluation

Tasks include:

1. Assist payroll team with annual procedure review to ensure all processes and procedures are up to date and accurate
2. Continually evaluate and update existing processes and procedures
3. Identify and document any new processes and procedures as they arise
4. Review and test new and updated processes, as requested

Administrative duties

Tasks include:

1. Receive mail on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Olympia office, scanning and resolving or forwarding mail to the appropriate party to address
2. Scan physical files and paperwork and file accordingly
3. Review and process physical files sending to storage or responsible agencies accordingly
4. Assist the payroll team with going fully digital including, but not limited to:
   1. Scanning physical employee files
   2. Saving scanned files to employee digital files
   3. Scanning physical bills, reports, and other documents in payroll’s possession

Qualifications

Required Position Qualifications:

Six (6) years of combined experience and/or education as described below:

Experience must include:

• 1 year of professional level accounting experience
• Financial data entry and reconciliation

Education involves accounting, auditing, budgeting, or related field. Qualifying education post High School or equivalent may be substituted year for year for experience.

Examples of how to qualify:

• 6 years of experience
• 5 years of experience and one year of education
• 4 years of experience and two years of education
• 3 years of experience and three years of education
• 2 years of experience and four years of education
• 1 year of experience and five years of education

Preferred/Desired Qualifications:

• Knowledge of the Agency Financial Reporting System (AFRS), Financial Tool Box & Enterprise Reporting (ER)
• Knowledge of the Human Resources Management System (HRMS)
• Knowledge of the Office of Financial Management rules and regulations and the State Administrative and Accounting Manual (SAAM)
• Intermediate skill level in Excel
• Experience processing timesheets and leave requests
• Providing benefits and retirement consultation

Required Position Competencies:

• Collaboration – Helps Department meet goals and responsibilities, listens to others and values opinions, promotes a collaborative environment, is a trusted partner who communicates openly and honestly
• Fiscal Accountability - Responsibly and accurately handle the public's money when processing financial transactions
• Demonstrated ability to provide excellent customer service and maintain confidentiality
• Demonstrated detail-oriented thinking
• Demonstrated creative, collaborative and trustworthy behavior
• Demonstrated ability to consistently follow applicable financial rules, regulations, and standards

To be considered for this position the following are needed:

• A complete and detailed online application.
• A cover letter (enter online).
• At least three professional references (enter online).

For questions about this recruitment, please contact our recruitment team via email: comrecruitment@commerce.wa.gov - please reference the job number in your message.

Additional Information

This position is based in Olympia and has an in-office requirement.

This recruitment may be used to fill future vacancies over the next 60 days.

Technical support is provided by NEOGOV, 855-524-5627 (can't log in, password or email issues, error messages). DES job seeker support may answer general questions regarding the recruiting system at careershelp@des.wa.gov.

Our Commitment to Equal Opportunity
The Washington State Department of Commerce is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of disability, persons over 40 years of age, veterans or people with military status, and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply. Persons needing accommodation in the application, testing, or interview process or this job announcement in an alternative format may email Human Resources at Human.Resources@commerce.wa.gov. Applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing may call through the Washington Relay Service by dialing 7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6388.

Department of Commerce also offers a competitive benefits package including: medical and dental insurance benefits, retirement and deferred compensation plans, 11 paid holidays each year, 14-25 vacation days per year (depending on length of employment), 8 hours of sick leave per month (if full time employed), bereavement leave, an employee assistance program, as well as other benefits. Please see the Benefits Tab for more details.