Financial Accounting Data Specialist

Job Summary

The Financial Accounting Data Specialist serves as a technical expert within Financial Accounting and Reporting, responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining advanced financial reporting and analytics solutions. This role supports the institution's financial reporting functions by integrating and analyzing complex data across enterprise systems to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance with GAAP, GASB, and regulatory requirements. The position focuses on enhancing financial reporting capabilities through data modeling, automation, and business intelligence tools, while providing meaningful insights to finance leadership. Operating with a high degree of autonomy, this role plays a key part in strengthening data governance, improving reporting efficiency, and ensuring the integrity and reliability of financial data used for institutional and external reporting.

Responsibilities

The duties include, but are not limited to:

Financial Reporting & Analysis

• Lead the preparation, analysis, and distribution of recurring financial reports (e.g., monthly, quarterly, and annual) for department, university leadership, and state reporting.
• Support and enhance the preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP and applicable higher education reporting standards.
• Design, develop, and maintain complex financial reports, dashboards, and data visualizations using business intelligence tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, or similar) to support financial reporting, improve data accessibility, and communicate trends, variances, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Perform detailed financial analysis, including trend and variance analysis, to support accurate and timely financial reporting and explain fluctuations in revenues, expenses, and fund balances.
• Respond to complex and high-level ad hoc reporting requests.
• Extract, validate, and reconcile data information from multiple systems (finance, HR, Banner, etc.) to support comprehensive financial reporting.
• Ensure alignment between reporting outputs and official financial records and systems of record.
• Analyze large and complex datasets to identify trends, discrepancies, and data quality issues; communicate findings to finance leadership.
• Partner with leaders within the department to define reporting needs and deliver actionable insights.

System & Process Improvement

• Design, develop, and implement new financial, operational, and ad hoc reports to support evolving business needs.
• Gather and analyze requirements to ensure new reports deliver actionable insights and meet functional and analytical objectives.
• Test and validate new reports for accuracy, completeness, and compliance prior to deployment.
• Create documentation and deliver training to promote proper usage and understanding of reports across the organization.
• Support and improve ERP reporting functionality, including system testing and optimization aligned with financial reporting needs.
• Enhance reporting automation and data accuracy through system optimization and process improvements.
• Collaborate with cross functional teams to ensure data integrity and consistency across reporting platforms.
• Document and maintain reporting procedures, data definitions, and standards to ensure consistency and compliance.
• Identify opportunities to improve reporting efficiency and reduce manual processes across financial reporting functions.

Compliance & Audit Support

• Support internal and external audits by providing detailed data analysis, documentation, and responses to auditor inquiries.
• Ensure all reporting processes align with GAAP, institutional policies, and applicable state and federal regulations.

Other duties

Assist with other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

Educational Requirements

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and a minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in accounting, financial reporting, or related functions, including experience working with large, complex datasets across multiple systems.

Preferred Qualifications

Knowledge of higher education financial regulations and reporting standards (IPEDS, NACUBO, GASB). Experience with data visualization tools (e.g., nVision) a plus. Knowledge of higher education financial regulations and reporting standards (IPEDS, NACUBO, GASB). Experience in financial reporting, accounting, or data analytics. Advanced proficiency in business intelligence tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau). Experience with data querying and manipulation (e.g., SQL).

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

ABILITIES

• Strong understanding of accounting principles (GAAP) and fund accounting, with the ability to apply concepts within complex financial reporting environments.
• Proficiency with financial systems and reporting tools (e.g., Workday, Banner, Oracle, PeopleSoft, or similar ERP), including extracting, analyzing, and reconciling data across multiple systems; experience with business intelligence tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) is preferred.
• Advanced Excel skills and ability to work with large datasets to develop complex reports, dashboards, and meaningful financial insights.
• Strong analytical, organizational, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to identify trends, discrepancies, and data quality issues, and clearly convey findings to leadership.

KNOWLEDGE

• Proficient in MS Office (especially Excel)
• Understanding of fund accounting and reporting requirements
• Working knowledge of databases, operating systems and spreadsheets.

SKILLS

• This position will need good verbal, written, hearing and memory skills to communicate and train staff members.
• They need manual dexterity to work on computers.
• Detail-oriented
• Excellent analytical skills and ability to solve problems
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills

Shift/Salary/Benefits

Shift: Days/M-F (work outside of the normal business hours will likely be required of an employee in an exempt level position)
Pay Band: 12
Salary: Minimum $62,300.00/Annually
Salary to be commensurate with qualifications of the selected candidate within the established range (generally minimum-midpoint) of the position
Recruitment Period: 4/29/26 - Until Filled

Augusta University offers a variety of benefits to full-time benefits-eligible employees and some of our half-time (or more) employees. Benefits that may be elected could include health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, Teachers Retirement System (or Optional Retirement Plan), as well as earned vacation time, sick leave, and 13 paid holidays. Also, our full-time employees who have been employed with us successfully for more than 6 months can be considered for the Tuition Assistance Program.