Senior Expenditure Control Specialist

Job Details

Senior Expenditure Control Specialist

Reporting to the Associate Director of Expenditure Control, this position serves as a senior-level role responsible for the review, processing, and analysis of UGA Foundation (UGAF) expenditures, including payments, scholarships, and grants.

This role combines expenditure control responsibilities with operational processing and data entry functions to support the accuracy, timeliness, and integrity of financial transactions. The position performs detailed review and approval of expenditure requests, supports scholarship and grant processing, and contributes to financial analysis, reconciliation, and internal controls.

This position includes a significant transactional and data entry component to support expenditure processing, while maintaining analytical and compliance responsibilities aligned with the Expenditure Control function.

Additionally, this position provides customer service to campus partners, supports policy compliance, and assists in maintaining efficient expenditure operations.

Special Instructions to Applicants

This position is structured as a permanent position within the Division of Development & Alumni Relations. We are unable to sponsor a work visa for this position.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in accounting or a related field, or equivalent and 2 years of professional experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience creating, editing, and using Pivot Tables, and formulas in Excel
• Experience using data analytics tools
• Experience creating financial reports, and providing analysis on trends
• Experience presenting financial information to interested parties

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and/or Competencies

• Knowledge of financial accounting principles, fund accounting, and compliance requirements
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to review, reconcile, and interpret complex financial data
• Advanced Excel and data management skills for handling large, detailed datasets
• High attention to detail and accuracy in transaction processing and reporting
• Ability to apply policies, resolve discrepancies, and make sound decisions within guidelines
• Effective communication, organization, and customer service skills to support campus partners

Additional Division Expectations

• Through open, honest, and respectful communication, all staff, supervisors, and colleagues of the Division of Development & Alumni Relations are expected to interact with fairness, compassion, and decency. All employees will be held accountable for meeting the expectation of promoting a stable, productive, and healthy work environment.
• Adherence to CASE standards and commonly accepted industry standards relating to fundraising reporting is expected of all fundraisers. All fundraisers will be held accountable for meeting this expectation.

Physical Demands

• Work in a standard office environment
• Sit and work at a computer workstation for an extended amount of time
• Work using electronic mail, telephone, face-to-face discussions, paper form correspondence
• Communicate effectively in writing, speaking, and listening
• Apply skills and knowledge across a variety of tasks to perform successfully in new situations
• Organize and establish priorities; Remember detail; multi-task
• Lift and/or move up to 20 pounds
• Walk, stand, stoop, lift, kneel, climb

Duties/Responsibilities

(35%) Expenditure Controls & Policy Compliance

• Review and approve UGA Foundation (UGAF) expenditure requests within UGAF@Work for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with established policies and procedures.
• Ensure proper UGAF@Work accounting, including accurate spend category selection, cost center/work tag assignment, and expense classification.
• Verify transactions adhere to donor intent, UGAF policies, and GAAP standards through detailed review of supporting documentation.
• Validate required approvals, documentation, and workflow completion within UGAF@Work business processes.
• Identify, investigate, and resolve discrepancies, errors, or incomplete submissions in UGAF@Work transactions.
• Communicate with campus users to correct, return, or clarify transactions and provide guidance on proper submission procedures.
• Monitor transaction workflows to ensure timely processing and compliance with internal service standards.
• Support continuous improvement of expenditure processes by identifying trends or recurring issues within UGAF@Work submissions.

(20%) Supplier Administration and Payment Operations

• Maintain working knowledge of UGA and UGAF expenditure policies and procedures to ensure compliance in daily operations.
• Coordinate with campus partners to identify and resolve overdrawn Foundation accounts resulting from expenditure activity.
• Serve as backup to the Expenditure Control Manager within the TeamDynamix ticketing system, managing and responding to requests as needed.
• Execute settlement processing and run check print jobs within UGAF@Work, including validating payment batches, reconciling check runs, coordinating check distribution and pickup, maintaining payment logs, and ensuring proper handling of supporting documentation.
• Support supplier setup and maintenance within UGAF@Work, ensuring accurate and timely onboarding of vendors.
• Review supplier requests for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with UGAF policies and required documentation.
• Ensure appropriate approvals and supporting documentation are obtained and maintained for supplier setup.
• Maintain and update supplier records, resolving issues related to incomplete or incorrect information.
• Communicate with campus users and vendors to resolve supplier setup issues and provide guidance on requirements and processes.
• Perform additional administrative duties as needed, including filing, scanning, and retrieving documentation to support reporting and audit activities.

(15%) Scholarship Expenditure Administration

• Coordinate posting of scholarship expenses to the Foundation’s Financial Accounting system.
• Review and reconcile monthly scholarship activity.
• Work closely with the Office of Student Financial Aid and Bursar’s Office to process scholarship payments and resolve reconciliation issues.
• Prepare and initiate monthly scholarship payment.
• Collaborate with Data Analytics and Financial Accounting to develop and maintain reconciliation tools for expense processing and reporting.
• Maintain workflow and approvals within the scholarship system.
• Support UGAF activity in ScholarshipUniverse.

(15%) UGA Grants Administration

• Review and coordinate the UGA grant payment process. This includes recording, reviewing, and reconciling expense activity from the UGA financial system frequently.
• Evaluate expense activity and perform analysis on expenses processed through University Systems.
• Collaborate with Data Analytics and Financial Accounting to develop and maintain reconciliation tools for expense processing and reporting.
• Initiate monthly payment requests for UGA Grant activity funded by Foundation funds.
• Support UGAF activity in UGA Financial Management System.

(15%) Internal Controls and Audit Support

• Support internal controls for UGAF expense operations.
• Carry out and document internal controls procedures, with emphasis on continuous monitoring and communication.
• Recommend additional internal controls procedures as needed to support accuracy and timeliness of expense operations.
• Assist the Expenditure Control Manager in reviewing and analyzing expenses made through the University’s grant process.
• Coordinate and work closely with campus partners, and UGA financial team, ensuring grant expenditures are processed and recorded in accordance with UGAF policies and procedures and donor fund agreements.
• Assist the Associate Director and Expenditure Control Manager with any follow-up regarding expenditures.
• Support internal and external audit functions through the fulfillment of requests for expenditure data and documentation.
• Assist with completion of expense audit reports.