ACCOUNTING SPECIALIST - Adjustments

Position Overview

COME JOIN A TRANSFORMATIVE TEAM, with a record of proven, positive impact to the State of Illinois.

The Illinois Office of the Comptroller is seeking applicants for the position of Accounting Specialist - Adjustments.

The Comptroller is the chief fiscal control officer for the Illinois government, charged by the Constitution with maintaining the state’s central fiscal accounts and ordering payments into and out of the appropriate funds. The office processes more than 16 million transactions annually and serves as a “fiscal watchdog” to ensure that all state payments meet the requirements of the law. The Comptroller’s office provides meaningful and timely fiscal information to help state policymakers adopt effective policies. The office continually seeks new ways to improve how it serves the public. The Comptroller has updated and streamlined the Comptroller’s website and has led the process of updating the state’s payroll and accounting systems. Comptroller Mendoza is committed to running the Office of Comptroller as a financial watchdog for the interest of Illinois citizens and to installing the most modern and transparent systems to make the state’s financial information available to all. 

Major Function

Under the direction of the Public Service Administrator/Supervisor of Adjustments Unit, receives and processes undeliverable warrants, notifies agencies of returned warrants, re-mails previously undeliverable warrants according to agency requests, performs cancellations in the Statewide Accounting Management System (SAMS) for current and prior fiscal year warrants according to agency requests, and responds to internal and external accounting inquiries related to the Adjustments Unit.

Job Responsibilities

• Performs cancellation for redeposit of current and prior year warrants after performing appropriation research to determine appropriate check cancellation (CX) transaction.

Re-mails warrants as directed by the vouchering agency
Researches warrants to be cancelled to determine if cancellation should be fund-only credit or fund & appropriation credit

• Prepares and processes undeliverable warrant information.

Pulls warrants to be mailed, prints envelopes, proofreads and prepares for mailing and data entry of transactions
Prepares warrants to be cancelled and submits them for data entry of transactions and maintains statistics of such
Maintains files of all transactions for audit, research and records purposes

• Performs analysis of undelivered warrants and creates a record for all undeliverable Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) public aid recipient and child support warrants.

Transmits accounting records of undeliverable public aid recipient and child support warrants to HFS
Counts and batches all warrants returned undeliverable by HFS for cancellation and maintains statistics of such
Researches undeliverable HFS warrants to be cancelled to determine if cancellation should be fund-only credit or fund & appropriation credit

Performs cancellation for redeposit of current and prior year undeliverable public aid recipient and child support HFS warrants after performing appropriation research to determine appropriate CX transaction.

• Receives undeliverable warrants, counts, date-stamps envelopes, copies the warrants, indicates the reason for the return, sends the notice to the agency, files the returned warrants and maintains statistics of the same.

• Provides technical assistance in response to telephone inquiries from agencies or individuals regarding SAMS or Adjustments Unit accounting practices, policies, and procedures.

• Reviews Positive Pay History Report (PPHR) on a daily basis.

Performs reconciliation of dollar values on PPHR to SAMS
Reviews status of warrants to ensure the statuses in SAMS match the statuses on the PPHR
Analyzes PPHR for signs of large-scale financial fraud and elevates all serious issues to supervisor

Minimum Qualifications

Requires knowledge, skill and mental development equivalent to completion of two years of college and one year of technical accounting experience or four years of related clerical bookkeeping experience.

Preferred Qualfications

Two (2) years of office experience and maintaining the receipt and filing of official records and documents.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Requires effective written communication skills with precise grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• Requires clear oral communication skills and proper telephone etiquette.
• Requires ability to follow written and oral instruction of moderate complexity.
• Requires the ability to use mainframe and computer programs and software.
• Requires ability to operate commonly used manual and automated office equipment and perform routine maintenance.
• Requires ability to apply established accounting methods and techniques.
• Requires ability to analyze routine accounting records and documents
• Requires ability to use analytical and fact-finding techniques.
• Requires ability to maintain satisfactory working relationships with other employees and the general public.

*With or without reasonable accommodation.

Benefits

This position is eligible to be a member of the State of Illinois Group Insurance program which includes health, dental, vision, and life insurance coverage options. Additionally, this position will annually accrue 12 paid sick days, a minimum of 12 paid vacation days, 4 paid personal days, and be afforded 14 paid state holidays, prorated based on start date. 

Equal Employment and Commitment to Diversity

The Illinois Office of Comptroller provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, sex or gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, disability, genetic information, service in the military, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws and ordinances. Equal employment opportunity applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leave of absence, compensation, and training. The Illinois Office of Comptroller is committed to the fair and equal employment of individuals with disabilities under the ADA. It is the Illinois Office of Comptroller's policy to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the company. The Illinois Office of Comptroller prohibits any harassment of, or discriminatory treatment of, employees or applicants based on a disability or because an employee has requested reasonable accommodation. 

The Illinois Office of Comptroller is committed to creating and maintaining a workplace in which all employees have an opportunity to participate and contribute to the success of the agency and are valued for their skills, experience, and unique perspectives. This commitment is embodied in agency policy and organizational culture.