Senior Financial Analyst - Personnel Expense & Financial Reporting
The Senior Financial Analyst – Personnel Expense & Financial Reporting plays a key role in the monthly and year-end close processes for University of Iowa Health Care, helping ensure the accuracy and integrity of significant enterprise-wide accounting and financial reporting areas. The position is primarily responsible for personnel expense accounting and related liabilities, including complex compensation accruals, employee benefit obligations, and other estimates that require strong analytical skills, sound accounting judgment, and close partnership with operational and finance stakeholders.
This position is eligible for hybrid work within Iowa and will require a work arrangement form to be completed upon the start of your employment. Per policy, work arrangements will be reviewed annually, and must comply with the remote work program and related policies and employee travel policy when working at a remote location.
Position Responsibilities:
Personnel Expense Accounting & Employee Benefit Liabilities:
Serve as process owner and primary preparer for significant personnel expense accounting processes across University of Iowa Health Care, including salaries and wages, variable compensation, faculty compensation, contract labor, executive compensation, employee benefits, compensated absences, and other personnel-related accruals.
Prepare and analyze complex journal entries, accruals, reconciliations, supporting schedules, and financial statement workpapers related to personnel expense and related liabilities.
Develop and maintain methodologies to ensure personnel expenses are recognized in the appropriate accounting period, including consideration of biweekly payroll cycles, holiday and premium pay, compensation earned but not yet paid, timing differences, and other unusual compensation arrangements.
Coordinate with clinical department administrative officers and other departmental stakeholders to obtain, evaluate, and incorporate information necessary to support accurate faculty and variable compensation accruals.
Exercise professional judgment in evaluating the completeness and reasonableness of departmental inputs, investigating unusual activity, and reviewing underlying compensation arrangements when additional analysis is necessary.
Serve as the primary preparer and developing subject matter expert for assigned accounting and financial reporting responsibilities related to pension, other postemployment benefits, and compensated absences, including application of GASB Statements No. 68, 75, and 101.
Prepare related journal entries, reconciliations, financial statement support, variance analyses, audit schedules, and other documentation for pension, OPEB, and compensated absence accounting.
Perform analytical review of personnel expense and related liabilities, identify unusual trends, timing issues, data inconsistencies, or unexpected fluctuations, and independently investigate and resolve issues when appropriate.
Develop strong working knowledge of PeopleSoft HR and financial data, internally developed HR transaction tools, time and attendance data, and other feeder systems and reporting tools that affect personnel expense recognition.
Partner with internal stakeholders to understand the operational and system drivers affecting personnel expense.
Develop sufficient familiarity with compensation structures, premium pay practices, labor agreement provisions, and related business processes to assess their financial reporting implications and identify matters requiring further analysis.
Month-End & Year-End Close / Financial Reporting:
Independently manage assigned components of the monthly close process within UI Health Care’s accelerated close timeline, ensuring timely and accurate recording, reconciliation, and analysis of assigned financial statement areas.
Prepare complex journal entries, account reconciliations, analytical reviews, variance explanations, and supporting schedules for assigned income statement and balance sheet accounts.
Ensure assigned workpapers and reconciliations are complete, well-supported, easy to follow, and prepared to an audit-ready standard.
Investigate unexpected account activity, reconciling items, or financial statement variances and develop appropriate resolutions or recommendations.
Support the annual financial statement preparation and year-end close process, including preparation of assigned schedules, financial statement support, footnote information, and audit documentation.
Respond to inquiries from external and state auditors and provide supporting documentation and explanations related to assigned financial reporting areas.
Assist with evaluation and implementation of accounting process changes necessary to comply with relevant Governmental Accounting Standards Board pronouncements and other authoritative accounting guidance.
Support preparation and maintenance of internal control narratives, process documentation, accounting methodologies, and other documentation supporting key financial reporting processes.
IMMIC, Professional Liability & Self-Insurance Accounting:
Prepare accounting entries, reconciliations, supporting schedules, and periodic internal financial statements for Iowa Medical Mutual Insurance Company (IMMIC).
Coordinate and manage inputs used in the professional liability actuarial valuation process, including working with Risk Management, Legal, actuaries, insurance stakeholders, and finance leadership.
Prepare and reconcile estimated professional liability expenses and liabilities associated with various layers of professional liability exposure.
Review actuarial reports, claims information, insurance activity, and other supporting data to ensure recorded balances are consistent with available information and appropriately supported.
Develop increasing capability to critically assess actuarial outputs, changes in estimates, and unusual claims or exposure activity rather than relying solely on mechanical reconciliation to actuarial reports.
Prepare and maintain the annual internal malpractice assessment process, including allocation of malpractice costs among participating entities, departments, or other organizational units.
Prepare assigned premium tax filings, regulatory reports, and other recurring submissions related to IMMIC.
Maintain complete and audit-ready documentation supporting significant professional liability estimates, actuarial inputs, allocations, reconciliations, and judgments.
Support external audit, regulatory examination, and other review processes related to IMMIC and professional liability accounting.
Non-Patient Revenue & Receivable Accounting:
Lead assigned components of the month-end and year-end close process, including coordination of deadlines, review of staff work, issue resolution, and escalation of significant risks.
Ensure reconciliations and journal entry support include clear purpose, source data, tie-outs, preparer/reviewer evidence, reconciling item explanations, and resolution plans.
Support external audit requests by ensuring assigned workpapers, reconciliations, and supporting schedules are complete, timely, and easy to follow.
Develop and maintain internal control narratives, process maps, RACI matrices, job aids, and standard operating procedures for assigned accounting processes.
Identify control gaps, inconsistent practices, manual workarounds, and recurring process bottlenecks; recommend and implement improvements to strengthen financial reporting reliability.
Technical Accounting, Systems & Process Improvement:
Support technical accounting research and implementation planning for new or emerging GASB standards and other accounting matters affecting assigned financial reporting areas.
Prepare or contribute to accounting memos, implementation workpapers, internal control narratives, and other technical documentation.
Identify opportunities to standardize and improve reconciliations, journal entry support, analytical review, documentation, and recurring accounting processes.
Use Excel, SQL, Power BI, reporting tools, and other available technologies to improve the efficiency, consistency, and transparency of assigned financial reporting processes.
Partner with finance, analytics, Information Technology, and operational stakeholders to improve data access, reporting, automation, and workflow where appropriate.
Develop and maintain process documentation, job aids, and cross-training materials to strengthen continuity and reduce reliance on institutional knowledge.
Proactively identify recurring issues, control weaknesses, inefficient processes, or data quality concerns and recommend practical improvements.
Assist with training or cross-training other accounting and finance staff in assigned areas and serve as a technical resource to team members when appropriate.
Foster strong working relationships with stakeholders across UI Health Care, the University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine, and external organizations.
Required Qualifications:
A Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required.
Three years of progressively responsible experience in accounting, auditing, financial reporting, financial analysis, or a related finance function.
Demonstrated experience preparing complex journal entries, account reconciliations, accruals, financial analyses, and supporting documentation.
Strong understanding of accrual accounting, financial statement preparation, internal controls, and generally accepted accounting principles.
Demonstrated ability to independently manage significant recurring accounting processes and produce substantially review-ready work with limited supervision.
Demonstrated ability to exercise professional judgment, investigate unusual or complex transactions, identify accounting or data issues, and develop appropriate recommendations.
Strong analytical skills and demonstrated ability to work with large or complex datasets.
Demonstrated ability to identify trends, anomalies, timing differences, and other matters requiring further investigation.
Ability to understand business processes and systems beyond the general ledger and determine how operational activity ultimately affects financial reporting.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, meet tight deadlines, and work effectively during high-intensity monthly and year-end close periods.
Demonstrated ability to work independently while knowing when significant or unusual matters should be escalated.
Strong written and verbal communication skills and demonstrated ability to work effectively with finance and non-finance stakeholders.
Strong attention to detail, organizational skills, and commitment to accurate and well-supported work.
Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a welcoming and respectful workplace environment.
Desired Qualifications:
Certified Public Accountant license.
Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
Experience in healthcare, academic medicine, higher education, governmental accounting, or another large and complex organization.
Experience with personnel expense accounting, payroll accruals, variable compensation, employee benefit liabilities, pension, OPEB, compensated absences, or similar complex accounting areas.
Knowledge of GASB standards, including experience with pension, OPEB, or compensated absence accounting.
Experience with self-insurance, professional liability, captive insurance, actuarial estimates, or other significant accounting estimates.
Experience with non-patient receivables, contractual revenue arrangements, or other complex accrual and reconciliation processes.
Experience using PeopleSoft or another large ERP or HRIS environment.
Experience working with payroll, time and attendance, compensation, or other operational systems that feed financial reporting processes.
Experience with relational databases, SQL, Power BI, Tableau, or other reporting and data visualization tools.
Demonstrated ability to improve accounting processes, strengthen documentation and internal controls, and develop practical solutions to complex or inefficient processes.
Demonstrated ability to translate complex financial or accounting information into clear explanations for operational and finance stakeholders.
Application Process: To be considered, applicants must upload a cover letter and resume (under the submission of relevant materials) that clearly address how they meet the listed required and desired qualifications of this position. Job openings are posted for a minimum of 7 calendar days. Successful candidates will be required to self-disclose any conviction history and will be subject to a criminal background check and credential/education verification.
Up to 5 professional references will be requested at a later step in the recruitment process. For questions, contact Sharon Walther at sharon-walther@uiowa.edu.
This position is not eligible for University sponsorship for employment authorization now or in the future.
Equal opportunity employer
The University of Iowa is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment free from discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), disability, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, service in the U.S. military, sexual orientation, or associational preferences.
Persons with disabilities who need assistance or accommodations with the application or interview process may contact University Human Resources/Faculty and Staff Disability Services, (319) 335-2660 or fsds@uiowa.edu. For jobs in UI Health care, please contact UI Health care Leave & Disability Administration at 319-356-7543.
