Corporate Accountant

Job Summary

Under the general direction of the Manager, the Corporate Accountant ensures the efficient operation of the general accounting functions for all activities associated with the General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Fixed Assets, Encumbrance, Consumption Tax, month-end and year-end functions.  The incumbent is responsible to ensure that all financial transactions are properly and accurately recorded in the financial system.   The incumbent oversees the integrity of interfaces from other departmental systems ie. payroll.

The responsibilities of this position are IDRC-wide in scope, with responsibility to ensure that business processes and internal controls are appropriate for the IDRC’s financial operations; supervising a team; implementing sound financial/accounting policies, and business processes.  The incumbent participates in the development and enhancement of the IDRC’s financial system.

Primary Duties or Responsibilities

Manages the integrity of the Centre’s corporate financial information through comprehensive monthly analysis, which includes:

  • conducting a monthly review of the financial results (Trial Balance, Statement of Operations etc.) to identify errors, omissions and performs, directly or through the team of Analysts, various financial analysis (ie. Year over Year analysis, Budget Category and Cost Structure analysis etc);
  • identifying training needs for users of the financial system;
  • corresponding with users throughout head office and the regions to discuss errors, omissions and appropriate corrective action;
  • developing and preparing a quarterly feedback report on Quality Assurance issues;
  • identifying reporting needs and participating in the design of reports to meet new requirements and/or to enhance day-to-day operations including  approving specifications, descriptive content for the Reports Catalogue and the testing of reports  (this requires coordination with the Financial Systems unit and Information Technology Management Division);
  • providing professional advisory services to staff in head office and the regions, on all corporate accounting issues, processes and procedures; and
  • reviewing and recommending more efficient work methods and procedures reflective of current industry standards.

Manages month end and year end processes including:

  • approving the monthly and year end cut-off schedules;
  • preparing year end procedures to accompany the cut-off schedules;
  • reviewing year end worksheets prepared by Finance Services, GAD, or regional offices and consolidating information for submission to the OAG;
  • coordinating the update of pertinent business process documents to assist the OAG in their comprehension of IDRC operations;
  • serving as a liaison with the Office of the Auditor General;
  • preparing the Statement of Cash Flows and Schedule 1 for the Annual Report; and
  • coordinating changes to the Financial Statements based on feedback from the Technical Review department of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.

Financial System:

  • takes a critical view of financial operations, to identify if the financial system configuration is effective and appropriate to meet operational requirements;
  • working closely with the Financial Systems Unit, oversees configuration changes to the Fixed Assets, Accounts Payable and General Ledger Modules in order to ensure that they reflect the needs of the corporation, operate efficiently and facilitate the work in Corporate Accounting;
  • in conjunction with the Financial Systems Unit, explores opportunities to maximize the use of the Oracle financial modules; and
  • participates, as an implementation team member, in the periodic upgrade of Oracle financials (for General Ledger and Fixed Assets modules).

Supervises a team of two Financial Analysts by:

  • assigning and scheduling work and helps to identify and set priorities;
    coaching, motivating and monitoring the performance of staff and initiates corrective action as required;
  • identifying problems and provides guidance, support and feedback; and
  • managing performance using periodic feedback mechanisms and the preparation of annual performance review and appraisals.

Supports the Manager, Corporate Accounting in the discharge of his/her responsibilities. This includes:

  • preparing periodic feedback to GAD, Regional Offices and other users of the financial system on their compliance to Centre financial policies and procedures;
  • drafting, or updating, financial policies pertaining to the Corporate Accounting functions;
  • researching authoritative literature for proper treatment of accounting topics;
  • reviewing internal and external audit reports and contributing to the preparation of management responses based on audit observations;
  • preparing ad hoc financial analysis as requested by the Manager; and
  • acts as Manager, Corporate Accounting during his/her absence.