Financial Assistant

Overview:
**Term: 1 Year**

The Financial Assistant supports the HR Financial Officer in managing the Office of the Associate Provost Human Resources (APHR) operating budget. The Financial Assistant applies their knowledge of accounting to ensure APHR related transactions are flowing accurately through to the general ledger and other payees are paid in a manner that is compliant, accurate, and timely. The Financial Assistant also supports the Pension Administration Team in performing monthly benefit payment reconciliations and other tasks as assigned.

**Responsibilities**:

- Financial Officer Assistant
- Assist with updating and maintaining detailed budget spreadsheets for 3 Org Units within APHR, including monthly reconciliation with financial services statements and verification of any transactions that appear to be in error
- Utilize budget data to assist with preparation of a monthly presentation in PowerPoint used for planning and decision making
- Assist with invoice coding and submissions, requisition requests and deposits
- Prepare accounting journal entries or budget transfer requests, when required
- Assist with year-end processing and reporting for payroll including reconciling and preparing Federal, Provincial, and WSI annual returns
- Assist with researching and responding to internal, government and third-party audit inquiries
- Review current reconciliation and internal audit processes and controls, identify inefficiencies, and provide recommendations to the HR Financial Officer to enhance accuracy, efficiency and compliance
- Maintain document library for departmental financials
- Maintain and document policies and procedures for finance related items within APHR
- Pension
- Ensure maintenance of pension and lump sum payment summary monthly and resolve/escalate any issues by performing monthly reconciliations of pension and lump sum payments
- Generate and review upcoming retirement report, manage preparation of 2-month letters to those who are retiring/approaching their normal retirement date, and ensure those who are retiring have been captured in the case management tracking system
- Monthly audit of pending transactions to ensure compliance with legislative timeframes and default benefit processing
- In collaboration with the Pension Analyst, assist with ongoing validation of data within the pension system when requested, to enable accurate preparation of benefit calculations and statements; assist with ensuring member data integrity sent to the Actuary for valuation purposes
- Highlight/escalate key issues found to the Manager, Pension Services to mitigate risks; suggest solutions to Manager, Pension Services and assist with implementing changes, where feasible
- Produce complex pension estimates (incl. Family Law Values, Transfer-In Proposals) and retroactive plan enrolment scenarios, including payment schedules for pension arrears situations
- Assist with daily administration (i.e., options forms at termination/retirement/death) as necessary to maintain service delivery levels
- Respond to inquiries in a timely fashion as per Human Resources’ service standards
- Interacts with University departments, APHR groups and external vendors to resolve any outstanding financial issues and questions.
- Perform research where necessary to provide an accurate answer
- Communicate policy, procedural, and legislative requirements to customers who often have little or no understanding of pension
- Deal with sensitive or personal information in a confidential and professional manner
- Confer with, or escalate matters to, senior level team members as appropriate
- Other duties include, but are not limited to:

- Assist with year-end adjustments and corrections as required and respond to customer inquiries related to year-end slips
- Participate in user acceptance testing for upgrades, updates and implementation of new functionality as required
- Contribute to creation and maintenance of standard operating procedures
- Liaise with HR colleagues as required to ensure understanding of current arrangements affecting pension and participates in HR cross functional review of processes and procedures to provide pension impacts
- Participate in special projects to facilitate continuous improvement and improved business practices within Human Resources
- Other projects and administrative activities as requested

Qualifications:

- 4-year post-secondary education in Business Accounting, Mathematics or similar course of study
- College diploma or University degree, preferably in a business-related discipline
- Equivalent combination of education and/or experience will be considered
- Experience in a general accounting function with increasing levels of responsibility
- 2-3 years defined benefit pension administration experience, including demonstrated analytical and problem-solving experience in pension related data management and information systems
- Experience working independently and utilizing strong ti