Budget Analyst

Summary

Reports to: Director of Finance

Department: Finance

Major Activities & Essential Functions

• Provides support to the Director of Finance in monitoring, forecasting, and reporting of the operating budgets and financials, and prepares, updates, and maintains quarterly and annual QF Financial Reporting Templates.
• Analyzes and interprets financial data to determine financial performance, as well as, analyzes budget patterns and project expenditures.
• Measures cost drivers and prepares budgetary benchmarks, and provides support to the departmental administrators in monitoring and reporting of the operating budgets and financials.
• Develops cash flow projections for operating and capital expenditures, and assists the Director of Finance to create, maintain, and disseminate a suite of budgetary policies and procedures.
• Creates and implements a budget virement procedure and template, as well as, maintains, updates, and reconciles budget tracker on a monthly basis.
• Maintains a list of joiners, leavers, and FTE data for QF reporting purposes, and tracks and maintains a list of budget holders and index reconcilers.
• Provides cover for the Director of Finance to review and approve Purchase Orders in the Real Source system, and works in close collaboration with the Financial Operations Manager and the Senior Financial Accountant to ensure timely closing of month and year-end cycles.
• Monitors departmental expense transactions and track department budgets continuously over the course of the year, as well as, analyzes monthly financial activities and explains variances from budget to actual monthly.
• Prepares and enters budget journals in the VCU’s Banner system, and reconciles VCUQ’s budget monthly to ensure integrity of budget reports.
• Maps and uploads VCU-Q’s approved budget in VCU’s Banner system on a bi-annual basis, as well as, assists the Director of Finance in ensuring the VCU-Q’s budget performance remains on track and recommends timely corrective actions where needed.
• Participates in budget-related data analysis and modeling for the Director of Finance, and ensures compliance with QF and VCU regulatory requirements.
• Provides support for new projects and ad-hoc requests as required, as well as, maintains knowledge and keeps abreast of new financial regulations or policies relevant to the job.
• Performs other job-related duties as requested by the Director of Finance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance or Accounting or equivalent experience
• Fully qualified ACCA/CIMA/CPA is a must
• 3-5 years of progressive post-qualification experience working in mid-level finance roles
• Strong demonstrated use of Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
• Exceptional verbal/written communication skills
• Ability to draft clear and concise emails, letters, memos, and reports
• Ability to interpret university and state policies, procedures, and guidelines

Skills & Experience

• Progressive budget reporting, monitoring, and analysis experience
• Experience in using budget monitoring and reporting systems
• Knowledge of budget systems and data mining tools such as Power BI, SQL, Access, Visual Basic etc.
• Expert level user of Banner and SAS system, able to generate ad hoc reports
• Remains knowledgeable of QF, University and State policies and procedures related to own area of responsibility
• Excellent analytical, decision-making, and problem-solving skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to interact with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders effectively and positively
• Ability to analyze and interpret budget reports and data
• Ability to prioritize work and handle multiple priorities simultaneously while attending to details and meeting deadlines
• Demonstrated ability to solve problems independently and use available resources
• Excellent time management skills, ability to multitask and work to tight deadlines
• A high level of accuracy, work ethic & a diligent worker
• Willingness to work within a cooperative structure – working in a team
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment or commitment to do so as a staff member at VCUarts Qatar

Application Process