Duties

Financial Reporting

Within the Bureau of Financial Reporting and Oil Spill Remediation, financial reports are produced on both a Cash-basis and a GAAP-basis. The Cash-basis financial reports are produced on a monthly and annual basis. The GAAP-basis financial reports are produced on a quarterly and annual basis. 

The Bureau is also responsible for various other reports including the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Financial Condition Report, and the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards.

The Senior Accountant, under the general direction of unit management, may be assigned various reporting duties. These duties may include:

• Preparing financial statements for the Comptroller’s Cash Basis Report and the GAAP Basis Basic Financial Statements as required by law (monthly, quarterly and annually) in compliance with accounting standards and/or standards issued by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). This includes preparing work papers, schedules and responses that will be used by the Bureau, OSC staff, other agencies and external auditors as support.
• Assist in completing other required reports prepared by the Bureau.
• Flux analysis.
• Detailed fund reviews.
• Reviewing and interpreting legislation.
• Annual updating of the Fund Classification Manual to reflect changes that need to be made pursuant to enacted budget and/or statutory changes.
• Assisting supervisors in the various tasks to ensure that all work assignments are completed on an accurate and timely basis, including answering questions and following up on financial statement issues.
• Communicating and collecting information among staff within the Bureau, in OSC, and other State agencies and entities. When necessary, assisting State agencies in their efforts to comply with required reporting.
• Independently performing duties associated with the preparation of the financial statements using Excel, SFS, EPM (Hyperion) and nVision.
• Documenting and updating of Bureau procedures.
• Maintaining a professional, cooperative demeanor and attitude.

GASB Standard Review/Implementation and Involvement with Other Professional Organizations

The Bureau is responsible for implementing new accounting and reporting standards to remain in compliance with State and federal law and/or promulgated by the GASB. The Senior Accountant, under the general direction of unit management, may be assigned various duties to assist in the review and implementation of these standards. These duties may include:

• Reviewing and interpreting changes to accounting and reporting standards issued by the NYS legislature, the federal government and/or the GASB.
• Providing resources and guidance to agency staff and requesting information needed for financial statement preparation.
• Developing new workpapers as supporting documentation to the financial statements.
• Updating policies and procedures as necessary.
• Clearly communicating information to all stakeholders impacted by the implementation.
• Reviewing preliminary views documents and/or exposure drafts, assessing the potential impact of these proposed changes on NYS, and providing comments/recommendations to Bureau management and the GASB.
• Attendance at GASB (Governmental Accounting Standards Board) events and other professional meetings throughout the year may be a requirement of this position.

Reconciliation and Support

The Bureau is responsible for performing various system reconciliations so that the data used for analysis and reporting can be relied upon. The Bureau also is called upon to provide financial information or support to other entities (i.e. other OSC staff, State agencies, DOB, etc).

The Senior Accountant, under the general direction of unit management, may be assigned various reconciliation duties. These duties may include:

• Preparing and completing schedules that support various reconciliation of the ledgers, submodules, bank accounts and transactions as well as other maintenance within the Statewide Financial System (SFS). This may require creating correction transactions identified during the reconciliation process and maintaining adequate supporting evidence for the transactions. 
• Communicating reconciliation results to relevant parties, tracking corrections, and informing the Bureau of the status of the reconciling items so that the impact on reporting can be determined.
• Preparing and completing workpapers that support various payroll reconciliation tasks.
• Participating in Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests.
• Participating in fiscal research and special projects within the Bureau.
• Providing support and expertise to other work units within the Bureau as assigned by management.