Project Accountant – Government Financial Advisory

Job Description

Project Accountant 1 | State of Ohio

The Tone:
This is a full-time or part-time role based in Marion, OH, with regular travel required to local government audit sites within the Northwest Region of Ohio, specifically Allen, Auglaize, Champaign, Crawford, Hardin, Hancock, Logan, Marion, Putnam, Union, and Wyandot counties. As a Project Accountant 1 within the Local Government Services (LGS) Division of the Ohio Auditor of State, you will play a foundational role in upholding the fiscal integrity and operational efficiency of Ohio’s public offices. The Auditor of State’s office is entrusted with auditing nearly 6,000 public entities across the state, and this position directly supports the LGS division’s mission to provide critical consulting and fiscal advisory services. This role is essential for delivering financial forecasting, record reconstruction, and in-depth financial analysis that ensures transparency, compliance, and sound financial management for Ohio’s diverse local government agencies, including villages, townships, and school districts.

The TL;DR
• Role: Early Career
• Type: Full-time and part-time hours available
• Location: In-person Marion, OH
• Pay: $29.93–$30.83 hourly
• Team: Local Government Services (LGS) Division, assisting higher level LGS employees
• Mission: Assist in providing essential financial services and advisory support to Ohio’s local government agencies.
• Tech Stack: Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint

What You’ll Actually Do
• Financial Service Delivery: Assist higher level LGS employees in delivering a range of local government services, including financial forecasting, GAAP conversion assistance, reconciliations, and reconstruction of financial records, as well as fiscal emergency analysis, performance audits, and feasibility studies.
• Information Gathering & Documentation: Gather necessary financial information, meticulously prepare work papers, and apply established local government services procedures and techniques to specific client accounts and records.
• Compliance Review & Reporting: Review completed work collaboratively with higher-level LGS employees to ensure strict compliance with local government services procedures and techniques adopted by the Auditor of State, and assist in preparing comprehensive local government services reports and other work products.
• Client Interaction & Advisory Support: Participate in meetings with local government officials, always accompanied by higher-level LGS employees, to discuss financial reports, and aid in studying and documenting transaction cycles and accounting procedures to help clients understand legal and regulatory requirements.
• System Familiarization: Prepare necessary working papers and schedules to increase personal familiarity with local government services programs, report formats, and the diverse accounting systems of client entities.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university (Accounting preferred) OR successful completion of at least 16 semester hours or equivalent in accounting or a related field from an accredited college, university, trade, technical, or vocational school beyond high school level OR at least three years’ experience in accounting or a related field.
• Experience: Requires travel to audit site work locations across the Northwest Region of Ohio.
• Skills: Proficiency in Microsoft Office products including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
• Bonus: Detail-oriented, organized, reliable, professional and effective communication (both orally and in writing), ability to work well with people at all job levels, and capability to work efficiently under a time-budget structure.