Accountant 1

Job Description

Accountant, Special Projects Department | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located in Salt Lake City, UT. The Church operates as a global religious organization, dedicated to sharing the gospel and furthering the Lord’s work through its worldwide mission. Finance employees are entrusted with receiving, accounting for, monitoring, and designing internal controls to safeguard sacred funds, which are donated confidentially in obedience to God’s commandments. This entry-level professional accounting position plays a critical role in applying established accounting principles to maintain specialized accounting records and reports. The incumbent is responsible for assisting in the day-to-day maintenance of a complete and accurate general ledger and in preparing basic financial reports, directly supporting the Church’s religious mission under the direction of senior ecclesiastical leaders.

The TL;DR
• Role: Early Career
• Type: Full-time
• Location: In-person, Salt Lake City, UT
• Team: Reports to a supervisor or senior accountant within the Special Projects Department.
• Mission: Responsible for assisting in the day-to-day maintenance of a complete and accurate general ledger and preparing basic financial reports to support the Church’s religious mission.

What You’ll Actually Do
• General Ledger Management: Initiate and perform general ledger file maintenance, preparing journal entries and other adjustments to correct errors, ensuring financial statement presentations are accurate and meaningful.
• Account Reconciliation & Clearance: Reconcile accounts and thoroughly review reconciliations, taking action to ensure all outstanding items are properly cleared and investigated as needed.
• Financial Analysis & Reporting: Consolidate accounting information for statements and summaries, prepare special studies and reports for various departments, and assist in preparing financial estimates and expense reports.
• Budget & Expenditure Review: Analyze budget requests, explain any budgetary changes resulting from increased costs or program shifts, and review expenditures against budget for compliance, making necessary reconciliations and correcting entries.
• Policy Compliance & Audit: Review and monitor invoices exceeding defined dollar amounts, audit project accounts for compliance to Church policy, and draft correspondence to appropriate parties regarding differences requiring investigation or further action.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Entry-level professional accounting position requiring a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Management. Incumbents must demonstrate a well-grounded knowledge of financial and accounting theory.
• Experience: No post-graduate professional accounting experience is required for this position. Incumbents will apply college-level theoretical knowledge as they gain an understanding of Church accounting systems, policies, and procedures.
• Skills: Proficiency is required on relevant accounting systems to accurately maintain assigned ledgers, records, and accounts. Incumbents must also demonstrate courtesy, tact, and effectiveness in dealing with others in everyday working relationships when requesting or providing information.
• Bonus: A knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).