Finance and Budget Assistant

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Description

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Org. Setting and Reporting

The position is located in the Financial Reporting Service, Finance Division, Office of Programme Planning, Finance and Budget (OPPFB), Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance (DMSPC). The Financial Reporting Service is mainly responsible for the preparation of IPSAS-compliant financial statements for all funding sources and ensures the sustainability of IPSAS-compliant accounting and reporting. The Finance and Budget Assistant reports to the Head of the Unit or to a Finance and Budget Officer.

Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the Finance and Budget Assistant will be responsible for the following duties:

Budget:

• Provides support with respect to the review, analyses and preparation of the programme plan and its revisions.
• Prepares supporting documents (narrative and supporting tables) with respect to finalization of cost estimates and budget proposals, in terms of staff and non-staff requirements.
• Assists managers in the elaboration of resource requirements for budget submissions.
• Undertakes research and provides support to higher level Finance & Budget Officers with respect to budget reviews of relevant intergovernmental and expert bodies.
• Monitors expenditures and compares with approved budget; prepares adjustments as necessary.
• Reviews requisitions for goods and services to ensure (a) correct objects of expenditure have been charged, and (b) availability of funds.
• Assists in preparation of budget performance submissions and finalization of budget performance reports, analysing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures.
• Monitors integrity of various financial databases.
• Verifies accuracy of input data, ensuring consistency of data in previous allotments/appropriations to new allotments/appropriations issued.
• Co-ordinates with other finance and budget staff on related issues during preparation of budget reports.

Finance:

• Scrutinizes source documents for completeness, accuracy and validity of charges.
• Investigates erroneous charges and takes appropriate corrective accounting actions.
• Communicates with field offices regarding missing documentation or any other issues related to discrepancies between their accounts and those maintained at Headquarters.
• Reconciles and reviews suspense accounts and ensure proper clearance procedures have been followed.
• Extracts details of income, expenditure, assets and liability from accounting system in order to analyze and verify accuracy and validity.
• Consolidates data into financial statements.
• Assists with the monitoring of expenditures to ensures they remain within authorized levels. Examines the validity of requests for increases in imprest levels; prepares disbursement vouchers to replenish imprest accounts.
• Prepares worksheets and assists with the preparation of financial statements.
• Audits various accounting transactions, e.g., payroll, education grants, final payments, income tax returns, travel claims, etc., to ensure correctness of disbursements and adherence to relevant staff rules, financial regulations and rules, ST/AI issuances or practices.
• Serves as Approving Officer for disbursements up to an authorized level.
• Provides guidance and training to colleagues as required.
• Supervises other General Service staff as required.
• Drafts/prepares memoranda and/or cables to various offices, departments and overseas offices.
• Responds to queries from staff members and third parties.
• Assists with the collection and analysis of data as well as preparation of data presentations and reports for information sharing, responding to queries, knowledge management, planning and decision making.

General:

• Keeps up-to-date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to programme, ensuring compliance with intergovernmental recommendations and decisions as well as with United Nations policies and procedures.
• Drafts or prepares correspondence to respond to enquiries in respect to relevant financial and budget matters.
• Maintain and keep up-to-date files.
• May be responsible for providing guidance, training and daily supervision to other general service staff in the area of responsibility.
• Assists with visualizations and updating information material such as web pages or brochures.
• Performs other related duties, as assigned.

Education

• High school diploma or equivalent is required.

Work Experience

• A minimum of seven years of experience in finance, budget, accounting, administrative services or related area is required.
• The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to 5 years for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher. Experience in the use of information technology programs related to spreadsheets, databases and word processing is required.
• A minimum of five years experience using an enterprise resource planning system in accounting or finance is required. One year or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.
• Experience with the application of Financial Regulations and Rules and staff rules of the United Nations or similar international organization is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.

Source: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/248266?language=en

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