Accounting and Travel Specialist: Department of History - UTK

The position works closely with the Business Manager to provide financial and travel support to the History Department. This position provides full-service accounting services by submitting financial transactions, processing reimbursements, honorariums, and deposits, reconciling ledger entries and providing necessary reports while ensuring compliance with University policies. This position will provide departmental assistance to include establishing travel arrangements, entering travel request, arranging direct billed travel, entering expense receipts for traveler's reimbursement, etc. and may negotiate with travel providers. Additionally, this position will provide policy interpretation and have strong knowledge of travel related State and Federal Regulations and UT Fiscal Policy.

Accounting

• Responsible for Accounts Payable (vendor creation, payment of invoices) 
• Makes purchases on Procurement Card, ensuring that p-card purchases are allowable and compliant with fiscal policy 
• Reconciles p-card purchase receipts with monthly statements and responds to audit requests
• Inputs accounting transactions and ensures that they comply with fiscal policy and that they are appropriately classified 
• Ensures that supporting documentation for transactions is attached to financial transactions
• Responsible for financial entries for scholarship/fellowship and other gift accounts 
• Prepares deposits 
• Purchaser for the department - Orders office supplies, books, technology, faculty services and memberships, etc.
• Enters, processes and records direct-bill invoices, pays honorariums to guests of the department
• Responsible for originating and following-up on correspondence regarding financial issues 
• Prepares accounting and financial reports providing interpretation of the data 
• Assists with preparation of the annual budgets and processing necessary changes
• Provides guidance to faculty, staff, and students in matters related to compliance with the University fiscal policy

Travel Specialist

• Reporting and assisting department with travel reconciliations and training
• Assist with travel plans by coordinating with travelers to arrange trip details such as securing airline tickets, transportation and hotel reservations
• Process guest traveler requests
• Ensure timely processing of requests and provide status updates to travelers
• Enter expense receipts for traveler's reimbursement
• Request missing information from travelers so that reimbursements can be efficiently processed

Travel Management

• Manage last minute travel changes due to weather, hotel over bookings, plane or bus cancellations, or other crises as needed
• Collaborate with departments, vendors, internal and external travelers to ensure the most effective program is maintained
• Research, make recommendations, and provide detailed travel information to travelers
• Participate in procurement of travel-related vendors at the campus level
• Ensure compliance with University policy and address any non-compliance matters with the traveler to work to find a resolution that appropriately reimburses the traveler and complies with University policy

Travel Operations

• Establish departmental processes for travel management; establish best practices related to travel by determining how non-standard travel requests will be handled and considered and providing guidance based on the established practices.
• Responsible for ensuring appropriate accounts are applied in processing departmental travel requests and reimbursements verifying that travel charges are allowable prior to submitting expenses
• Subject matter expert for travel related matters, including policy interpretation, acting as a resource to department and advising on questions related to policy and best practices for travel management

Required Qualifications

Education: High School Diploma with a minimum of 3 years of accounting/financial and travel experience. 

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: 

• Experience in processing financial and travel transactions 
• Strong customer service skills, attention to detail and time