Account/Position No.: 40100/213040                             Level 6

Position Title: Accountant 1

Department: Office of Financial Services

Expectations for All Employees

East Tennessee State University pursues its mission based upon core values. An employee's job performance must support and exhibit the university's core values:

PEOPLE come first, are treated with dignity and respect, and are encouraged to achieve their full potential;
RELATIONSHIPS are built on honesty, integrity and trust;
DIVERSITY of people and thought is respected;
EXCELLENCE is achieved through teamwork, leadership, creativity, and a strong work ethic;
EFFICIENCY is achieved through wise use of human and financial resources; and COMMITMENT to intellectual achievement is embraced.

Responsible to the Bursar for ensuring that all federal, state and university guidelines pertaining to the billing, collection and/or write-off of all university receivables are followed; supervises, trains and backs-up two billing and collection account clerk positions; gathering, reconciling and compiling year-end receivable data from all university, family medicine and College of Medicine accounts for submission to the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR); preparing quarterly and year-end federal reports for notes receivables; preparing adjusting, closing or reversing entries regarding year-end accounts/notes receivable for university, family medicine and College of Medicine accounts; preparing the annual 1098E reports (student loan interest reporting) and transmitting to the IRS; downloading and installing software updates for the collection of federal and institutional loans loans; and performing other related duties as assigned.

- Invoices general accounts receivable, dual service contracts and athletic sponsorship contracts.

- Investigates past due balances such as SIS, returned checks, telecommunications, notes receivables, etc., and assigns them to the Department of Education, collection agencies, or attorneys for further processing.

- Monitors, selects and prepares all university receivables including those in the Comptroller's Office, Family Medicine, and the College of Medicine for either in-house or TBR write-off approval; prepares journal entries associated with approved write-offs.

- Reconciles eleven notes and accounts receivable accounts and prepares any journal entries needed to bring an account into balance.

- Supervises, trains and provides back-up for two account clerks who bill and collect returned checks and six federal loan portfolios.

- Uses the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) software to extract data from the Perkins Loan portfolio; corrects second level errors and transmits data in report form to the Department of Education each month; corrects third level errors transmitted by the NSLDS via the Title IV Wan software.

- Oversees the preparation of the annual 1098E reports to students; transmits reports to the IRS using on-line bulletin board electronic transmission service (F.I.R.E.).

- Gathers year-end data relating to all university receivables including those in the Comptroller's Office, Family Medicine and the College of Medicine; compiles into spreadsheets per TBR guidelines; reconciles receivables with FRS and transmits accounts and notes receivables to the TBR.

- Prepares the adjusting, closing and reversing journal entries to all university accounts and notes receivable accounts for year-end reconciliation.

- Calculates accrued interest for six loan portfolios; makes appropriate closing and reversing journal entries to all sixteen loan portfolios for accrued interest.

- Calculates the allowance for bad debt and bad debt expense for all of the accounts and notes receivable accounts; makes proper journal entries to each account.

- Calculates, prepares and transmits all quarterly and year-end federal, state and university reports related to university accounts and notes receivables.

- Downloads, interprets and installs all updates to software used in the collection of federal and institutional loans or the transmission of data to the IRS or the NSLDS; trains office staff in using loan software.

- Provides assistance and guidance to office staff regarding compliance with federal guidelines related to the Perkins Loans, federal guidelines related to the Health Professions Loans, state and university guidelines related to the billing and collection of accounts receivables, and basic contract and bankruptcy laws.

- Assists with telephone inquiries as required.

- Assists with cashier windows during peak registration and fee payment periods.

- Assists with student conflict resolution.

- Makes copies and performs other duties that arise.

- Performs other related duties as assigned.

- Knowledge of basic accounting principles and computer applications to accounting.

- Knowledge of federal, state and university regulations for collection of notes and accounts receivable.

- Knowledge of basic contract and bankruptcy laws.

- Knowledge of computers, word processing, spreadsheets and DOS applications.

- Knowledge of university policies and procedures.

- Ability to communicate effectively.

- Ability to exercise good judgment in evaluating situations and making decisions.

- Ability to prioritize and organize work schedules.

- Ability to establish and maintain an effective working relationship with students and staff.

Performs under general supervision. Determines own methods of performing assigned work. Supervises classified employees.

Bachelor's degree in accounting required; two years of accounting and computer experience; two years supervisory and five years experience in collections preferred.