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Senior Accounts Payable Specialist (Payments), Finance

Job ID: 30902
Location: Main Campus
Updated March 20, 2024

This job posting is no longer active.

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We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the traditional territories of the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta.
The City of Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Districts 5 and 6.

Position Overview

The Accounts Payable team in Finance is currently seeking a Full-time Regular Senior Accounts Payable Specialist (Payments).

This position reports to the Supervisor, Accounts Payable. This position provides direct support to the Supervisor with operational expertise and guidance in the Accounts Payable (AP) department within Financial Operations. The Senior AP Specialist (Payments) is responsible for providing subject matter expertise, mentorship, and guidance to the Accounts Payable Team and therefore must be trained in each of their roles.

Position Description

Summary of Key Responsibilities:

Compliance:

  • Work in partnership with university faculties / departments, external vendors, Canada Revenue Agency and other stakeholders to ensure payments issued are in accordance with the policies of the university and associated legislation that drives reporting and withholding for resident and non-resident payments.
  • Audit expense reimbursements for University of Calgary employees and non employees to ensure compliance with University Travel and Expense Reimbursement policies.
  • Monitor and review cash advances and expense reports for all non-research transactions to make sure they are complete and compliant with the university's policies.
  • Review payment requests for individuals following the Employee vs Independent Contractor guidelines
  • Provide service and information to departments and university vendors, including sharing expertise, applying knowledge and making recommendations.
  • Remain current on factors that would initiate change, such as university policies and procedures, Accounts Payable and administration practices, technology changes and relevant legislation for compliance.
  • Liaise and advise the budget owner in cases of unapproved charges. Communicate with the stakeholders to provide back-up documents if required.
  • Acts as a subject matter expert for other departments and the research community on questions about compliance
  • Contribute to the ongoing process of improvement of the Accounts Payable processes by making recommendations on how the unit can be more efficient and proactive to meet their needs and requirements. 
  • Ensure that communications with stakeholders are timely, informative, confidential and performed in a professional manner. Expert judgement and professionalism is used within the university established guidelines.

Accounts Payable Leadership:

  • Proactively develop and maintain trustworthy and productive working relationships with all stakeholders including: University of Calgary administration, internal and external customers.
  • Provide PeopleSoft training, navigation and advice regarding Accounts Payable and Expense modules, including how to input, interpret and understand how it works.
  • Contribute to financial policies and plans and act upon recommendations for change to procedures, process and reporting activities to enhance systems, reporting, transaction processing and general administration of Accounts Payable.
  • Complete special projects as required, report on findings, prepare recommendations and monitor outcomes. These may include development of Accounts Payable guidelines and procedures.
  • Liaise between university vendors and departments to ensure payments are done on a timely manner to reflect accurate financial statements.
  • Advising university community and vendors of Accounts Payable best practices and university Procure to Pay processes, policies, procedures, programs and unit operations.
  • Remain current on factors that would initiate change, such as university policies and procedures, granting agency regulations, bank regulations, and both provincial and federal legislation as applicable.

Accounts Payable Expertise:

  • Liaise with internal and external customers to resolve payment issues.
  • Investigate and resolve issues from the monthly bank reconciliations.
  • Subject matter expert for all Accounts Payable payment related processes including GST rebate calculations, prepayment applications, wire transfer requirements and Account Payable Journal Entries.
  • Coordinate with the bank to address payment issues related to sanctioned countries and other banking inquiries.
  • Work with Treasury department regarding payment disbursements.
  • Collaborate with Financial reporting team for bank statement reconciliation and unclaimed property/stale dated cheque listing.
  • Investigate stale dated cheques/unclaimed property to identify reasons why cheques are not cashed, identify un-cashed cheques that should be reported as unclaimed property to Government of Alberta.
  • Prepare report for unclaimed to be submitted to CRA.
  • Initiating of continuous improvement activities to improve business process flows within own area of responsibility.
  • Analyze and monitor several system reports for discrepancies related to invoice processing, resolve issues or escalate for resolution.
  • Idnentify, analyse and code GST on invoices with an understanding of university rebate system to ensure proper reporting to Canada Revenue Agency.
  • Advise university Community with regards to requirements and tax implications for honorarium payments (i.e. T4A, T4ANR).
  • Work collaboratively with Integrated Service Centre as tier 3 advisers to assist and resolve all Accounts Payable invoice and expense reimbursement related issues in an effective and efficient manner.
  • Review and audit employee cash advance requests; clear and communicate with the stakeholders on a timely manner to ensure university policies are followed. Reconcile employee cash advances on a regular basis to ensure advances are accounted for.
  • Review and monitor cash payments to traditional Knowledge keepers to ensure T4A reporting requirements are met
  • Work both independently and collaboratively to resolve AP unposted vouchers and ensure charges are posted to the appropriate accounting period.
  • Monitor and resolve vouchers that are pending in the workflow to enable approvers to approve transactions on a timely manner.
  • Provide senior guidance and assistance to Accounts Payable Team.

Accounts Payable Operations:

  • Perform pay cycle for electronic fund transfer and cheque run for suppliers and expense reimbursements for university employees
  • Receive, manage and process stop payment and cancelation requests
  • Run reports for stale dated cheques and send letters as required
  • Prepare monthly payments to CRA
  • Prepare and process wire transfer payments
  • Investigate and resolve any reconciling items from the monthly bank statements
  • Prepare monthly journal entry requests if necessary
  • Code refund cheques in a timely manner

Qualifications / Requirements:

  • Bachelors Degree in a related field required. Preference will be given to someone working towards an accounting designation.
  • Minimum of 6 -8 years of Accounts Payable payment specialist experience with demonstrated increased responsibility and involvement in more complex projects/and or tasks is required.
  • Understanding of accounting concepts with extensive knowledge in all Accounts Payable processes and Expense modules within PeopleSoft
  • Extensive knowledge and expertise in Accounts Payable payment cycle processes 
  • Extensive knowledge and expertise in preparing and processing wire transfer payments
  • Advanced knowledge and expertise in the process of stop payments and payment cancellations.
  • Advanced skills and ability to use Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel.
  • Ability to analyse and exercise sound and independent judgement and decisions is required
  • Ability to consistently demonstrate and promote the University of Calgary's values by setting an example for others to follow.
  • Ability to work in a high volume environment with frequent interruptions and changing priorities is required.
  • Ability to prioritize and organize work, handle multiple assignments and meet deadlines is required.
  • Ability to provide effective advise, information and assistance to a wide range of customers is required.

Application Deadline:  Feburary 5, 2024

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.

Additional Information

This position is part of the AUPE bargaining unit, and falls under the Specialist / Advisor Job Family, Phase 3.

For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our Management and Staff Careers website

About the University of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada’s entrepreneurial university, located in Canada’s most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada’s leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.

The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy  committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion ([email protected]) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources ([email protected]).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities , and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role. 

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.

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