Financial Analyst - Special Projects, Finance - 1 Year Contract (Hybrid, Toronto)

JOB PURPOSE:

The Financial Analyst provides technical expertise and analytical support to the Law Society and affiliated organizations regarding financial policy development and management accounting best practices. This includes analysis and recommendations regarding budget development and monitoring, cash flow, financial reporting requirements, operational reporting requirements and the financial advisability of operational decisions, and short to medium term investment and treasury function, and research and presentation of current and emerging best practices and trends to support efficiency and effectiveness of processes and data. The position plays a central role in implementing this expertise and support such as drafting budgets, reconciling general ledger and project accounts, and analyzing financial results. The Financial Analystparticipates in process improvement and system implementation initiatives and supports financial analysis, reporting and data migration reconciliation efforts. The Financial Analyst also fulfills internal control roles such as reconciliations, analysis, and journal entries to ensure the completeness and accuracy of information and adherence to the Law Society's financial reporting policies.

QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• A university undergraduate degree in business or commerce, plus completion of a recognized designation (CPA/CA/CGA/CMA/CFA etc.), or equivalent.
• 3 to 7 years previous related experience, ideally in a not-for-profit environment, including responsibility for financial analysis, budget preparation, research and report development and presentation supporting a volunteer Board and Committees.
• Solid grounding in management accounting functions, including budget analysis, cost / benefit analysis, financial management decisions.
• Technically proficient in financial applications including experience in financial system implementation, data migration, data validation, reconciliation processes and exception reporting to ensure data accuracy and integrity for successful transfer of data between systems.
• Adaptability and flexibility in a dynamic work environment; ability to handle multiple tasks, prioritize effectively and work effectively on cross functional teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities; excellent attention to detail
• Critical thinking and decision-making skills; ability to work unsupervised for long periods of time.
• Familiarity with general accounting functions, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, procurement and payroll
• Speaks and writes in an articulate, persuasive manner for individual and/or group situations (committees, management, senior management)
• Interprets, applies, and presents complex information in an audience appropriate manner.
• Solid grounding in financial software applications and spreadsheet analysis, particularly the use of database applications, queries, and custom report generation.
• A strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, in particular, Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• Familiarity with data migration testing methodologies
• Experience with designing, building, and executing reconciliation processes that will compare data provided from the source system to the migrated new system and incorporating relevant business rules to identify breaks in the reconciliation process and outputs.
• Ability to develop visual appealing and compelling presentations using PowerPoint or similar applications for presentation to Executive Directors, Committees or Convocation.

Client / Customer Service Delivery

• In conjunction with the Executive Director, Finance and CFO, the Director, Finance and the Manager, Budget and Financial Reporting, leads the development and implementation of integrated budget analysis, financial reporting and cash flow management strategies.
• Consults with Law Society managers, senior managers, Board and Committee members in order to determine financial analysis and reporting needs and to support the integration of automated financial reporting tools for the Law Society and affiliated organizations.
• Works closely with others in the Finance Department to ensure quality service to client departments.
• Analyzes, clarifies and proactively manages financial and budgeting information, and continually seeks improvements in accounting and financial management processes. Optimizes short-term investment management and long-term investment administration in liaison with investment managers, brokers, and custodians.
• Acts as a financial administration resource for affiliated organizations, reviewing submitted budgets and financial reports and compiling these budgets and reports.
• Collaborates with relevant internal stakeholders from across the organization and with external resources in Law Society system and business process improvement initiatives sharing expertise and completing activities related to financial analysis, reconciliation and reporting.

Financial Responsibility

• Contributes to the development of departmental and corporate budgets as well as audit and accounting reports, liaising with client departments and representatives from affiliated organizations, to source and clarify financial information for financial reporting.
• Prepares draft operational budgets and reporting requirements, analyzes operational results, and provides cost / benefits analysis and recommendations in support of operational decisions.
• Analyzes financial data, and provides cost / benefit analyses and recommendations with respect to financial, restricted fund and treasury management decisions.
• Implements the Law Society's choices under Generally Accepting Accounting Principles by preparing worksheets and journals either monthly, quarterly or annually.
• Develops analyses and recommendations regarding Law Society fund investments and treasury management practices.

Research

• Supports the Executive Director, Finance and CFO, the Director, Finance, and Manager, Budget and Analysis with research or financial analysis required to support the work of the Law Society's Audit & Finance Committee, other Law Society Committees and the relevant Boards of affiliated organizations the Finance department is charged with supporting.
• Conducts research as directed by committee(s), Chief Financial Officer, Director, Finance and the Manager, Budget and Financial Reporting, drafting financial policy positions for review of same, identifying gaps in policy and process, and suggesting appropriate means of closing gaps and ensuring best practices.
• Contributes to the development of quarterly and year-end financial reports and statements.
• Researches current, emerging and innovative practices and tools to recommend improvements supporting efficiency, improved controls, reliability and effectiveness of data, reconciliation best practices.

Special Projects and Initiatives

• Takes a lead role on a variety of ongoing projects for the Law Society and affiliated organizations, including continuous development and improvement of financial systems and management processes, research and analysis of new initiatives, and analysis of financial budget and management systems.
• Works closely with all departments in the development and ongoing improvement of policies and procedures for the electronic capture, storage and retrieval of financial data, providing analysis and interpretation of client department business needs and the impact on same on the Law Society and affiliated organizations' financial technology solutions.
• Participates in system implementation initiatives, supporting activities including definition of test scenarios and scripts with subsequent execution, preparation and/or review of files in support of data migration, and validation and reconciliation of migrated data.
• Participates and represents Finance in various committees and special workstreams that have been established as a result of the system implementation to present data migration reconciliation progress and challenges to project stakeholders, demonstrating strong documentation and communication skills and ability to work collaboratively in cross-functional teams.

Team Membership

• As a member of the Law Society Finance team, provides expertise and cross-training to colleagues in the areas of financial analysis, budget development and monitoring, and financial reporting requirements.
• The role requires regular, periodic meetings with other departmental managers on budgets, actual results, processes and policies.
• Acts as a resource to a full array of teams, committees, departments and divisions, and provides analysis and expertise to Special Projects and initiatives, communicating best practices and processes regarding budgeting, financial reporting, and financial data integrity, migration and reconciliation.

The Law Society has introduced a Distributed Workforce Model to leverage flexibility and agility, and to maximize employee productivity and engagement. Work arrangements will be determined by role and departmental requirements. The working arrangement for this position has been classified as hybrid, where the employee will regularly flex their work location between home and office. The specific application of this will be communicated to applicants contacted during the recruitment process.