Financial Compliance Associate or Senior Auditor

Financial Compliance Associate or Senior Auditor

Who We Are: The Legislative Audit Division (LAD), part of the Montana State Legislative Branch, is constitutionally tasked with auditing State agencies and programs.  Our mission is to increase public trust in state government by reporting timely and accurate information about agency operations, technology, and finances.

What You’ll Do: As a Financial Compliance Auditor, you will spend each day a little differently.  You will help us achieve our mission through a variety of financial and compliance audit work such as:

• Interviewing personnel at the audited agency
• Testing controls and account balances
• Using analytics to evaluate transaction cycles
• Coming to conclusions on assigned audit work
• Working collaboratively with team members
• Testing compliance with federal regulations and state laws

Why You Want to Work Here: The salary for an Associate position begins at $57,036 and a Senior position begins at $61,139.  Salaries are negotiable based on experience. Salary is only one part of the compensation package you will receive working here.  Additional benefits include:

• Health, Life, Dental, and Vision insurance with generous employer contributions - over $12,600 per year.
• Your choice of Pension or 401(a) Retirement Plan with about 9% employer contributions.
• Up to 37 paid days off per year
  • 15 Vacation days
  • 12 Sick days
  • 10 State Holidays
• An eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program
• Annual performance-based pay raises
• Periodic market-based salary evaluations & adjustments
• CPA Exam and Professional Certification assistance
• Paid continuing professional education
• Relocation assistance

Not all benefits can be quantified.  At LAD, we are an office of people with policies designed for people.  Non-financial benefits include:

• 40-hour work weeks – with compensatory time earned for additional hours worked
• Flexible work schedules:
  • Set your own hours between 6 am and 6 pm
  • Ability to work from home up to 3 days per week
  • Ability to work non-contiguous hours to accommodate families, activities, and commitments outside of work
• Self-regulated leave policy for time-off of 40 hours or less
• Great opportunities for career progression without applying for a new position
• Focus on continual learning & support
• Work that matters!  You will contribute to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of state government operations, which has the potential to affect every Montana citizen.

What You Need: Minimum requirements include: Associate level

• Bachelor’s degree by start of employment
• 6 semester hours (or equivalent quarter hours) of relevant upper division accounting coursework, including intermediate accounting courses. Other combinations of education may be considered.
• 1-3 years of relevant experience.  Examples include (but are not limited to):
  • Financial, internal, or program auditing,
  • Governmental, program, or grant accounting, or
  • Policy, regulation, or law compliance testing.

Senior level

• Associate level education requirements
• 2 years of financial auditing experience

What Makes You Stand Out: The most successful candidates have: Associate level

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills
• Sound written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work well independently and as part of a team
• Good interpersonal skills
• CPA license or intent to sit for the CPA exam preferred, but not required

Senior level

• Associate level qualities
• Project management and leadership skills to supervise and provide technical assistance and guidance to teams of 2-4 auditors
• Strong organizational and detailed documentation skills
• Competence to gather, analyze, and draw conclusions on relevant and appropriate audit evidence in a variety of state and federal programs
• General knowledge of applicable audit and accounting standards
• General knowledge of statistical research principles, practices, and procedures

How To Join Our Team: You will apply for this position on the State of Montana careers webpage, StateCareers.mt.gov. Your resume and unofficial college transcripts are required to be uploaded there. Tell us about your experience and any additional information you would like us to know in your cover letter. When you are chosen to interview for this position, we will ask you to provide at least 3 references we can contact.

The Fine Print:

• Although you’ll have the ability to work from home some days, this is not a remote position and employees are required to live near Helena for in-person work.
• If invited to join our team, we are required to run a criminal records background check on you.
• You will also have to provide us with your official college transcripts.
• Additionally, we think you should know LAD employees and members of their household are not permitted to participate in any lottery game affiliated with the Montana State Lottery.  Just a heads up!

We are excited to meet you!