SENIOR GRANT ACCOUNTANT

Department: Finance | Reports to: Accounting Manager | Location: Hybrid (3 days per week at Monterey Park Headquarters, or as needed)

About the Role

CLC is seeking a Senior Grant Accountant to join our dynamic Finance team. We are a 500+ employee-focused nonprofit organization with an annual budget of over $70 million. Reporting directly to the Accounting Manager, the Senior Grant Accountant oversees the post-award financial administration of federal, state, and private grant awards, ensuring compliance, accurate revenue recognition, and comprehensive financial reporting.

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end post-award financial administration for federal, state, local, and private grant awards, ensuring compliance with GAAP, funding guidelines, and Uniform Guidance.
• Develop, maintain, and manage custom Excel allocation models to accurately calculate, allocate, and track direct program expenses and grant allocations across funding streams.
• Perform monthly budget-to-actual variance analyses and update financial projections, reconciling Excel tracking models to the General Ledger and funder-approved grant budgets.
• Adapt to mid-period funding changes by strategically reallocating expenses to prioritize the most restrictive grant funds, ensuring maximum fund utilization.
• Recalculate allocations as funding streams shift, documenting all changes meticulously and updating dynamic Excel schedules to reflect General Ledger accuracy.
• Maintain proactive communication with Grant Managers and Program Directors to track pending renewals, secure delayed budgets, and verify vendor invoices are received and coded correctly.
• Issue monthly financial reports to program managers to review spend-down rates, budget-to-actual variances, and expense coding accuracy, enabling proactive operational adjustments.
• Prepare and present a comprehensive monthly grant reporting package to finance leadership, including financial statements, spend-down status, variance analyses, and deliverable tracking logs.
• Independently track and manage all grant deliverables and compliance schedules (e.g., invoice due dates, funder expenditure reports) to meet deadlines ahead of time.
• Prepare and record grant-related journal entries, ensuring accurate revenue recognition (e.g., deferred vs. earned grant revenue) in compliance with GAAP and donor restrictions.
• Reconcile grant balance sheet accounts—including grant receivables, deferred revenue, and restricted net asset roll forwards—to the General Ledger monthly.
• Stay informed on evolving best practices and adapt processes to support colleagues from diverse backgrounds.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of progressive non-profit accounting experience, with at least 3+ years in grant/fund accounting in a complex, multi-funder environment.
• Solid understanding of US GAAP, fund accounting principles, conditional vs. unconditional grant revenue recognition, and tracking net restricted assets.
• Proficiency in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT or enterprise ERP systems preferred.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills (e.g., complex formulas, lookups, pivot tables, Power Query) with experience building and maintaining dynamic multi-funder expense allocation schedules.
• Exceptional attention to detail in applying complex allocation methodologies and maintaining clean, version-controlled Excel audit trails.
• Strong self-management skills, including the ability to establish detailed work plans, track open items, and provide clear status updates to leadership.
• High-initiative self-starter capable of independently tracking deliverables, prioritizing tasks, and meeting tight deadlines ahead of schedule.
• Strong interpersonal and diplomatic communication skills, with a proven ability to partner across departments and articulate financial concepts to non-finance staff.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and life insurance with company-sponsored benefits.
• Up to 6% employer-matched retirement plan.
• Generous parental leave and additional leave options.
• Fitness/wellness program and health care/dependent day care FSA.
• Transit and parking benefits.
• Durfee Professional Development funds for eligible employees (after two years of service).
• Flexible working environment and paid vacation/sick/holiday time.
• Mandatory bar dues paid for eligible attorneys.

Pay

$82,000 to $100,000 annually (based on experience and qualifications).

About CLC

CLC is the largest children's legal services organization in the nation, advocating for tens of thousands of children and youth in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Placer County foster care systems. We fight for family reunification, permanence, educational opportunity, health and mental health services, self-sufficiency, and overall well-being through direct legal representation, multidisciplinary advocacy, and public policy.