Accounts Payable Specialist III

Disbursement Processing: Assists in coordinating work and monitoring of disbursement activities, including ACH, checks, wires, and electronic payments, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance. Ensure all payments are issued within required timelines and in compliance with internal policies and controls. Maintain complete and accurate payment records, ensuring proper audit trails and documentation integrity. Research and provide detailed remittance information to suppliers, customers, and internal stakeholders. Reconciliation and Reporting: Extensive knowledge and ability to take the lead role for reconciliation of disbursement activity, resolution of payment exceptions, and maintenance of complete audit-ready documentation. Monitor and track outstanding checks, returned payments, and other payment exceptions, escalating issues as needed. Prepare periodic reports on disbursements, exceptions, and compliance findings as needed Support month‑end and year‑end close activities related to accounts payable and disbursement functions. Internal Controls and Compliance: Enforce internal control procedures governing disbursements, including segregation of duties, approval hierarchies, and adherence to established workflows. Monitor and ensure compliance with policies, regulatory requirements, and audit standards related to payment activity. Applies an in depth understanding of institutional policies, as well as federal and state regulations, to ensure all financial transactions and documentation are compliant and audit-ready. Support audits by ensuring and providing required documentation, explanations, and transaction details. Recommend and help implement enhancements to strengthen controls, improve efficiency, and reduce financial and operational risk. Leadership: Assists with providing direction, training, and support to staff involved in payment processing and reconciliation. Works on complex problems, using judgment and initiative to independently propose solutions for manager review Contribute with refining internal workflows and documentation to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and accountability within Accounts Payable operations. Identify control gaps, recommend enhancements, and support implementation of process improvements to reduce financial and operational risk. Vendor and Department Relations: Act as an escalation point for complex payment inquiries from vendors, departments, and financial partners. Serve as a primary point of contact for vendors and campus departments regarding payment inquiries and issue resolution. Use financial systems and reporting tools to research, analyze, and address payment concerns efficiently. Maintain clear and organized communication records, including inquiries and resolutions, to support audit requirements and ongoing process improvements. Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: Ability to effectively communicate with internal and external customers. Ability to maintain security sensitive data required for financial payment distribution. Knowledge of fraud prevention practices, including stop payments, voids, and positive pay exception handling. Ability to maintain attention to detail in a fast pace environment with repetitive work assignments. Strong understanding of payment methods, including ACH rules, wire protocols, check processing, and positive pay. Ability to perform bank reconciliations, research discrepancies, and resolve payment issues.