Accountant

At Awana, we believe true change happens in the communities when children and youth are transformed by the gospel and engaged in Biblical discipleship in the presence of a caring adult. We believe that kids can come to know, love and serve Jesus, following Him for a lifetime. This is why, for 70 years, Awana has been working with leaders in local churches in the US and around the world, providing solutions that equip these women and men to make disciples in children and youth.

Today, God is using Awana to reach over 8.6 million kids in 140 countries around the world. With over 500,000 equipped leaders in 91,000 clubs/churches, Awana is able to play a vital role in global evangelism and discipleship of children and youth. If you are passionate about being integral to reaching kids with the gospel, join us, and become a part of our global cause.

Summary

This position works to advance the ministry of Awana by applying advanced accounting principles to ensure accurate financial records and compliance, for the purpose of supporting the ministry’s financial integrity and mission-driven objectives. Collaborating with the Controller and VP of Finance, this position’s primary focus is on managing general accounting, sales tax administration, fixed asset oversight, audit preparation, and supporting financial planning and budgeting within a flexible, lean finance team.

This position is hybrid in St. Charles, IL with occasional travel required based on strategic organizational meetings.

Hiring Range for this position is $57,000 to $62,000 annually.

Who We Are Looking For:

• Team players who support, uphold and demonstrate the Awana values in internal and external communications and relationships.
• Collaborative partners who have a natural ability to create genuine relationships with our internal team and external partners.
• Logical problem solvers who proactively communicate workflow and/or deadline status to the team.
• Self-motivated, goal-oriented professionals with a passion for helping fuel exponential ministry growth.
• Flexible team members who are open to taking on new responsibilities and easily adapt to shifting priorities and needs.
• Champions of children to belong, believe and become resilient disciples.

Key Responsibilities:

Financial Operations

• Lead the monthly close process, ensuring accurate and timely financial records and reporting.
• Perform balance sheet reconciliations, including prepaids, accruals, and sales tax payable.
• Maintain the fixed asset register, ensuring accurate depreciation and reporting.
• Assist with maintaining our accounting system (Sage Intacct), including dimensions, hierarchies, report structures, and standard reports.
• Provide banking and treasury support, including compliance for annuities, trusts, and royalty contracts.
• Support the Controller and accounting team by assisting with bank reconciliations, accounts payable, donation processing, and payment reconciliations as needed.

Compliance Management

• Assist with the annual financial audit and Form 990 by preparing workpapers, reviewing functional expenses, addressing auditor inquiries, and verifying documents.
• Review financial reports from international partners in accordance with Awana’s International Audit Policy.
• Ensure compliance with sales and use tax regulations, including maintaining Avalara systems, managing tax filings, and assisting with exemption certificate management.
• Audit and optimize sales tax collection and reporting processes to ensure compliance across all states and international sales.
• Act as the process owner for Avalara and its components (tax filings, setup, tax rates, etc.).

Budget Support

• Assist with financial planning and the annual budget process, including preparing templates, supporting department managers, and consolidating budgets.
• Perform other duties as assigned to support financial and ministry objectives.

What You Need:

• 4 to 7 years of broad accounting experience, including general ledger, transactions, inventory, reporting, financial systems, and budgeting.
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance from an accredited institution, required.
• Nonprofit accounting, financial audits, Form 990 tax returns, Sage Intacct and Avalara, preferred.
• Strong proficiency in financial systems, including maintaining system tables, hierarchies, and reporting structures.
• Advanced Excel/Google Sheets skills, including pivot tables, lookups, and conditional formulas, with the ability to efficiently manipulate data for analysis.
• Detail-oriented and highly curious, with a strong desire to understand and improve systems, transactions, and processes—and help others do the same.
• Comfortable tackling ambiguous projects and driving them toward structured processes.
• Eager to learn and develop alongside the organization.
• General understanding of the Bible and the Christian Church in its various expressions, preferred.
• Familiarity with Awana clubs, curriculum, and resources is a plus.
• Must be eligible to work in the U.S.; this position does not offer employment visa sponsorship.

Physical Demands/Working Conditions

While performing the duties of this job, the team member is regularly required to communicate. The team member is also required to regularly utilize computer equipment (e.g., screens and keyboards) to perform work. Awana recommends maintaining ergonomic posture, utilizing properly positioned computer equipment to minimize strain, and taking regular breaks to stretch and move around. Specific vision abilities required by this job included close vision.

What We Offer:

As a ministry that equips leaders to reach kids with the gospel and engage them in lifelong discipleship, we value our team that makes this happen and are excited to offer:

• Mission-driven work that changes the lives of children and youth around the world.
• Intentional connection, flexibility, family, and community engagement are part of our culture.
• Remote-first work environment, allowing you to do the majority of your work from where it is you call "home”. We also have two office locations designed for collaborative work and connection with colleagues in St. Charles, Illinois, and Nashville, Tennessee, that can be used at your convenience. This accounting position is a hybrid role that requires presence at our St. Charles, IL office one to two days per week.
• Benefits package, including a variety of programs you can choose from to meet you and your family’s needs. Some of these include medical, dental & vision health insurance, paid family leave, 401(k) & Roth 401(k) retirement savings plans with employer match, generous paid vacation & holidays, adoption assistance, an employee wellness program, and more!

This Job Description reflects the current assignment of essential functions and is not meant to be all-inclusive. Responsibilities may be assigned or reassigned to this job at any time based on the needs of the organization and may be modified to reasonably accommodate an individual with a disability or for other reasons. Please note, this opportunity is contingent upon favorable completion of a reference check, background check, and I-9 completion.