Accounting, Finance, Administration

Position: Finance and Administration Officer
Organization: Rural Ontario Institute
Location: Marden, just north of Guelph ON. Hybrid option.
Date posted: April 2025

Background

The Rural Ontario Institute (ROI) is a charitable organization focused on developing rural leaders, informing decision makers and connecting communities. We do this by delivering exceptional leadership training through our Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program (AALP), the Rural Change Makers Program (RCM) and other training offerings. ROI offers research, analysis and data dashboards for rural communities who wish to better understand their community’s well-being, housing needs and growth patterns. ROI connects with organizations, municipalities, industry and government at all levels to promote holistic rural development.

We are seeking a Finance and Administration Officer (F/A) who will work as part of the ROI Team and play a key role in the overall operations of the organization. Working directly with and reporting to the Executive Director (E.D.), the F/A Officer provides fiscal advice and operational support. The F/A Officer supports the ROI Team in their Rural Community & Economic Development activities and provides guidance to program leads with respect to their budgets. Finance functions include daily management of the books and consistent monitoring of budget to actuals, adjusting as required. The F/A Officer works with the E.D. to provide operational support to ROI’s Finance and Audit Committee. As Administrative lead, the F/A Officer ensures the team is equipped with the tools they need to carry out the work. (IT, Office supplies, printing orders, contracts with third parties, etc.).

The successful candidate will need to be within reasonable commuting distance of ROI’s office in Marden, just north of Guelph, Ontario. This position can be hybrid (both working remotely from home and in the office). The F/A will work in the office 1 to 3 days/week.

Proficiency in QuickBooks is a priority. A secondary but important capacity is the ability to support and establish processes to organize the office, maintain records and manage contracts with various service providers so that our organization runs smoothly and efficiently.

Position: Fulltime, 37.5 hours per week (Monday-Friday)

Salary range - $55,000 - $62,000

Capacity/Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years' work experience;
• Proficiency with QuickBooks and appropriate accounting training or credentials (e.g., accounting designation or working towards a designation or something equivalent along with QuickBooks ProAdvisor or other certification required using QuickBooks Desktop and/or QuickBooks Online/QuickBooks Times)
• Knowledge of operations of non-profits and charities
• Demonstrated organizational skills and held previous roles demanding reliability and trust;
• Demonstrated problem solver and self-motivated;
• Able to work independently and multi-task; and,
• Familiar with Microsoft 365 office suite
• Fluent in English, can pass a criminal record check, and possesses a G drivers' licence.
• Able to commute regularly (1-3 times/week) to ROI’s office in Marden, just north of Guelph ON

Finance Responsibilities/Functions

Working closely with the Executive Director and/or other senior staff the duties and tasks that need to be performed include these key activities:

• Maintain the accuracy of ROI’s accounting records in QuickBooks; Monitor QB Time;
• Enter invoices in QB and EFT system, issue cheques and/or EFT payments for accounts payable; ensure proper authorization and allocation of expenses occurs; verify expense claims; coordinate EFT transactions; issue invoices for accounts receivable
• Prepare deposits and contact outstanding accounts;
• Prepare the bank reconciliations of accounts;
• Administer payroll and benefits payments, payroll remittances, ROE, T4, T4 summary, CRA filing, etc.;
• Monitor grant and funding transfer agreements; complete financial aspects of reports
• Prepare charitable receipts for donations,
• Maintain accuracy of Event receipts and transactions;
• Prepare documents for submission of CRA HST returns;
• Assist in generating project-based budget reports for funders, project managers and Board of Directors;
• Prepare monthly financial statements, cash flow forecasts for the Board and E.D., track expenditures and revenues against budget;
• Participate in bi-monthly Finance Committee and Board meetings at the behest of the Board or E.D.;
• Maintain good relationships with bankers, auditors, and tax authorities;
• Work with the external auditors preparing working papers, adjusting entries, providing documents required, etc. as appointed by the Board.

Office Administrator Responsibilities/Functions

The main office administration function is to act as the first point of contact for service providers, including assisting with periodic RFPs to support more efficient/cost effective service providers. This includes:

• Tracking office supplies and maintaining filing systems;
• Telecommunications service contracts;
• Communications with landlord
• Photocopier leased contract;
• Couriers and postal arrangements.

ROI utilizes direct deposit and electronic transfer approval protocols for most transactions. Office 365, Outlook calendars/Microsoft Teams are among the software tools we use.

Please submit a resume and cover letter to Ellen Sinclair, E.D. esinclair@ruralontarioinstitute.ca by 5:00 p.m. May 2, 2025

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