Accounting makes sure everything adds up at OMRF
The numbers that OMRF’s Accounting Department deals with every day are enough to make even a seasoned math whiz’s head spin. But Accounting Manager Lisa Nelms sees the department’s goal as simple: “We try to help.”
While one aspect of Accounting’s role is to ensure we all follow the rules, Lisa says she and her colleagues are always searching for a way to say yes. “We try to find the right way to help people do what they want,” she says. “In a very complicated world, we try to make things as easy as possible.”
Under the guidance of Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Tim Hassen, the calendar follows a cycle that begins with budget review and creation in the spring. In June and July, Accounting oversees the close of one fiscal year followed by the beginning of a new one. Then comes the annual audit, which typically kicks off during summer’s dog days and doesn’t wrap up until the outside auditors issue their final opinion around Thanksgiving.
Those reports consistently come back “clean,” a signal that OMRF runs a tight financial ship. “The audit is a long and labor-intensive process,” says Tim. “Our track record of clean opinions is a testament to the work of Amanda Crawford, Shannon Jones and the entire Accounting staff.”
Meanwhile, the department must process every financial transaction the foundation makes. Regardless of the type of payment, that’s rarely a one-step process.
For example, a purchase order that comes to an accounting clerk needs to make multiple stops before its final destination. A member of Stephanie Mode’s Grants and Contracts team might confirm which of the 500-plus OMRF accounts the order should come from, while a quick trip to the desk of Amanda – OMRF’s controller – ensures it ends up on the correct monthly statement. Finally, the clerk can submit the order – then repeat that same cycle an average of 255 times each week.
Processes like this require teamwork, and the department relies on nearly two dozen staff members for its daily operations. The Accounting crew has honed this to a science, especially because each step is critical in protecting OMRF.
When it comes to grants from the U.S. government – OMRF’s largest revenue source – Accounting’s spirit of partnership reaches into OMRF’s labs, says OMRF Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer Judith James. “Rules and requirements for federal grant opportunities are always changing and evolving. Our grants accounting department does a fantastic job staying on top of them and helping our scientists submit successful applications.”
Accounting wants to be “protectors, not roadblocks,” says Stephanie. That means checking and double-checking that every transaction meets complicated criteria required by the IRS, granting agencies and a bevy of partner institutions.
To Amanda, this resembles what goes on in labs, where curiosity also drives inquiry. “There’s a reason we ask questions,” she says. “We’re curious about why something is the way it is, and we verify until we’re certain of the answer.”
Like every other arm of OMRF, Accounting also works to ensure they’re keeping up with the evolving workplace. Most recently, this meant converting to ADP as OMRF’s financial and human resources software platform.
“Making the switch to ADP was a challenge that we each carried a piece of,” Lisa says. With a simultaneous change to the system that tracks time dedicated to specific projects and plans for more digitization on the horizon, the adaptation continues. “We have giant ideas,” says Lisa, “and we just have to take them one chunk at a time.”
The work Accounting does is essential, enabling all of the research labs and clinical care that takes place at OMRF. Yet, to many, it remains invisible.
That, says OMRF President Andy Weyrich, is unfortunate. “They’re unsung heroes.”