ELANA HANSEN
Department Of Social Health Services
Seattle
8
years of professional experience
Senior Accountant managing 10+ month-end close tasks per cycle, financial reporting, and internal controls across public, nonprofit, and corporate environments. Coordinates audit support for 15+ requests per year, cash positioning, and journal entry review while improving accounting workflows, saving 30+ hours per month, and reporting accuracy. Delivers the depth expected in a Senior Accountant role without losing focus on day-to-day execution.
Work History
Accountant
8 Months- Partner with executive leadership to build operating budgets, monitor financial performance, and deliver strategic recommendations.
- Coordinate cross-functional teams to streamline daily accounting and audit processes while improving project timelines.
- Prepare journal entries and support month-end and year-end close activities with timely, accurate accounting records.
- Manage account reconciliations and system conversions to improve functionality and reporting consistency.
- Contribute budgeting support across recurring financial reporting tasks and operational analysis.
Fiscal Analsy
1 Month- Lead and support the time and attendance unit in the absence of the supervisor, including monitoring workloads and assigning work to meet deadlines.
- Provide guidance on payroll and leave discrepancies, compliance reviews, and application of rules, policies, and regulations.
- Assist with auditing, analysis, reconciliation, and processing of bimonthly payroll and time and attendance reports.
- Perform complex fiscal calculations related to leave, part time hours, overtime, shift differential, standby, LWOP, and schedule changes.
- Provide consultation and technical assistance to managers, supervisors, and employees on leave usage and time reporting, including Leave Tracker.
- Investigate and resolve payroll and time and attendance inquiries, serving as a point of contact for field offices and the DSHS Payroll Office.
- Support system maintenance, reporting requests, leave audits, and other duties as assigned.
- Assisting with other responsibilities within the fiscal office, including supporting the management of local funds.
Interim Senior Staff Accountant
3 Months- Prepared accurate financial reporting for Talus Bioscience across daily operations and month-end close cycles.
- Strengthened audit support and internal controls through daily accounting review and issue follow-up.
- Developed a comprehensive training manual for the incoming permanent accountant to ease transition and knowledge transfer.
- Completed monthly grant billing and reporting of $500k each cycle.
Financial Accountant
2 Years 1 Month- Streamlined approximately 30 hours of monthly staff effort by tightening accounting workflows and strengthening reporting accuracy and internal controls.
- Directed accounting operations for a public facility district and supporting nonprofit, overseeing monthly close, financial reporting, and board reporting.
- Consolidated monthly financials and analyzed discrepancies for Finance and Administrative Committee meetings.
- Led organization-wide accounting improvements across multiple platforms and trained finance and operational staff on new workflows and financial software.
- Prepared audit documentation and coordinated external reviews for executive board presentation.
Division Controller
8 Months- Directed a team of 4 accountants while supporting 156 HOAs across monthly accounting operations and reporting.
- Secured ICS accounts protecting $48m in reserve funds from FDIC exposure during regional banking instability.
- Developed a custom resource to track client requests involving multiple stakeholders and recurring dependencies.
- Trained HOA members on financial literacy through community presentations and board-facing education sessions.
- Supported external auditors and HOA boards with year-end audit preparation and adjusting entries.
- Used SQL Server and Microsoft 365 to organize accounting workflows and support internal reporting coordination.
- Partnered with leadership to strengthen communication between accountants, boards, and clients on recurring financial matters.
CFO / Finance Manager / Accounting Manager
3 Years 4 Months- Designed and implemented scalable accounting, finance, IT, and operational processes that supported growth from $500k to $6M in annual revenue.
- Maintained operational continuity through the pandemic while supporting expansion into new markets.
- Managed administrative and accounting staff of 6 across two states, coordinating daily workload and reporting priorities.
- Trained Civil Engineering Project Managers on project costing methods, including Waterfall and Agile, to improve budget awareness.
- Completed annual DOT audits and supported overhead billing rate calculations.
- Developed cross-functional accounting and administrative processes that strengthened day-to-day operational support.
Accounting Consultant
4 Months- Oversaw $27m in grants received from the MacArthur Foundation.
- Coordinated grant disbursement across international recipients to support indigenous water protection efforts.
- Built a SharePoint structure with strict security controls and separate access permissions.
- Maintained organized grant documentation to support accurate tracking and administration.
- Monitored recipient files for completeness and consistency before funding release.
- Tracked funding status and routed updates to keep grant records current.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Accounting
Associate in Applied Science - Integrated Studies Transfer Degree
Skills
Financial reporting
Budgeting
Internal controls
Audit support
GAAP compliance
Cash management
Account reconciliation
Month-end and year-end close
Journal entries
General ledger accounting
Month-end close procedures
Variance analysis
Financial planning and analysis
Cash flow forecasting
ERP implementation
Timeline
Fiscal Analsy
Department Of Social Health Services
09.2026 - CurrentRead More
Accountant
Self Employed Services
02.2026 - CurrentRead More
Interim Senior Staff Accountant
Beacon Hill
09.2025 - 12.2025Read More
Financial Accountant
Edmonds Public Facility District/Edmonds Center for the Arts
08.2023 - 09.2025Read More
Division Controller
Management Trust
10.2022 - 06.2023Read More
Accounting Consultant
Robert Half
01.2019 - 05.2019Read More
CFO / Finance Manager / Accounting Manager
Red Barn Group
11.2018 - 03.2022Read More
Cascadia College
Associate in Applied Science from Integrated Studies Transfer Degree
Read More
Western Governors University
Bachelor of Science from Accounting
Read More