Job Posting: Finance Manager for DABC

Who We Are

Since 1977, Disability Alliance BC (DABC) has been a provincial, cross-disability voice in British Columbia. We champion issues impacting the lives of people with disabilities through our direct services, community partnerships, advocacy, research and publications.

We work to support people with all disabilities to live with dignity, independence and as equal and full participants in the community.

Job Description

DABC is seeking a part-time Finance Manager to join our team at four days a week. Reporting to the Executive Director (ED), the Finance Manager will be responsible for all day-to-day bookkeeping/accounting functions including performing all bookkeeping, payroll calculations, accounts payable, accounts receivable, reviewing and assessing budgets and maintaining all accounts while ensuring that DABC is remaining financially compliant. In essence, the Finance Manager plays a critical role in ensuring that DABC is financially healthy and compliant with all relevant provincial and federal financial regulations.

The Finance Manager must have strong working knowledge of full cycle bookkeeping/accounting, a high ability to take initiative in carrying out in-depth analysis of accounts, a keen attention to detail, and excellent organizational and record-keeping skills. The Finance Manager also plays a key role as a member of DABC’s leadership committee, contributing to the direction and leadership of the organization as a whole.

Responsibilities:

• Preparing DABC’s annual budget and program budgets for grant applications and reports, and entry into Sage accounting software
• Preparing all financial records for year-end audits
• Preparing, administering and reconciliating of balance sheet accounts including deferred revenue, prepaid expenses, accrued liability, restricted assets, various banks working schedules on monthly basis
• Allocating costs / revenues to programs and correct budget lines and maintaining records of supporting documentation in compliance with auditing trails and funder requirements
• Work with the ED to update DABC’s Accounting Policy as needed
• Preparing internal monthly report on finances and cash flow.  Assess and advise on current program budgets and global financial position
• Preparing charity tax returns, bi-annual GST rebates, annual WSIB reports, and all funder reports
• Maintaining compliance with CRA requirements on tax receipts and charitable gifts
• Monitoring accounts payable and receivable, and working with contractors and vendors
• Calculating / adjusting payroll / reviewing / allocating bi-monthly Ceridian reports, filing annual T4A reports and ensuring compliance
• Advising the Executive Director and Leadership team on budget expenditure and financial reporting requirements for all funders
• Preparing yearly Community Gaming Grant summary reports and monitoring Gaming accounts
• Maintain the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive staff and organizational information
• Attend meetings with funders and senior staff, and present on budget expenditures
• Preparing cheques and processing cheque requisitions
• Other bookkeeping/accounting related duties as required

Working hours:

This is a part-time, permanent position at 4 days a week. The salary is a range of $60,000-$67,000 FTE (to be prorated to 4 days a week) based on candidate’s level of experience.

This position offers the following benefits after a three-month probationary period:

• 12 days of paid vacation annually
• 14 days of paid sick leave annually
• 100% of the cost of extended health and dental care premiums
• 2 weeks of paid time off during DABC’s annual holiday office closure in December.

Requirements:

• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience in a similar role
• Sound knowledge of program accounting and two years’ year-end closing experience with external auditors
• Demonstrated high degree of skill in adjusting general ledger and making journal entries
• Experience in the non-profit sector
• Extensive knowledge of BC non profit accounting standards
• Knowledge of CRA requirements for registered charities
• Direct experience using Sage accounting software
• Experience with Microsoft Office, proficiency required in Excel
• Demonstrated ability to maintain high ethical integrity of confidential information
• The ability to explain complex financial concepts to laypeople
• Excellent organizational skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Be able to take initiative by identifying room for improvement with regards to the financial practices of the organization

The following are strong assets for this position: 

• Lived experience with a disability
• Lived experience as a member of an equity-deserving group
• Full or partial relevant accounting accreditation

The position is located in Vancouver, on the Unceded Territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Due to the configuration of our accounting system, the successful candidate will be required to work at our office located in downtown Vancouver.

Importantly, we are looking for people who want to make a long term commitment to our organization and have a strong desire to assist people with disabilities as well as further the impact of our organization.

DABC is an open and diverse organization that promotes inclusive hiring practices. We encourage applications from qualified applicants who identify as visible minorities, Indigenous persons, and of all sexual orientations, gender expressions and identities. People with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply.

To Apply:

Please submit a resume and brief covering letter addressed to Helaine Boyd, Executive Director at helaine@disabilityalliancebc.org No phone calls or faxes please. 

Applications are due no later than midnight on September 28, 2022. DABC welcomes all applications, however, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for an interview. Interviews will be conducted in September and the position start date will be as soon as possible.  

Long COVID Patient Experience Project

The Long COVID Patient Experience Project was developed to connect people living with long COVID and health scientists so that they can learn together about the impact of long COVID and use this information to guide research to solve the puzzle of long COVID.

Have or had Long COVID? Want to share your story? Take the survey here: https://patientscientist.ca/long-covid-survey

The website is a partnership between the BC SUPPORT Unit, the Post-COVID Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network, Arthritis Research Canada, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and Population Data BC.

Article - The Most Personal Choice: Defining Self

This editorial was written by Jason Schreurs, and originally appeared in DABC’s Transition magazine on Respecting Disability Language and Identity. (Summer 2022). Read the issue here.

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My name is Jason and I live with bipolar. I didn’t say, “I’m bipolar” or “I have bipolar.” I also didn’t use the word “disorder” or “illness.” I choose to say I “live with” my condition: “bipolar.”

This is my personal preference and I would never judge anyone else on theirs. I’m not alone in the disability community questioning the language that I use and how it helps to form my identity. It’s a fascinating and important discussion.

What I’ve Learned as a Group Facilitator
As a support group facilitator for the past two years, I’ve seen that many people living with disabilities use many different ways to describe themselves.

Some use terms that detach them from their condition. They want to say they’re not defined by something that’s beyond their control. They didn’t ask for it, it’s not who they are. They’re not ill, disordered or diseased.

People in another camp, just as validly and just as passionately, want to acknowledge their illness for the many ways it affects them. For them, terms like “illness” and “disorder” validate the struggles they face in day-to-day functioning, while softer terms like “health issue” or “health condition” minimize those struggles.

Much of the disability community has moved toward first-person language that emphasizes the person, not the disability, and how disability is just one aspect of who they are. Others argue that this can discredit a person’s lived experience.

“I want [people] to know I have a diagnosed illness and not a general health issue,” says Jennifer Ann de la Torre, who has schizoaffective disorder. “An illness means I require special accommodations, as well as empathy, compassion and sensitivity.”

Isha Sharma has diagnoses of bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and borderline personality disorder. She reflects on why she has come to refer to herself as someone who “has” or “lives” with disabilities.

“It took a couple of years of therapy and consistent work on myself to understand and accept that I can live a life that is healthy. Language has been an important part of that,” says Sharma. “Being kind to myself has never been easy, but I am working on it, and saying ‘I have a condition’ versus ‘I am a condition’ makes a massive difference.”

My Own Questions About Language
I often wonder if I’m downplaying my own diagnosis by telling people I have a health condition, rather than an illness. As an advocate for mental health, I can see both sides of the issue.

While normalized language may help some people to accept me for who I am, a more immediate form of advocacy would be to raise awareness about how illness affects me and people with other conditions–and what our communities and services can do to support us.

I know that how people with disabilities self-identify is not a closed issue. How we use language around disability to formulate our identities is a fluid process, and that’s okay.

Courtenay McLeod has been living with bipolar for 21 years and would like to see more acceptance around people’s choice to use whatever language empowers them.

“There is no universal ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to articulating your own experience,” she says. “Being open-minded and understanding how personal conditions can be—and how that may affect the language [we] use—needs to be accepted.”

Even as I type words like “condition” to describe what I live with, I know others out there are at their own desks typing words like “illness” to define their own experiences.

“I don’t care how other people say it,” says Michael Frenette, who has a mental disability. “I’m not a language police officer, and I don’t believe anyone should be. My personal struggles do not take priority over other people’s lives and truths, and most people who are not informed only want to learn.”

Jason Schreurs is a music and mental health writer, host of the internationally renowned Scream Therapy podcast, and self- proclaimed punk weirdo.