Building A Financial Bedrock: One Finance Manager’s Story

“I saw CUNY SPS as a great opportunity to design, develop and implement the accounting systems from the beginning and experience the true collaboration within the organization.”

Helping our students succeed is the number one priority for the faculty, staff, and administrators at CUNY SPS, though many of them often do this work behind the scenes. To spotlight some of the unsung heroes who support our School and students, we have introduced the blog series Backstage at CUNY SPS. Each of the members profiled here have been nominated by someone else at CUNY SPS in recognition of their great work.

In this week’s installment, we sit down with Kit Lei, who works in the School’s Office of Fiscal and Business Operations.

Q: Briefly describe your job and the work that you do at CUNY SPS.

A: I am a finance manager in the Office of Fiscal and Business Operations. My primary duties include, but are not limited to, monitoring the day-to-day financial operations for the CUNY SPS Foundation, Student Association, Non-Tax Levy, and the Tuition and Fee accounts, managing the school’s financial accounting and reporting systems, analyzing revenue, expenses and cash flow for each business units, and ensuring the compliance with accounting policies and regulatory requirements.

Q: How did you end up working at CUNY SPS? How long have you worked here?

A: After being in the internal audit field for several years checking other people’s work, I wanted to switch my role to be on the other side as an accountant. CUNY SPS urgently needed an accountant to manage the financials for its fast-growing Foundation and the tuition and fee revenue account. Compared to other CUNY schools, CUNY SPS was like a start-up company. I saw it as a great opportunity to design, develop and implement the accounting systems from the beginning and experience the true collaboration within the organization. I also love the workplace dynamics here. I’ve been with CUNY SPS for about eight years.

Q: What do you find exciting or fulfilling about your work?

A: It has been exciting to witness and support the growth of the school. I find it fulfilling to help build the accounting structure and the business processes as the school expands. For example, we did not have a Student Association prior to 2017. We built our accounting system to track from a single fund in the beginning to multiple budget lines, and to a more complex reporting system. This is the same for Foundation and other business units. I enjoy working with people in various departments at CUNY SPS, especially the Development Office, Bursar, Scholarship Office, and the Student Association.

Q: How would you say your job helps support student success at CUNY SPS? Or, if not students directly, the needs of the School?

A: For more than two years since the onset of the pandemic, the CUNY SPS Foundation has disbursed approximately $700K of student emergency grants assisting students with their short-term emergency needs. My job is to ensure that all the payments are processed on a timely manner. Although I do not directly interact with students because of the nature of my work, I do know that my role in this process is an integral part for their success and well-being. I care very deeply about our students and their continued success at CUNY SPS.

Regarding helping to support the needs of the school, I use raw data from Financial Edge and CUNYFirst to create customized financial reports for the Foundation and all other business units. These reports provide senior management and stakeholders with important information such as financial snapshots, business trends, and the financial position of each business unit, thus help them with decision-making process.

Q: Is there anything that you would like the larger CUNY SPS community to know about your work or your unit?

A: I would say that the Office of Fiscal and Business Operations may not be as visible to the students or some of the staff/faculty, but our functions, from accounting to budgeting, accounts payable to payroll, are crucial to the successful operation of the school.

Want to learn more about our dedicated faculty and staff? Read more installments from this series.