Open to opportunities

Jacob Houtrouw

@jacobhoutrouw

I manage public finance, federal grants, and audit programs across multibillion-dollar Utah state operations.

I've managed finance, federal grants, and procurement at the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, administering 9–15 concurrent awards and carrying the USDA FSIS Meat and Poultry Inspection grant through a three-year audit cycle with zero findings. I also led department-wide accounts payable for approximately $62M in FY2025 expenditures and helped build a cost-per-fee methodology now used by other Utah agencies.

Previously, I administered Utah’s $5.37B Minimum School Program, allocating $300–400M monthly to Local Education Agencies statewide, and co-founded the Office of the State Auditor’s Data and Technology audit division. My work combines public budgeting, Uniform Guidance compliance, financial and IT audit, large-scale data analysis, and primary-source verification.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Finance Manager, Animal Industry Division & Federal Grants

Utah Department of Agriculture and Food

Jun 2022 - May 2026 (3 years 11 months)

Directed division finance and administered the department's federal grant portfolio, including its largest federal award, the USDA FSIS Meat and Poultry Inspection grant, while serving as the department's federal-rate and procurement authority.

Federal Grants Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 Indirect Cost Rate Negotiation Procurement USDA FSIS Grant Administration Financial Management Cash Management Reconciliations ISO 20022 Accounts Payable Budgeting Forecasting Cost Per Fee Analysis HPAI Response

Financial Manager, FP&A

Stride, Inc.

Aug 2021 - May 2022 (9 months)

FP&A and business manager for Stride's charter schools in Idaho. Consolidated school-level accounting into corporate financials and prepared monthly revenue and expenditure forecasts with detailed variance analysis.

FP&A Financial Forecasting Variance Analysis Accounting Budgeting Board Presentations

Minimum School Program Administrator and Finance Manager

Utah State Board of Education

Aug 2019 - Aug 2021 (2 years)

Administered Utah's Minimum School Program, the largest program annually appropriated by the Utah Legislature, funding 1,300+ schools and 675,000+ K-12 students. Calculated and allocated monthly distributions to every Local Education Agency statewide via Weighted Pupil Unit formulas.

Minimum School Program Weighted Pupil Unit Statutory Levy Budgeting Forecasting Salesforce Finet Public Finance Cross Branch Coordination

Senior Financial Auditor / IT Auditor

Office of the State Auditor

Nov 2018 - Aug 2019 (9 months)

Led audit teams delivering independent assessments of financial operations, statutory compliance, and performance for state and local government. Co-founded the office's IT audit division and performed IT audits of state databases, networks, and financial applications.

Financial Audit IT Audit Internal Controls Active Directory Oracle SQL Server Linux VBA Data Analysis Cybersecurity

Staff Financial Auditor

Office of the State Auditor

Jan 2016 - Nov 2018 (2 years 10 months)

Audited state funds and federal grants across all Utah departments, agencies, and universities, covering $32B in annual government spending. Conducted federal single audits over $1.3B in Medicaid and $130M in Children's Health Insurance Program expenditures.

Financial Audit Single Audit Medicaid CHIP Ideas Excel Statistical Analysis Internal Controls Compliance

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

University of Utah

Master of Science, Accounting

Activities and societies: German language minor, Dean's List, Honors at Entrance Scholarship

Earned a Master of Science in Accounting (Audit Track) and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, with a German language minor, Dean's List, and Honors at Entrance Scholarship.