Financial Accountant

About the Role

We are looking for a dependable and experienced Financial Accountant to take responsibility for its complete day-to-day accounting function through to trial balance. This is a hands-on position combining financial accounting, bookkeeping, payroll administration, statutory returns, financial controls and management reporting.

The successful candidate must be comfortable working independently and taking full ownership of the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of the Company's financial records.

Key responsibilities

General accounting

• Manage the complete accounting function through to a fully reconciled monthly trial balance.
• Maintain the general ledger and process all necessary journals.
• Manage the cashbook and perform monthly bank reconciliations.
• Reconcile all balance-sheet and control accounts monthly.
• Prepare and maintain accruals, provisions, prepayments and recurring journals.
• Investigate and correct accounting discrepancies promptly.
• Maintain complete supporting documentation and audit trails for all transactions.

Debtors and revenue management

• Process customer invoices, credit notes and account adjustments accurately.
• Maintain the debtors ledger and reconcile customer accounts.
• Monitor outstanding accounts and actively follow up on overdue payments.
• Allocate customer receipts correctly and promptly.
• Prepare debtors age analyses and collection reports.
• Resolve customer account and invoicing queries.
• Assist management with credit-control decisions and identify potentially doubtful debts.

Creditors and payments

• Create purchase orders. Match purchase orders to invoices
• Process supplier invoices and credit notes.
• Reconcile supplier statements to the creditors ledger.
• Maintain accurate supplier information and independently verify changes to supplier banking details.
• Prepare weekly and monthly supplier payment schedules.
• Ensure that payments are supported by approved invoices and appropriate documentation.
• Manage local and foreign supplier accounts, including exchange-rate differences where applicable.
• Monitor creditor ageing and planned payment commitments.

Outsourced payroll coordination and control

• Reconcile payroll reports to the general ledger and payroll bank payment.
• Review EMP201, EMP501, IRP5 and related statutory information prepared by the payroll provider.
• Liaise with the payroll provider regarding discrepancies and employee queries.
• Maintain secure and confidential payroll records.
• Ensure that payroll submissions, payments and statutory deadlines are completed accurately and on time.

VAT and statutory compliance

• Prepare, reconcile and submit VAT201 returns.
• Ensure the correct VAT treatment of local purchases, imported goods, imported services and customer transactions.
• Maintain the necessary supporting documents for VAT and payroll submissions.
• Assist with SARS queries, verifications and audits.
• Monitor statutory submission and payment deadlines.
• Work with the Company's external tax practitioner or auditor on income-tax and other statutory matters.

Inventory, cost of sales and fixed assets

• Reconcile laboratory consumables, trading stock and other inventory records to the general ledger.
• Assist with stock counts and investigate stock variances.
• Monitor inventory valuation and cost-of-sales allocations.
• Maintain the fixed-asset register.
• Record asset purchases, disposals, transfers and depreciation accurately.
• Reconcile the fixed-asset register to the general ledger.

Management reporting and budgeting

• Prepare accurate monthly management accounts.
• Produce profit-and-loss, balance-sheet and cash-flow reports.
• Prepare budget-versus-actual reports and explain material variances.
• Assist with the annual budgeting process.
• Prepare short- and medium-term cash-flow forecasts.
• Provide management with relevant financial information for operational and strategic decision-making.
• Assist with departmental, project and service-line profitability reporting.
• Identify unusual transactions, financial risks, control weaknesses and opportunities for cost savings.

Year-end and audit preparation

• Prepare a fully reconciled year-end trial balance.
• Compile complete supporting schedules and documentation for the external accountants and auditors.
• Respond to audit queries and provide requested supporting information.
• Assist with annual financial statement preparation.
• Implement agreed audit recommendations and strengthen internal financial controls.

Financial controls and governance

• Ensure that the Company’s financial policies and approval procedures are consistently followed.
• Protect the confidentiality of employee, customer, supplier and company information.
• Comply with POPIA and all applicable financial record-retention requirements.
• Immediately disclose errors, suspected irregularities, duplicate payments, control failures or potential fraud.
• Maintain the highest standards of honesty, accuracy, accountability and professional conduct.
• Ensure that no payment is released without the required independent authorisation.

Minimum requirements

• A BCom Accounting degree, accounting diploma or equivalent recognised qualification.
• At least five years’ relevant experience in a full accounting function.
• Demonstrated experience preparing a fully reconciled trial balance independently.
• Sound knowledge of VAT, PAYE, UIF, payroll and statutory submissions.
• Experience managing debtors, creditors, cashbooks, general-ledger reconciliations and fixed assets.
• Experience preparing monthly management accounts and cash-flow forecasts.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills.
• Proficiency in recognised accounting and payroll software.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to work accurately under deadline pressure.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Contactable references.

Advantageous experience

• Completed SAIPA articles or registration as a Professional Accountant (SA).
• Experience in a commercial laboratory, manufacturing, agricultural, technical or similar operational environment.
• Experience with inventory, cost of sales and stock reconciliations.
• Experience with imports, foreign suppliers and foreign-currency transactions.
• Experience preparing audit files and liaising directly with external auditors.
• Experience working in an owner-managed small or medium-sized business.

Personal attributes

The successful candidate must be:

• Honest, ethical and dependable.
• Willing to take full ownership of the accounting function.
• Highly organised and methodical.
• Accurate and attentive to detail.
• Able to identify and report errors instead of concealing or carrying them forward.
• Comfortable working independently while remaining accountable to management.
• Proactive in following up outstanding information and unresolved matters.
• Able to manage confidential information with discretion.
• Firm but professional when managing debtors, creditors and internal financial controls.

Performance expectations

The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Produce a complete and reconciled trial balance by the agreed monthly deadline.
• Submit VAT, payroll and statutory returns accurately and on time.
• Maintain current bank, debtor, creditor, payroll, inventory and balance-sheet reconciliations.
• Provide reliable monthly management accounts and cash-flow forecasts.
• Maintain a complete and audit-ready financial file.
• Escalate errors, irregularities and financial risks promptly.
• Reduce long-outstanding debtor, creditor and reconciliation items.
• Ensure that financial information supplied to management is accurate, complete and supported by appropriate documentation.

Recruitment process

Shortlisted candidates may be required to complete a practical accounting assessment covering:

• Bank and control-account reconciliations
• VAT calculations
• Payroll journals
• Accruals and prepayments
• Inventory adjustments
• Trial-balance review
• Identification and correction of accounting errors
• Interpretation of management accounts

Background, qualification, reference and, where appropriate, credit and criminal-record checks may be conducted with the candidate’s consent and in accordance with applicable legislation.

Interested candidates should submit a detailed CV, copies of relevant qualifications, current or most recent remuneration, expected cost-to-company package, notice period and contactable references.