Job Ref #: SADCP0015
Industry: Professional
Job Type: Contract
Positions Available: 1

Job Description

Primary Purpose of the Job

• To support the effective financial management of projects and programmes through timely processing of financial transactions, maintenance of accounting records, budget monitoring, financial reporting support, and compliance with SADC and ICP regulations, IPSAS standards, and internal financial controls.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

Budgeting and Control

• Collaborate with the Finance Officer in the annual budget setting exercise by provide support and guidance to project officers and consolidating the budget figures.

Budget & Expenditure Control

• Support the Finance Officer in undertaking budget and expenditure control on projects.
• Review all new project commitments and check that they are only made against budgeted appropriations. Report exceptions to the Finance Officer
• Review procurement procedures followed for award of contracts and ensure compliance with donor contractual requirements. Report exceptions to the Finance Officer 
• Perform regular monitoring of project actual expenditure against budget and report potential overruns to the Finance Officer and Financial Controller.
• Investigate variances and discuss with project owners of potential overspent above approved budget and seek justifications.
• Check payment requests against supporting documents and ensure they comply with the relevant conditions and rules of the donor/s agreement to be eligible for disbursements
• Compliance and eligibility – verify whether expenditure was incurred in accordance with the underlying procurement rules by examining the procurement documents and purchase processes. Where instances of non-compliance are identified, the nature of such expenditure and related financial impact in terms of ineligible expenditure is to be reported.
• Provide help desk support on financial management to Member States/ Grant Beneficiaries on a demand basis.
• Participate in the projects financial closure by ensuring that all project-related financial transactions are completed, finalizing and closing the project financial accounts, disposing of project assets

Accounting

• Retention (filing) of all accountable documentation to secure unqualified audit report
• Prepare and issue Monthly and Annual Projects Trial Balance and Draft Reporting Pack along with supporting schedules
• Financial services processed and products delivered in accordance with regulatory requirements and supporting documentation retained
• Prepare expenditure justifications/ commitment documents;
• Process payments /disbursements for goods and services
• Prepare draft financial reports, statement of cashflow, income and expenditures incurred by the project, perform relevant analysis and reconciliations to ensure completeness and accuracy, and submit to the Finance Officer for review.
• Assist in providing relevant financial reports and analysis requested by donors and management
• Monitor expenditure incurred by Grantees/Sub Recipients where applicable and report to the Finance Officer
• Provide relevant information for audit and clear audit queries          KPIs
• Accurate and timely submission of reports with reconciliation and analysis

 

Cash Management & Control

• Prepare project expenditure reports and submit to the Finance Officer, ensuring that payment requests and supporting documents comply with the relevant conditions and rules of the donor/s agreement to be eligible for disbursements. Report any exception to the Finance Officer.
• Prepare bank and fund reconciliations and related schedules
• Prepare monthly cash flow reconciliations and forecasts and submit to the Finance Officer.
• Prepare monthly project expenditure reports and ensure payment requests and supporting documents comply with the relevant conditions and rules of the donor/s agreement to be eligible for disbursements. Report any exception to the Finance Officer

Internal Controls

• Understand contractual requirements of donors regarding internal controls around project financial management and ensure these are effectively implemented Promptly report exceptions to the Finance Officer
• Assist to implement audit recommendations for better financial controls
• Prepare for audits (BOA, internal, external etc) as required and support and facilitate a smooth audit

Financial support

• Provide finance support to the project team to ensure the smooth running of the project operations;
• Maintain records of project team travel and assist in their travel logistics;
• Prepare relevant financial reports, reconciliations, income and expenditures reports incurred by projects.
• Take minutes of meetings and maintain records for the operations and project team;
• Develop and maintain document control processes for efficient project management;
• Maintain a proper and user-friendly filing and document control system for recording and tracking all documents for the project team.
• Support the officers and project team in daily financial roles and assist to keep stock of stationery supplies for the project.
• Perform data entry, recording, printing and filing duties
• Undertake any ad-hoc financial duties projects/duties as required;
• Assist to check and verify staff claims and invoices for the project team;
• Provide effective and timely financial support across multiple projects and programmes concurrently while ensuring compliance with financial procedures and ICP requirements.         

Job Requirements

Qualifications and Experience

Education   

• At least an Advanced Diploma  in Accounting / Finance or related field from a recognised institution.
• A Degree in Accounting / Finance or related field from a recognised institution will be an added advantage.

 

Professional Certification and Membership

• Studying a professional accountancy certification such as BICA, ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW, ICAS, ACPA or equivalent.
• Membership to a professional body such as BICA, ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW, ICAS, ACPA or equivalent will be an added advantage.

Specialised knowledge

• Working knowledge of IPSAS, IAS and IFRS
• Proficient in the use of computers and computer software relevant to the position e.g. Sunsystems, Vision, Pastel, SAP, Oracle etc

Experience

• At least 5 years of work experience in a similar position.
• Experience working on any development project with a regional or international organisation will be an added advantage.

Skills Competency Requirements

• Communication skills
• Interpersonal skills and teamwork skills
• Networking and relationship building skills
• Organisational skills (planning, time management, work prioritisation)
• Research, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Capable of maintaining quality whilst working under pressure and adhering to deadlines
• Compliance with rules, regulations, processes and procedures
• Conceptual and practical thinking
• Customer focused
• Demonstrate ability to work independently and without too much close supervision
• Flexible and adaptable to change
• Maintain confidentiality and respectful of sensitive situations
• Methodical and organised, with a high level of attention to details
• Professionalism and adherence to good work ethics (integrity, dependability, punctuality, etc.)
• Willingness to learn and improve on a continual basis
• Resilience and personal drive, self-motivation
• Results and performance driven
• Team player