Short Description of Position

The Senior Accountant has overall roles and responsibility of ensuring the proper financial accounting and compliance as well as ensuring providing the management with good accounting information as and when needed.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Financial Control and Compliance

• Ensures all expenditures comply with requirements of the Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority and other Project Partner as well as adhere with the Consolidated SYS Financial Manual.
• Verify correctness of cost/expense documents and ensure that payment requests are sufficiently supported by source documents and required authorizations are in place. S/he shall also be responsible effect all payment request in time.
• Responsible for accurate and timely posting of all financial transactions within SYS and ensures the application of proper accounting controls and uniformity with financial regulation, rules and policies and procedures.
• Responsible for all financial and management reports (reconciliation, cash flow analyses, balance sheet and fund utilization etc) for SYS (monthly, quarterly and annually) and ensure proper reconciliation of accounts on time in full.
• Ensures statutory tax obligations (VAT, Withholding and employee income tax and others) are timely and accurately settled. S/he shall also be responsible for supporting annual external audit of the partnership.

Treasury

• Oversees the timely preparation, review and approval of all monthly bank account and cash reconciliations.
• Ensures compliances related to advance payments, credit terms, and use of bank payment instruments.
• Forecasts of cash requirements for meeting future spending, including commitments entered into and which obligate SYS to future spending.

Budget and Reporting

• Provide all the necessary data for annual budgeting on time in full and assist the financial controller in preparation of the budget.
• Assist SYS in accounting and procurement of goods and services in line with rules and regulations.
• Assist the Finance Manager in budgetary review of plan vs actual and presentation of actual to budget expenditures to the management and partners.
• Assist the Finance Manager for timely delivery of all financial reports to meet statutory, donor and project coordination and management units.

Leadership and Management Competences

• Excellent communication and facilitation skills.
• Ability to build a shared vision on the financial system serving the SYS requirements.
• Mastery in demonstrating personal effectiveness and delivering results in teamwork
• Outstanding skills in planning, organizing and reporting
• Strong analytical and critical reasoning and problem solving.
• Good understanding of cross-cultural working practices.
• Being proactive and regularly seek to identify and communicate potential problems and propose solutions to the appropriate level of management.
• Ability to perform under stress with minimal supervision and able to handle multiple tasks at a time in calm and organized manner. Have an attitude stimulating integration of diversity and inclusiveness

Technical Competences

• Mastery in Peachtree accounting soft ware and MS Excel.
• Strong quantitative analyses skills
• Able to coach junior accountants and the other financial staff of the projects and partners.
• Able to understand contract and procurement procedures and align finance operations in accordance.

Reports to:   

Finance Manager

Number of Positions: 

2

Education, work experience and language

• BA in Accounting and related fields.
• A maximum of 3 years of hands on experience in accounting and finance. Knowledge of finance in development cooperation in agricultural development and agribusiness or project management is a plus.
• Extensive experience in working with computerized accounting systems, standard spreadsheet and database programs.
• Proficiency in Spoken and Witten English and Amharic languages is a must.
• Women applicants are highly encouraged.

Key working relationships

Internal

• Reports to the Finance Manager
• Communicates with staff of all business functions and sister companies.

External

• Occasionally Communicates with the partners
• Represents the SYS with Banking Managers, local government staff (taxation and regulation related) and External Auditors.