Financial Accountant at The Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA)

Key outputs: 
Business Strategy Leadership 

• Participate in the development of the strategically aligned departmental Annual Performance Plan by the agreed deadline through providing inputs into the development of a plan that delivers the strategic objectives, aligning organisational resources with plan deliverables and managing the implementation of the agreed deliverables by the agreed deadlines 
• Resolve challenges hindering or threatening the successful achievement of the departmental deliverables by monitoring departmental performance, identifying areas of risk or challenges being faced and addressing these within agreed challenge-resolution timelines 

USAASA / USAF Internal Financial Reporting 

• Produce USAASA and USAF management accounts by extracting relevant reports from the system and preparing the reports in compliance with the Accounting Standards and PFMA Treasury regulations on a monthly basis 
• Prepare management account variance report by maintaining a working knowledge of daily financial activities, analysing transactions and reports, identifying anomalies and addressing issues on a monthly basis 
• Resolve queries and issues as identified from the variance report and implement corrective action on a monthly basis 
• Compile management accounts and recommendations for reporting to Exco by collating all reports and recommendations identified on a monthly basis 
• Produce USAASA and USAF financial reports by extracting relevant reports from the system and preparing the reports in compliance with the Accounting Standards and PFMA Treasury regulations, comparing and evaluating against monthly management accounts, identifying and addressing any issues or anomalies arising and finalising the financial statements on an annual basis 
• Compile financial reports and recommendations for reporting to Exco by collating all reports and recommendations identified and verifying that the reports have been prepared are compliant with the Accounting Standards and PFMA Treasury regulations on an annual basis. 

USAASA / USAF External Financial Reporting 

• Submit all external financial reporting on time by developing and maintaining a reporting annual plan detailing all required reports to individual institutions and the required deadlines annually 
• Prepare statutory financial compliance and progress reports by extracting relevant and compliant (Accounting Standards and PFMA Treasury regulations) financial reports, analysing information and variances, completing required institution reporting templates (if required), obtaining approval as required (monthly, quarterly, annually etc.) 
• Maintain strong stakeholder relationships by engaging with stakeholders, providing feedback, responding to queries and meeting deadlines annually Prepare the USAASA budget templates and guidelines by aligning with the MTEF / Treasury templates and guidelines by July / August 
• Train and support the relevant USAASA management staff to prepare their budget submissions by communicating the templates and guidelines and providing coaching and mentoring support annually July / August 
• Prepare the USAASA / USAF consolidated budget complying with Accounting Stands and PFMA Treasury regulations by collecting, reviewing and quality controlling the departmental budgets, adjusting the departmental budgets to align with the provisional Treasury allocation and communicating adjustments to the individual departments by July / August  

Budgeting

• Support the approval process of the USAASA / USAF consolidated budget by preparing the Exco submission and supporting the CFO to obtain the approval and incorporate any Exco adjustments by July / August 
• Prepare the budget for National Treasury by incorporating any Exco adjustments and finalising the template structures by July / August 
• Finalise the budget for board submission by receiving the allocations from National Treasury, adjusting the budget and reviewing alignment with the adjusted APP for final Board approval in January 
• Communicate the final approved budget to all departments by extracting departmental information by January 
• Provide support to the CFO and the board to facilitate the Ministerial and Parliamentary approval of the budget and implement any adjustments if required 
• Manage the uploading of budgets into the financial management systems by disseminating the budgets into the appropriate formats and overseeing the accurate uploading of information by 01 April  

Financial Interface 

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with the Senior Financial Manager and processing department by constructively reviewing and evaluating processes and procedures, identify gaps and areas for improvement, developing recommendations and supporting implementation of corrective action on a monthly basis 
• Review and analyse financial and variance reports to identify weaknesses and areas for improvement in the business processes, develop recommendation and corrective action plans and support implementation on a monthly basis 

Audit and Risk 

• Prepare for external and internal audit by preparing files and required documentation on an annual basis 
• Support the audit process by addressing queries, reviewing and answering audit findings on an annual basis 
• Manage the risk profile of the department by reviewing the departmental risk register, developing and implementing action plans and reporting on progress against action plans on a monthly basis 
• Implement the corrective action as arising from audit recommendations by developing and implementing action plans to address and resolve audit issues on an annual basis  

Minimum Requirements  
Qualifications and Experience 

• 3 year Accounting or equivalent tertiary qualification is required 
• Articled Accountant or equivalent is required 
• Extensive PFMA knowledge required 
• Competent computer literacy levels 
• 5 years financial management experience required 
• 2 years cost accounting experience preferential 
• Public sector experience is preferential