Financial Manager – Finance - Johannesburg, South Africa at Bowmans (Law Firm)

Purpose:

• Responsible for providing financial management support and advice to stakeholders in the offices across Africa, outside of South African to enable them to make sound business decisions.
• Ensures financial practices and information are in line with company policy and all statutory legislation & regulations (International Financial Reporting Standards - IFRS).
• Oversees the work of Financial Accountants responsible in the respective African offices.

Experience and Qualifications:

• CA (SA), ACCA or equivalent is essential
• 5-8 years post article experience, with at least 3 years management experience and 3 years financial accounting experience working across multiple African countries
• Must be able to communicate at an executive level
• Experience working with ERPs
• Intermediate/advance MS Office knowledge

Key Accountabilities

Preparation of Monthly Management Accounts & Financial Reporting

• Preparation of the monthly management accounts pack to fully assess the performance of the respective African offices
• Reviewing of the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow as prepared by the Financial Accountants
• Prepare a cash flow forecast, including a liquidity and solvency analysis, to ensure optimum cash management, and to ensure that we adhere to all internal and external covenants
• Preparation and presentation of each country’s financial performance at a monthly Africa update meeting
• Ensuring that IFRS are applied consistently across all the offices

Cost Analysis & Control

• Analysis and identification of incurred costs versus budget and prior period trends, to fully understand cost drivers for key stakeholders to make informed decisions
• Identify cost saving opportunities to improve the financial wellbeing of the Firm
• Review reconciled expenditure reports to test the validity of costs
• Management of the intergroup related charges process

Internal Control Systems Development

• Support in the standardisation of the processes and controls across the group.
• Ensure the appropriateness of the controls design and operating effectives and recommend areas for improvement

Budgeting & Budgetary Control

• Lead and co-ordinate the budgeting process for the respective African offices to set performance targets for performance monitoring and control throughout the financial year
• Effectively manage and communicate the budget process and principles to stakeholders.
• Review the budgeted fees and expenses for large variances and resolve prior to the Group Financial Manager conducting his review
• Engage with the managing partners in the other African offices, in-country finance teams and business services stakeholders for completion of their various annual budgets
• Preparation of the budgeted income statement, balance sheet and cash flow, statements including determining funding needs for the year ahead
• Compilation of the information required by the Remuneration committee as applicable
• Provide input to the annual budget presentation for approval by the board as directed by Group Financial Manager

External Audit & Preparation of Annual Financial Statements

• Participate in the annual external audit through assisting the in-country finance teams with an audit plan and execution
• Aid the in-country finance teams to resolve auditor queries and ensure the audit is completed in an appropriate time frame
• Review financial statements to ensure they are prepared in accordance with IFRS
• Present findings to the Group Chief Financial Officer and Group Financial Manager for board approval

Leadership and Management

• Manage financial accountants in the Sandton office and oversee the in-country finance managers
• Manages own teams’ performance to ensure delivery of the approved finance strategy across designated departments
• Gives regular, comprehensive and constructive feedback to team and conducts their performance appraisals
• Proactively seeks feedback from team members and deals constructively with any criticism
• Adjusts management style to get the best from the individuals within the team
• Delegates work to team members considering their capacity, level of skill and exposure to different types of work and complexity; provides clear instructions and direction, with reasonable deadlines

Relationship Building

• Develop relationships with Partners and Senior managers as a trusted financial advisor
• Develop relationships with all individuals below management level as a trusted financial advisor
• Maintain strong working relationships with and have open and transparent communication between all members of the team
• Develop and maintain relationships with external vendors to ensure service delivery of high quality

Ad-hoc Requests

• Support the business as and when ad-hoc financial request come in and provide information that is accurate, of a high standard and delivered within required timeframes

Competencies

• Attention to Detail
• Interactive Communication
• Relationship Building
• Stress Management
• Financial and Management Accounting
• Financial Budgeting, Planning and Reporting
• Financial Policy Development, Interpretation and Application
• Legislation, Policies, Procedures and Standards