Project Accountant – FSG UIF LAP at Fidelity Services Group

Generic Job Purpose:

• The purpose of the position is to oversee all financial aspects of the Business Area and project that includes but are not limited to: Monthly Operating Statement validation of cost, expenditure and revenue. Monthly invoicing, validation and follow-up of payments to ensure UIF payments are done and allocated as per regional input and applicant matrix.
• Conducting of weekly reconciliations of all financial aspects related to the Business Area. The main job function includes financial and administrative support to monitoring and evaluation of financial processes. Ensuring that all financial processes complies with FSG LOA and compliance standards and are implemented efficiently. The function is focused on achieving maximum benefit by optimising all opportunities to accommodate as much applicants as possible to achieve set targets. Liaison with external and internal role players and facilitating progression on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis via adequate feedback and reporting.

Line Manager (1st Level) : Project Manager
Minimum Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree, Diploma or Certificate in Accounting / Finance / Financial Management
• Project Management / Admin management / Human Resources Diploma / degree or similar qualification.
• Five years’ experience in a project / admin managerial role
• Supervisory and or managerial experience in managing a team
• Financial acumen and minimum 3 years’ experience in managing admin functions
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office package, especially SAP, PowerPoint and excel.
• Professional registration or progress toward SAIPA / SAICA / CIMA (advantageous)

JOB OUTPUTS

KEY PERFORMANCE AREA 1 (50%): MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSES 

• Manage the activities and processes related to the UIF / FSG funding agreement and ensure compliance with all aspects of the funding agreement on an on-going basis.
• Demonstrates a clear understanding of compiling budgets, including cost estimation, allocation, monitoring, and variance tracking.
• Consultation with the UIF and FSG Executive in terms of any deviation or amendment to the funding agreement and or deviations in the processes in relation to the finances.
• Monthly feedback meetings and reporting to ensure finance progress and feedback is adequately covered in monthly feedback report to UIF and Management.
• Oversight of the data integrity within the project.
• Participate in the reconciliation process all payroll related submissions and reconciliations as submitted between the Project Admin Manager and the Billing Manager at Payroll.
• Submit accurate and timely invoicing in accordance with project and funder requirements.
• Track and reconcile invoices, billing and payments received on an ongoing basis.
• Attend project & business meetings to provide project updates and drive alignment.
• Continuous liaison with UIF with remittance, validation, invoicing and payments.
• Assist management, branches and the team with required weekly and monthly revenue reports, and all other billing related reports for daily operating region.
• Submit monthly and weekly reports as per department’s requirement, including but not limited to: New business and terminations, revenue recon, regional recon of revenue, recon of learner stipends, credit report and retrospective productivity analysis.
• Track and manage changes made to weekly project applicant numbers and validate accuracy of statistics and feedback / escalate if required.
• Ensure all credit notes as processed as per departments procedures and guidelines withing same month.
• Provide input into operational targets and measure growth against targets yearly.
• Ensure compliance with internal financial controls and relevant regulations on an ongoing basis.
• Provide input in the preparation of financial reports for submission to relevant stakeholders quarterly.
• Ensure the proper use of the company’s assets and property to meet business objectives.
• Oversee and streamline billing processes.
• Assist manage and coordinate billing policies.
• Compiling revenue and billing related reports within area of responsibility monthly.
• Release invoices as per departments timelines and deadlines
• Managing billing due on a weekly basis correct billing is released.
• Maintain and escalate incorrectly loaded or duplicate billing as and when detected or notification received.
• Monthly pro-forma invoice recon by 30th of month and verification by UIF by no later than 5th of the next month. Heads up notice of revenue as per invoicing / billing done.
• Ensure accurate and timeous pro-forma invoicing per region and as per the 70/30 split. Validation with Payroll and reconciliation prior to circulation to UIF.
• Verification validation with UIF and Project UIF lead to ensure all evidence and supporting documentation to invoice is complete, valid and accurate.
• Timeous submission of invoices to UIF and reporting of revenue as per required reporting on monthly basis.
• Track invoice, billing and payments received consistently.
• Prepare and manage budget and MOS for UIF LAP Project BA report on monthly operations statement.
• Loading of payments for allocated BA as per guidelines and limits of authority.
• Assistance to the project team in terms of travel approvals, accommodation and petty cash re-imbursement.
• Manage petty cash as per limits of authority of business areas.
• Manage Purchase orders and ensure Executive approval for BA.
• Manage intercompany transfers between the company bank accounts and expedite timeously.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREA 2 (35%): REPORTING AND COMMUNICATION

• Ensure strict compliance with company policies and eliminate audit queries through strong process control.
• Monthly reporting on total learners submitted to UIF for approval vs total learners approved and loaded on HRM.
• Weekly reporting of progress, status, queries and concerns.
• Proper record keeping of all submissions, payments and audits and maintaining master sheets and files of all data which is to be handed over to Fidelity as required.
• Provide timely support for general admin queries and UIF requirements

KEY PERFORMANCE AREA 3 (15%): FINANCE AND PAYROLL LIAISON

• Monthly payroll reconciliation and allocation to relevant branches.
• Provide input for the section on financial and non-financial reports to devise solutions or improvements.
• Prepare all relevant reports (irregularities, costs, overtime etc.) for stakeholders as required.
• Ensure that all employees are trained in accordance with set standards and regulatory requirements to ensure compliance.
• Adhere to all legislation, standards and policies.
• Adhere to all deadlines as per departments procedure and guidelines.
• Maintain document compliance as per company policies and procedures

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

• Financial Accounting & Reporting
• Budget Compilation and Monitoring
• General Ledger Management
• Debtors and Creditors Management
• Payroll Reconciliations
• Bank and Balance Sheet Reconciliations
• Financial Controls & Compliance
• Audit Preparation and Support
• Financial Systems (e.g. Sage, Pastel, SAP, or similar)
• Advanced Excel and financial analysis skills

SKILLS

• Attention to detail and being pro-active
• Ability to help others
• Ability to liaise with service providers, management, and employees
• Monitoring service delivered
• Analysis of information
• Input in problem solving
• Communication skills
• Computer literacy