Team Supervisor: Utilities And Rentals at TFG (The Foschini Group)

Purpose of the job

Reporting to the Accounts Payable Accountant for the Non-Merchandise category, this role is responsible for ensuring the accurate and timeous processing of all rental and utilities payments in accordance to compliance guidelines and the required Group practices.    

The role will be responsible for managing the rentals and utilities support team within Accounts Payable Shared Services, ensuring their development and training on all new system implementations, including Optical Character Recognition.

Working with landlords, agents and municipalities, this role will also be responsible for handling any payment related queries.

Operating within a Shared Services function, the role will have the responsibility of refining and driving the adherence to agreed Service Level Agreements as per the Shared Service Management Framework, both in terms of internal stakeholders and external suppliers.

Job Requirements

Skills and attributes

• Strong attention to detail
• Excellent time management
• Planning and organising skills
• Ability to lead and manage a team
• Good interpersonal skills
• Good communication skills

Experience

• 3+ years of relevant working experience
• 1-3 years experience leading a small team (5-10) in a transactional environment preferable

Qualification

•  Advanced Diploma or equivalent certification in Finance/Accounting

Key Performance Areas

• Ensure the accurate and timeous monthly payments for all rental contracts across all divisions;
• Ensure the accurate and timeous monthly payments for all store utility contracts and accounts across all trading divisions;
• Monitor and assess all unpaid utilities and ensure the resolution of all exceptions;
• Manage and resolve all outstanding utility arrear accounts for TFG stores;
• Monitor and assess all municipal rates and ensure that it is accurately updated in SAP;
• Extract monthly interfaces of SAP and SAP FI for relevant contracts to ensure accuracy of payments (completing RERAPP Vendor and profit centre checks);
• Review vendor debit balances for validity and accuracy and make relevant journal adjustments;
• Execute IFRS 16 valuation runs (RECEEP) as per TFG guidelines and forward to SSC for review;
• Approve weekly utility and monthly rental payment proposals for processing;
• Ensure processes for municipal accounts payments for closed stores are in place and actioned accordingly; municipal accounts and payments are closed on time;
• Ensure USD based contracts are correctly updated in SAP and the correct exchange rates are applied;
• Ensure that all vendor information is timeously vetted and updated on required systems;
• Ensure that all overpayments for rentals are accurately and speedily recovered from Landlords;
• Document and record all utility and rental reconciliations for audit purposes;
• Review contract changes received from Lease team to allow for accurate maintenance of SBR parameters and escalate any inaccuracies or errors;
• Reconcile all SBR payments and accruals;
• Generate all SBR certificates;
• Monitor and report on landlord payments on a quarterly basis;
• Liaise with TFG Landlords regarding turnover notifications (linked to rental contracts);
• Ensure that all Vendor Master data is correctly updated and Landlords receive all remittance advices;
• Update and align Store Master data with store trading status and utility information;
• Complete ad hoc UAT testing on required systems and assist with projects to improve functionality of existing systems (SBR systems enhancements, OCR);
• Assess and perform appropriate responses to audit observations and ensure corrective and preventive actions are taken;
• Ensure that all queries and complaints are timeously resolved by providing a world class customer service experience for all;
• Support the Accounts Payable Accountant (Non Merchandise) to ensure the relevant service level agreements are adhered to and, in consultation with the Accounts Payable Accountant (Non Merchandise), take initiative to derive the necessary measures if KPIs are not achieved;
• Effectively delegate / allocate work to team members depending on factors like work load, capability of resource, urgency;
• Monitor the team’s daily performance and measure of the quality of the