Financial Accountant

About the Role

• We are looking for a dependable and experienced Financial Accountant to take responsibility for its complete day-to-day accounting function through to trial balance.
• This is a hands-on position combining financial accounting, bookkeeping, payroll administration, statutory returns, financial controls and management reporting.
• The successful candidate must be comfortable working independently and taking full ownership of the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of the Company's financial records.

Key responsibilities

General accounting

• Manage the complete accounting function through to a fully reconciled monthly trial balance.
• Maintain the general ledger and process all necessary journals.
• Manage the cashbook and perform monthly bank reconciliations.
• Reconcile all balance-sheet and control accounts monthly.
• Prepare and maintain accruals, provisions, prepayments and recurring journals.
• Investigate and correct accounting discrepancies promptly.
• Maintain complete supporting documentation and audit trails for all transactions.

Debtors and revenue management

• Process customer invoices, credit notes and account adjustments accurately.
• Maintain the debtors ledger and reconcile customer accounts.
• Monitor outstanding accounts and actively follow up on overdue payments.
• Allocate customer receipts correctly and promptly.
• Prepare debtors age analyses and collection reports.
• Resolve customer account and invoicing queries.
• Assist management with credit-control decisions and identify potentially doubtful debts.

Creditors and payments

• Create purchase orders. Match purchase orders to invoices
• Process supplier invoices and credit notes.
• Reconcile supplier statements to the creditors ledger.
• Maintain accurate supplier information and independently verify changes to supplier banking details.
• Prepare weekly and monthly supplier payment schedules.
• Ensure that payments are supported by approved invoices and appropriate documentation.
• Manage local and foreign supplier accounts, including exchange-rate differences where applicable.
• Monitor creditor ageing and planned payment commitments.

Outsourced payroll coordination and control

• Reconcile payroll reports to the general ledger and payroll bank payment.
• Review EMP201, EMP501, IRP5 and related statutory information prepared by the payroll provider.
• Liaise with the payroll provider regarding discrepancies and employee queries.
• Maintain secure and confidential payroll records.
• Ensure that payroll submissions, payments and statutory deadlines are completed accurately and on time.

VAT and statutory compliance

• Prepare, reconcile and submit VAT201 returns.
• Ensure the correct VAT treatment of local purchases, imported goods, imported services and customer transactions.
• Maintain the necessary supporting documents for VAT and payroll submissions.
• Assist with SARS queries, verifications and audits.
• Monitor statutory submission and payment deadlines.
• Work with the Company's external tax practitioner or auditor on income-tax and other statutory matters.

Inventory, cost of sales and fixed assets

• Reconcile laboratory consumables, trading stock and other inventory records to the general ledger.
• Assist with stock counts and investigate stock variances.
• Monitor inventory valuation and cost-of-sales allocations.
• Maintain the fixed-asset register.
• Record asset purchases, disposals, transfers and depreciation accurately.
• Reconcile the fixed-asset register to the general ledger.

Management reporting and budgeting

• Prepare accurate monthly management accounts.
• Produce profit-and-loss, balance-sheet and cash-flow reports.
• Prepare budget-versus-actual reports and explain material variances.
• Assist with the annual budgeting process.
• Prepare short- and medium-term cash-flow forecasts.
• Provide management with relevant financial information for operational and strategic decision-making.
• Assist with departmental, project and service-line profitability reporting.
• Identify unusual transactions, financial risks, control weaknesses and opportunities for cost savings.

Year-end and audit preparation

• Prepare a fully reconciled year-end trial balance.
• Compile complete supporting schedules and documentation for the external accountants and auditors.
• Respond to audit queries and provide requested supporting information.
• Assist with annual financial statement preparation.
• Implement agreed audit recommendations and strengthen internal financial controls.

Financial controls and governance

• Ensure that the Company’s financial policies and approval procedures are consistently followed.
• Protect the confidentiality of employee, customer, supplier and company information.
• Comply with POPIA and all applicable financial record-retention requirements.
• Immediately disclose errors, suspected irregularities, duplicate payments, control failures or potential fraud.
• Maintain the highest standards of honesty, accuracy, accountability and professional conduct.
• Ensure that no payment is released without the required independent authorisation.

Minimum requirements

• A BCom Accounting degree, accounting diploma or equivalent recognised qualification.
• At least five years’ relevant experience in a full accounting function.
• Demonstrated experience preparing a fully reconciled trial balance independently.
• Sound knowledge of VAT, PAYE, UIF, payroll and statutory submissions.
• Experience managing debtors, creditors, cashbooks, general-ledger reconciliations and fixed assets.
• Experience preparing monthly management accounts and cash-flow forecasts.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills.
• Proficiency in recognised accounting and payroll software.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to work accurately under deadline pressure.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Contactable references.

Advantageous experience

• Completed SAIPA articles or registration as a Professional Accountant (SA).
• Experience in a commercial laboratory, manufacturing, agricultural, technical or similar operational environment.
• Experience with inventory, cost of sales and stock reconciliations.
• Experience with imports, foreign suppliers and foreign-currency transactions.
• Experience preparing audit files and liaising directly with external auditors.
• Experience working in an owner-managed small or medium-sized business.

Personal attributes

The successful candidate must be:

• Honest, ethical and dependable.
• Willing to take full ownership of the accounting function.
• Highly organised and methodical.
• Accurate and attentive to detail.
• Able to identify and report errors instead of concealing or carrying them forward.
• Comfortable working independently while remaining accountable to management.
• Proactive in following up outstanding information and unresolved matters.
• Able to manage confidential information with discretion.
• Firm but professional when managing debtors, creditors and internal financial controls.

Performance expectations

The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Produce a complete and reconciled trial balance by the agreed monthly deadline.
• Submit VAT, payroll and statutory returns accurately and on time.
• Maintain current bank, debtor, creditor, payroll, inventory and balance-sheet reconciliations.
• Provide reliable monthly management accounts and cash-flow forecasts.
• Maintain a complete and audit-ready financial file.
• Escalate errors, irregularities and financial risks promptly.
• Reduce long-outstanding debtor, creditor and reconciliation items.
• Ensure that financial information supplied to management is accurate, complete and supported by appropriate documentation.

Recruitment process

Shortlisted candidates may be required to complete a practical accounting assessment covering:

• Bank and control-account reconciliations
• VAT calculations
• Payroll journals
• Accruals and prepayments
• Inventory adjustments
• Trial-balance review
• Identification and correction of accounting errors
• Interpretation of management accounts

Closing Date 21 September 2026