Cape Town: Financial Accountant posted by Aspire Recruiting

Aspire Recruiting has partnered with a high-performance professional services firm to source a highly skilled Financial Accountant. This is a hands-on position perfectly suited for an experienced finance professional who excels at managing complex corporate and fiduciary accounts. The successful candidate will take strong ownership of the financial control environment, ensuring strict regulatory compliance while working closely with executive stakeholders and operations teams.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Corporate & Fiduciary Accounting

• Manage and maintain business and specialised fiduciary/escrow accounts in strict alignment with industry regulatory requirements.
• Execute precise monthly account reconciliations and ensure impeccable record-keeping.
• Manage specialised investments, monitor interest allocations, and enforce strict segregation between operational and fiduciary funds.

2. Financial Control & Operational Support

• Partner with senior directors and executives to resolve billing queries, manage invoicing adjustments, and perform revenue assurance.
• Track debtor balances, manage escalations, and closely monitor work-in-progress (WIP), write-offs, credit notes, and aging reports.
• Lead month-end and year-end financial cycles, including the preparation of accurate monthly management accounts.
• Prepare and submit financial reports to the international parent company in accordance with the global finance calendar.
• Maintain the General Ledger, ensuring accurate allocation of all income and expenses.
• Identify operational inefficiencies, mitigate financial risks, and enforce internal compliance procedures.
• Translate complex financial data into practical insights for non-finance stakeholders and assist with matter profitability analysis.

3. Budgeting, Forecasting & Reporting

• Collaborate with executive management on annual budgeting, rolling forecasts, and monthly management reporting.
• Analyse performance against budget, highlight variances, and track operational spend and headcount costs.

4. Tax & Statutory Compliance

• Ensure strict adherence to all tax (PAYE, VAT, Corporate Tax) and statutory regulatory obligations.
• Monitor regular executive commission calculations and stay abreast of industry-specific accounting changes.

5. Audit & Stakeholder Management

• Coordinate the timing of annual business audits and review bank loan covenants.
• Act as the primary point of contact for external auditors, tax advisors, regulators, and banking institutions.
• Prepare comprehensive audit files, draft responses to audit queries for management sign-off, and ensure a low-risk, highly efficient audit process.

6. Systems & Process Improvement

• Act as a key user and champion for internal practice management and finance software.
• Drive automation and continuous improvement across billing workflows and reporting controls.
• Deputize for senior finance leadership when necessary and support firm-wide financial governance and best practices.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Account Mastery: Accurate, independent management of fiduciary/corporate accounts with audit-ready reconciliations and no unexplained variances.
• Revenue Control: Proactive monitoring of WIP, debtor aging, and cash flow, providing senior staff with practical billing reports and early risk identification.
• Risk & Control Discipline: Early identification and escalation of process gaps with proposed solutions, demonstrating sound commercial judgment in a regulated environment.
• Reporting Reliability: On-time, accurate month-end submissions with clear, plain-language variance explanations that drive decision-making.
• Audit Readiness: Highly organized audit files, professional stakeholder engagement, and minimal rework on audit queries.