Our purpose is to unlock value in Africa. We use our analytical capabilities to improve decision-making and, through better decisions, to unlock substantial value for our clients and society. While we are the largest economics-based consulting firm in Africa, we use a large number of techniques and approaches to achieve clarity for decision-makers.

Summary

We are seeking an enthusiastic and highly efficient Project Accountant to join our team. The role on this project involves developing and managing project budgets aligned with grant requirements, monitoring expenses, preparing financial statements, and ensuring compliance with funding regulations. The position holder will furthermore manage the funds disbursement to subgrantees, establish internal controls, review grantees’ financial reports, coordinate audits, and provide financial insights for informed decision-making. Specific duties and responsibilities include:

Responsibilities

Project Management Unit Support

• Monitor financial administration of Framework Agreements to ensure consistency with commercial pricing models and Genesis commercial strategy, and provide regular performance updates to the Framework Manager and PMU Programme Manager.
• Provide budget information as required in terms of fee rates, LOE, actual project costs, burn rates, etc, ensuring that the Framework financial reporting can be carried out appropriately.
• Monitor the disbursement of funds to grantees according to approved budgets.
• Review financial reports submitted by grantees and assess budget compliance.
• Assist in the development of new financial procedures to better support the delivery of projects, including managing budget trackers, burn rates reporting and other tracking tools.
• Set up and maintain budget tracking on all projects; monitoring, reporting, and analysing budget variances.
• Preparing month-end reports for management, including profit and loss statements and balance sheets.
• Manage cash flow projections and reports.

Project Accounting

• Attend project-related meetings with the practice area
• Liaise with Prime/Donor on queries and requirements
• Keep up to date with the terms and conditions of the contracts
• Track budget to actual spending
• Budget updates and maintenance
• Keep project reconciliations up to date
• Ensure that the correct rates are loaded on Intacct
• Process invoice requests
• Reconcile Intacct and Client records
• Capture all project-related transactions on Intacct where necessary
• Track the project’s profitability and keep relevant stakeholders up to date
• Capture and update project budgets on Intacct
• Ensure that all relevant documentation is kept up to date on the Finance Drive and Project Drive

Project Suppliers and Subcontractors

• Capture project supplier invoices and allocate them to various GL accounts
• Add new supplier accounts on Intacct
• Collect supplier sheets and BEE/payment documents and update Intacct
• Keep Supplier BEE information up to date on Intacct
• Reconcile supplier payments to statements and invoices to be approved by the COO
• Allocate Supplier payments as per the remittance and reconcile debit orders to supplier statements and invoices
• Send suppliers their payment remittances
• Submit all supplier payments batches to the Financial Controller to be loaded on FNB online for approval by Financial Project Manager
• Collect supplier statements and reconcile to the age analysis at month end
• Process any necessary accounts payable correction journals for approval by the Head of Finance
• Handle Supplier queries and manage subcontractors
• Ensure that all relevant documentation is kept up to date on the Finance Drive and Project Drive

Project Cashbooks & Payments

• Load all new recipients on the FNB online
• Process subcontractor accruals at year-end
• Capture cashbooks – Project bank accounts
• Cashbook recons – Project bank accounts
• Ensure that all cashbooks are reconciled every month
• Process project-specific staff claims and supplier payments
• Arrange per-diems for travel and events

Sundry

• Process project reconciliation correcting journals and any other additional journals
• Assist auditors with queries at year-end
• Capture annual project budgets on Intacct
• Educate staff on processes and policies
• ad hoc requests as and when required

Requirements

The successful candidate will have a thirst for learning and experience in developing and managing project budgets aligned with grant requirements, monitoring expenses, preparing financial statements, and ensuring compliance with funding regulations.

You are likely to have:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or a related field.
• Proven experience in a similar role
• At least 3 years of experience in grant management, financial management, and accounting, preferably in the context of donor-funded projects.
• Strong understanding of international development principles and practices.
• Ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.
• Collaborative and works well under pressure.
• Excellent organizational and communication skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and accounting software.
• Fluent in English, both written and verbal