Finance Officer MU-JHU Research Collaboration

Description and purpose:
Performance of the day-to-day financial accounting tasks including processing payments, filing and document retrieval, providing data for report preparation and data for budgeting, project accounting and reporting.

Required qualifications and Experience:
• The prospective candidate must hold a bachelor’s degree in accounting or equivalent from a recognised University.
• A full/part completion of ACCA/CPA certifications is an added advantage. A minimum of 3 years’ relevant working experience in a similar capacity with a multi-donor busy institution. Experience working with a clinical research institution would represent an advantage.

Must be proficient in the use of Microsoft Applications (desired applications inclusive of Excel, Power Point and Word).
• Familiarity in the use of computerized accounting packages is required, specific experience with Navision software would be an advantage.

The candidate should possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills with ability to prioritize in a demanding environment, multiple accountabilities, and to tight deadlines.

The holder of this position will work under the direct supervision of the Finance Accounting Manager and will be responsible for the following duties and responsibilities:
Finance and accounting management
• Review and process day to day financial requests (payments, receivables, accountabilities) in accordance with IFRS/IAS and MU-JHU institutional policies and procedures.
• Liaise with internal and external users (i.e. suppliers, staff) in coordination of the missing supporting documentation relating to their financial requests.
• Prepare cheque and on-line payments for review by Financial Accounting Head in compliance with institutional financial policies and procedures and donor policies and regulations with correct coding and supporting documentation.
• Perform monthly bank reconciliation of all accounts Assist and/or lead with cash flow management and bank reconciliation of accounts.
• Preparation and prompt settlement of statutory and other payroll deductions (i.e. PAYE, NSSF, VAT, Withholding Tax, Local Service Tax).
• Review accountability reports (working advances liquidation or travel report) for accuracy before approval of the Financial Accounting Head.

Ensure a clear and transparent paper trail is adhered for all financial transactions and that all filing and archiving is in line with institution and donor requirements
• Ensure proper books of accounts are kept and a sound archiving (filing and retrieval) system is intact.
• Work closely with project accounting team to monitor expenses and collections relating to the projects/grants.

General Ledger and Fixed Assets Management
• Preparation of payroll journal and monthly reconciliation of balance sheet accounts.
• Perform month end closing of transactions (i.e. posting of entries, allocation of shared expenses, completion of adjusting entries).
• Maintain and track receivables and payables month on month to ensure timely recoveries and payments respectively.
• Preparation of various supporting schedules to the financial statements to facilitate annual audit and assist in the fieldwork process.
• Ensure consolidation of fixed asset information to enable an accurate and complete record on identification, value, condition and location of assets, through review and update of the detailed schedule of fixed asset.
• Maintain and monitor the fixed Asset Register and ensure that the fixed assets policy is accurately implemented.
• Maintain and track all insurance policy documents for assets and ensure that all relevant claims for insurance are processed timely.
• Ensure accurate recording of assets (acquisitions, repairs, movements, disposals) into the assets management system.