Self Help Africa (SHA) is an international NGO, dedicated to the vision of an economically thriving and resilient rural Africa. SHA focuses on agriculture and agribusiness as the engine of growth in Africa. Our approach is collaborative and market-based: although we see our primary clients as smallholder farmers in Africa, we work with all participants in the agricultural value chain.

The Group also has social enterprise subsidiaries – TruTrade, which supports market access for small-holder farmers in the agricultural value-chain; Traid links, providing market-linkages to agri-business in East Africa; and Partner Africa, an ethical auditing and consultancy firm that operates across more than 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.  Self Help Africa is also the lead agency in the delivery of a schools national Development Education programme on behalf of the Irish government, WorldWise Global Schools. The Group has an ambitious five-year strategy with plans to double its scale by 2021 and the CIO will have a key part to play in that, with responsibility for: digital, data and information strategy; ICT governance, control and policy development; advising the SMT; and ensuring effective take-up by staff and partners of existing and future system investments.

Job Purpose:

The Financial Accountant is responsible for ensuring that all the transactions of the country programme are properly authorised and recorded into the finance software, PS Financials, in an accurate and timely manner. The Accountant also assists the Finance Manager in the preparation of financial reports as required.

Key Responsibilities:

• Responsible for checking the accuracy and validity of invoices, documents submitted for payments;
• Responsible for recording all financial transactions into PSF, and arranging for authorized payments to be made;
• Responsible for checking that payment requests are accurately coded to the correct project and expenditure account, and that there is sufficient available budget;
• Ascertain that project payments are made within the relevant grant period and are as per approved budget line items;
• Responsible for ensuring that payment requests and documents are approved by authorized person/s according to the approval limits specified in the SHA operations manual;
• Preparation of payment vouchers;
• Calculation and preparation of monthly payroll and related payments such as income tax, provident fund, pension scheme and social contribution for SHA employees according to policies and procedures and applicable laws of SHA and the Country;
• Responsible for the preparation of the monthly payroll reconciliation;
• Responsible for the allocation of salary costs to respective projects and the input of appropriate accounting entries based on the guidance from HoFA guidance;
• Assist the Finance Manager in the preparation and posting of adjusting journals as required during the review and reconciliation of the monthly trial balance;
• Responsible for processing the monthly cash flow request of the  country programme through Salesforce, as advised by the HoFA;
• Responsible for the preparation of annual financial report and forecasts of the country office and projects for next 3 years for Civil Societies Organizations Agency;
• Assist in checking of completeness of financial documents for external auditing;
• Perform all duties of the Finance Manager in his/her absence;
• Perform other duties as assigned to her / him by the Head of Finance and Administration

Key Relationships

Internal

• Head of Finance & Administration
• Finance Manager
• Country Management Team
• Finance & Administration Team

External

• Government Departments;
• Banks, external auditors and other service providers

Contract Type:

• Full Time Two Year Fixed Term

Reports to:

• Head of Finance & Administration (HoFA)

No. of Employee:

• Two

Qualifications/Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Qualified or part- qualified in an internationally recognized accounting qualification or similar
• Experience in the processing of financial transactions and ability to bring accounts to at least Trial Balance stage
• Experience performing bank reconciliations
• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Commitment to the vision, mission and values of Self Help Africa
• Excellent ICT skills including a good knowledge of MS Office and accounting software
• Attention to detail and the ability to produce timely and accurate financial information

Desirable

• Experience performing balance sheet reconciliations
• Experience working with donor funds
• Willingness to travel nationally
• Experience in the not for profit sector