Group Accounts Manager – Core Accounting, Control & Compliance

Element HR Consultancy; Sharjah; On-site; AED 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading recruitment firm in the UAE is looking for a Group Accounts Manager to oversee all accounting processes across entities. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in core accounting roles, ensuring compliance with standards and maintaining the Group's financial integrity. Responsibilities include designing accounting policies, leading the record-to-report cycle, and facilitating intercompany reconciliations while providing guidance to finance teams. This position demands high ownership and discipline on deadlines.

Qualifications

• 8–12 years of experience in core accounting roles including month-end/year-end closing.
• Experience in a multi-entity/group environment preferred.
• Strong command of double-entry accounting and GL/sub-ledger management.
• Hands-on experience with AP, AR, bank reconciliations, and VAT accounting.

Responsibilities

• Design and enforce common accounting framework across all entities.
• Lead record-to-report cycle from entity books to Group consolidation.
• Ensure accurate and compliant accounting across the Group.
• Deliver clean Trial Balances and reliable Group financials every month.

Skills

Detail-oriented

Problem-solving

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting / Commerce / Finance

Professional qualification (CA, ACCA, CPA, CMA)

Tools

ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, Dynamics, Tally)

Advanced Excel

Job description

About The Group

We are a diversified, multi-entity industrial group operating across trading, distribution, engineering, and project-based businesses. With multiple legal entities, branches, and business lines, our operations generate high transaction volumes, complex intercompany flows, and a strong need for disciplined, standardised accounting across the Group.

To strengthen our financial backbone, we are looking for a Group Accounts Manager who will own our books, closing, and consolidation agenda across all entities.

This is a hardcore accounting and control role – not a corporate finance, fundraising, or FP&A position.

Role Overview

The Group Accounts Manager is the custodian of financial records for the entire Group.

You Will

• Design and enforce a common accounting framework across all entities
• Lead the record-to-report (R2R) cycle from entity books to Group consolidation
• Ensure accurate, timely, and compliant accounting across the Group
• Deliver clean, reconciled Trial Balances and reliable Group financials every month
• Act as the key accounting contact for auditors, tax advisors, and internal stakeholders

If you enjoy the engine room of finance – ledgers, reconciliations, intercompany, controls – and want to do it at Group scale, this role is for you.

What You Will Own

• Group Accounting Framework & Policies
  • Establish and maintain Group-wide accounting policies aligned with IFRS/local GAAP and regulatory requirements.
  • Design and govern a harmonised Group Chart of Accounts, enabling consistent reporting across all entities.
  • Define minimum documentation standards for invoices, GRNs, contracts, journals, and credit/debit notes.
  • Ensure all entities apply these policies consistently, and address deviations with entity finance teams.
• Entity-Level Books Integrity & Closing Discipline
  • Oversee the quality of books across all legal entities:
    • Daily postings for sales, purchases, expenses, payroll, journals, provisions, accruals, etc.
    • Correct GL, cost centre, and project coding.
  • Implement a standard monthly and annual closing calendar for all entities, with clear cut-offs and checklists.
  • Ensure clean, reviewed Trial Balances for each entity by a defined working day every month.
  • Perform periodic GL reviews to clear suspense items, fix misclassifications, and resolve abnormal balances.
• Intercompany Accounting & Reconciliations
  • Set standard processes for intercompany transactions (cross-entity sales, shared services, cost recharges, loans/advances).
  • Ensure intercompany entries are properly documented, mirrored, and posted in all relevant entities.
  • Lead intercompany reconciliations, resolve mismatches, and prepare elimination schedules for consolidation.
  • Reduce intercompany noise and ensure Group financials are not distorted by internal imbalances.
• Group Consolidation & Reporting
  • Own the Group consolidation process:
    • Map entity CoAs to Group CoA;
    • Apply appropriate consolidation rules.
    • Eliminate intercompany revenues, costs, and balances.
  • Deliver monthly/quarterly consolidated financials (P&L, Balance Sheet, and, where feasible, Cash Flow).
  • Support management with variance analysis and commentary (month-on-month, year-on-year, budget vs actual).
  • Provide accurate data and explanations for Board packs, lender reporting, and management reviews.
• VAT / Indirect Tax & Basic Regulatory Compliance
  • Coordinate VAT accounting across entities (output VAT, input VAT, imports, reverse charge, VAT reconciliations).
  • Ensure VAT ledgers tie to Trial Balances and filed VAT returns.
  • Provide reconciled schedules and support for VAT filings and address queries with advisors/authorities when needed.
  • Uphold statutory record-keeping and documentation standards from an accounting perspective.
• Audit Readiness & Control Environment
  • Act as the central accounting contact for Group statutory auditors.
  • Coordinate audit schedules, reconciliations, sample support, and responses across entities.
  • Work with internal audit (if present) on accounting, reconciliation, and control-related observations.
  • Track closure of audit findings and management letter points, especially recurring issues.
  • Strengthen controls by embedding:
    • Maker-checker checks;
    • Proper access rights and segregation of duties;
    • Routine reconciliations and exception reporting in daily work.
• ERP, Systems & Data Quality
  • Act as functional owner for finance modules in the ERP (GL, AP, AR, FA, Inventory from a financial perspective).
  • Govern master data (CoA, cost centres, project codes, vendor and customer masters) across entities.
  • Collaborate with IT/ERP teams to:
    • Improve posting logic and workflows;
    • Reduce manual work and duplicate data entry;
    • Enhance reporting capabilities for accounting and consolidation.
  • Promote a culture of "right first time" data entry.
• Leadership & Stakeholder Collaboration
  • Provide technical guidance and coaching to entity accountants and finance teams.
  • Set expectations on closing timelines, reconciliations, and documentation quality.
  • Partner with Sales, Operations, Procurement, HR, and Projects to:
    • Explain accounting implications of operational decisions;
    • Clarify what good documentation looks like and why it matters.
  • Be seen as the go-to person for accounting questions across the Group.

What You Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting / Commerce / Finance.
• Professional qualification preferred: CA, ACCA, CPA, CMA (fully or substantially completed).
• 8–12 years of experience in core accounting roles, including:
  • Responsibility for month-end / year-end closing, GL reviews, and reconciliations;
  • Experience in a multi-entity / group environment is a strong advantage.
• Sector exposure to trading, distribution, industrial, engineering, or project-based businesses is preferred.
• Strong command of double-entry accounting and GL/sub-ledger management.
• Hands‑on experience with:
  • AP, AR, bank reconciliations, fixed assets, provisions, accruals;
  • Intercompany accounting and Group consolidation;
  • VAT accounting and reconciliations (GCC/UAE context is an advantage).
• Proficient in ERP systems (SAP / Oracle / Dynamics / Tally / similar) and advanced Excel.

Behavioural Traits

• High ownership – treats the books as their responsibility, not just a checklist.
• Detail-obsessed, but still able to see patterns and root causes.
• Disciplined and reliable on deadlines, especially around closing.
• Strong problem-solving skills – especially with reconciliations and consolidation issues.
• Clear, respectful communicator with both finance and non-finance stakeholders.
• Uncompromising integrity and confidentiality with financial information.