Accounting & Consolidation Lead

Opella; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Opella in Malaysia is seeking an experienced senior accounting professional to manage end-to-end A2R activities for the Japan business. The role requires strong knowledge of IFRS and local GAAP, with SAP FICO at the core of daily operations, and collaboration with global shared-services teams to ensure accuracy and compliance.

The ideal candidate has 8–10 years of accounting experience, fluent English, and prefers Japanese language skills for liaising with local stakeholders and statutory

Qualifications

• 8–10 years’ accounting/A2R experience.
• Strong month-end closing and financial reporting experience.
• Solid knowledge of IFRS + Japanese/local GAAP.
• Hands-on knowledge of SAP FICO.
• Experience across asset & inventory accounting, tax/intercompany, treasury and GL/closing.
• Strong compliance, audit and SOX/internal controls experience.
• Fluent English — mandatory.
• Japanese language skills — strongly preferred.
• Finance/Accounting degree; CPA/ACCA or equivalent is a plus.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Able to work independently, take ownership and lead/coordinate teams.
• Experience driving process improvement, simplification and automation.
• Comfortable working with global/remote teams and shared-service organizations.

Responsibilities

• Lead month-end closing and financial reporting processes.
• Oversee tax/intercompany, inventory/assets and treasury activities.
• Coordinate with the global shared-services team to fix issues and improve/automate processes.
• Ensure IFRS and local GAAP compliance and robust internal controls.
• Act as main liaison with Japanese stakeholders and local teams.
• Drive process improvement and automation across accounting streams.

Skills

A2R accounting experience

Month-end closing

Financial reporting

Stakeholder management

English proficiency

Japanese language skills

Education

Finance/Accounting degree

CPA/ACCA or equivalent

Tools

SAP FICO

Job description

They make sure the Japan business’s accounting is correct, compliant, and completed on time. They oversee areas like month-end closing, financial reporting, tax/intercompany, inventory/assets and treasury , while working with the global shared-services team to fix issues and improve/automate processes.

Our requirements

• 8–10 years’ accounting/A2R experience , ideally in a large international company or GBS/shared-services environment.
• Strong experience with month-end closing and financial reporting.
• Solid knowledge of IFRS + Japanese/local GAAP. ( Japanese Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.)
• Hands-on knowledge of SAP FICO.
• Experience across asset & inventory accounting, tax/intercompany, treasury and GL/closing.
• Strong compliance, audit and SOX/internal controls experience.
• Fluent English — mandatory.
• Japanese language skills — strongly preferred, particularly for local stakeholders and statutory requirements.
• Finance/Accounting degree; CPA/ACCA or equivalent is a plus.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Able to work independently, take ownership and lead/coordinate teams.
• Experience driving process improvement, simplification and automation.
• Comfortable working with global/remote teams and shared-service organizations.

Key Hiring Priorities

• Strong accounting/A2R experience is the top priority, particularly a well-rounded accounting background beyond AP/AR or a single accounting stream.
• Senior stakeholder management is critical, especially the ability to work effectively with demanding Japanese stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to adapt to the Japanese communication style are important.
• Japanese proficiency is required at a fluent/business level, including speaking and reading, with the ability to communicate independently.

Japan Experience

• Prior Japan market experience is not mandatory.
• Open to candidates with strong accounting/A2R backgrounds even without Japan experience.
• Pharma or FMCG/consumer experience is not required.

Technical / Process Requirements

• SAP FICO is a must-have.
• The environment is complex, with legacy ERP systems, manual reporting and processes that require significant navigation.
• APOC experience is not required, but candidates need to be comfortable working in complex systems and processes.

Key Challenges

• Simplifying and navigating complex accounting processes and systems.
• Managing a high volume of manual reporting.
• Building strong relationships with demanding local Japanese stakeholders.
• Working effectively across the Japan and Malaysia hub teams.

What Success Looks Like

• Become the main accounting SPOC for Japan stakeholders.
• Be able to independently handle around 80% of accounting-related queries.
• Build strong credibility and trust with the Japan team.
• Receive positive feedback from local stakeholders, particularly around communication, responsiveness and quality of support.
• Demonstrate strong ownership and autonomy rather than requiring constant direction.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Strong A2R/accounting foundation with broad accounting knowledge.
• Big Four profiles could be a good fit, particularly candidates who are comfortable challenging the status quo.
• Agile, responsive and autonomous.
• Strong ownership and a challenger mindset.
• Able to navigate organisational complexity and work across both local and hub teams.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, particularly with Japanese stakeholders.
• Not necessarily someone focused on highly technical areas such as M&A; the priority is strong accounting partnering, ownership and stakeholder management.