Assistant Vice President, Expense Management/Accounts Payable

The Japan Research Institute, Limited (Singapore Branch); Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

The Japan Research Institute, Limited (Singapore Branch) in Malaysia invites an Assistant Vice President to lead expense management and accounts payable. You will oversee payment processing, budget monitoring, AR/ AP, and ensure timely reporting and compliance.

Ideal candidates have 5+ years in finance, strong analytical and communication skills, and experience with ERP systems and statutory tax requirements. This role offers growing responsibility in a regional finance function.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or professional qualification in Finance, Accounting, or related field.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in expense management or accounts payable.
• Experience in banking or shared service centers preferred; ERP knowledge.
• Basic knowledge of statutory requirements including withholding tax.

Responsibilities

• Ensure and approve payment requests and staff claims.
• Monitor budgets and prepare monthly budget reports.
• Process accounts payable and ensure timely payments within 7 working days.
• Handle accounts receivable, invoicing and collections.
• Escalate issues to supervisor promptly.
• Support other duties and drills/UAT tests as required.

Skills

Analytical skills

Teamwork

Prioritization

MS Office

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance/Accounting

Tools

ERP accounting systems

Job description

Assistant Vice President, Expense Management/Accounts Payable

Date: Sep 11, 2026

Location: Malaysia

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Expenditure Payment System:

• Ensure all payment requests (invoice and staff claims) are authorized and approved.
• Check all approved invoices/ expenses/ claims in the system.
• Ensure Profit & Loss (PL)/ Natural Account (NA)/ code and narration are being input correctly.
• Ensure sufficient budget available before payment processing.
• Check generated expenditure summary certificate for approval.
• Check export data entries from system for remittance team for GIRO processing.
• Coordinate payment via GIRO/Swift or others payment facilities.

2.Budget monitoring/administration

• Review daily budget monitoring and budget/movement transfer as at when available budget reaches threshold amount.
• Prepare monthly budget report by first week of the month.

3. Account Payable Function: Monitor payment processing turnover time (within 7 working days)

• Make accurate and timely payment to suppliers, landlords, and utilities provider
• Timely reimburse for staff claims.
• To keep/ update accounting records for all payments transactions.
• To act as approver for identified low value transactions.

4.Account Receivable

• Check draft invoices/ debit notes for accounts receivable transactions.
• Maintain and reconcile. accounts receivable reports by monthly basis.
• Report of accounts that are in arrears and analyses of amount outstanding (if any) by monthly basis.
• Responsible for customer billing including preparation, delivery and responding to resulting queries.

5. Ensure timely escalation to Supervisor/Management in case of any issues such as unable to complete critical payment or report within turnaround time, etc.

6. Other:

• To perform other duties as assigned by the supervisor.
• To relief or cover duties of staff members in the department in his/her absence.
• Ensure paid invoices, entries posting supporting are filed accordingly to batch number on monthly basis.
• To perform/ lead drills exercise & UAT tests.
• To perform the processing role based on the operation needs.
• Project management.

AUTHORITY

Nil

POSITION SPECIFICATIONS

Academic Qualification (Degree / Diploma etc.) / Professional Qualification / Certification

1. Bachelor’s degree or Professional qualifications in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration and/or Banking.

Working Experience (Years / Type)

• Minimum 5 years of experience in expense management or similar accounts payable function.
• Preferably in banking industry or Shared Service Center with good understanding of backend/ front-end ERP accounting system will be added advantage.
• Basic knowledge of statutory requirements and/or related rules such as withholding tax treatment.

Special Skills Required

• Strong analytical skills and ability to handle data with accuracy
• Strong teamwork skills with the ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with colleagues.
• Ability to effectively prioritize workload to meet tight deadlines and work objectives.
• Proficiency with Microsoft applications.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.