Project Accountant

Profile Group; Christchurch; On-site; NZD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Jora New Zealand is seeking a project accountant based in Christchurch to keep the integrity of financial accounts and support month-end processes. You’ll review journals, reconciliations, fixed assets, leases and tax, while explaining performance and forecasts to project managers.

The role emphasizes building relationships with project teams, improving margins, and helping the finance team grow in depth and capability over the next 12 months.

Qualifications

• Ideally, strong financial or project accounting experience.
• Excellent communication and relationship skills with non-finance stakeholders.
• Strong Excel skills and confidence with financial systems like MYOB.
• Experience in construction or project-based industry; CA/CPA or working towards is valued.

Responsibilities

• Review project revenue, costs, accruals and margins and explain the commercial story behind results.
• Support project revenue recognition and month-end project accounting, and provide practical financial advice to project managers and leaders.
• Maintain month-end close, balance sheet reconciliations, journals and adjustments.
• Assist with fixed assets, depreciation, leases, GST, FBT, income tax, year-end reporting and audit.
• Coach and train finance team members across accounting and month-end processes.

Skills

Excel

MYOB

Project accounting

Financial analysis

Communication

Tools

Xero

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

The Opportunity
You’re a project accountant who likes being useful - not just closing the books. You want a role where month-end still matters, but so does sitting with project managers, understanding what’s happening on their jobs, and explaining the numbers in plain language.

Based in Christchurch and reporting to the Finance Manager, you’ll look after the integrity of the financial accounts and help keep month-end accurate and on time. You’ll review journals, reconciliations and work prepared by others, support fixed assets, leases, GST, FBT and income tax, and play a visible part in year-end and audit. Just as important, you’ll build real working relationships with project managers - reviewing revenue, costs, accruals and margins, and helping them understand performance, risk and forecast outcomes rather than reporting the numbers after the fact.

Over the next 12 months a key part of the role is developing the finance team. Processes are being shared more widely, and you’ll train, coach and review others so the team has more depth and can operate with less reliance on any one person. If you enjoy lifting people as well as lifting the quality of the numbers, this is a role that will use both sides of how you work.

The Company
You’ll join a well-established Christchurch business that delivers solutions for clients across New Zealand. Work is project-based, so finance sits close to delivery - supporting project managers, keeping commercial information current, and helping the business see performance early enough to act.

The Role
You’ll keep the accounts sound and make the numbers useful to the people delivering the work. Key responsibilities include:

• Review project revenue, costs, accruals, margins and financial position; challenge unusual movements and help project managers understand the commercial story behind their results
• Support project revenue recognition and month-end project accounting, and give practical financial advice to project managers and operational leader.
• Support an accurate, timely month-end close - maintain general ledger integrity, prepare and review balance sheet reconciliations, journals, accruals and adjustments
• Support accounting for fixed assets, depreciation, capital work in progress, leases and other month-end adjustments, and assist with GST, FBT, income tax, year-end reporting and external audit
• Build trusted working relationships with project managers; join regular project financial reviews and develop a clear view of performance, risks, opportunities and forecast outcomes
• (Once up to speed) Coach and train finance team members across accounting and month-end processes, review their work, explain the principles behind the tasks, and act as an escalation point for more complex transactions

Your Profile
Technical accounting ability matters here - but so does how you work with people. You’ll bring:

• Ideally, strong financial or project accounting experience, a sound grasp of accounting principles, and proven month-end, reconciliation and general ledger review skills - including confidence reviewing the work of others
• Excellent communication and relationship skills; you’re comfortable working with project managers and other non-finance stakeholders, and can explain accounting clearly without talking down.
• Strong Excel skills, confidence in financial systems (MYOB experience is useful), and the ability to manage competing priorities in a busy project environment
• Ideally, experience in construction, engineering, infrastructure or another project-based industry, including long-term contracts, margins, variations and revenue recognition; CA/CPA (or working towards) is highly regarded

We are committed to diversity and inclusion. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, disability or any other protected characteristic. Gender-neutral language is used throughout this advertisement.