Accountant

KING & WOOD PTE. LTD.; Singapore; On-site; SGD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

KING & WOOD PTE. LTD. in Singapore seeks a senior finance professional to govern the office’s financial operations, ensuring accurate reporting and timely services to staff.

You will supervise daily payments, AR/AP, general ledger, and cash flow, while enforcing internal controls and segregation of client and firm funds. This role collaborates with regional and head offices for regulatory compliance, monthly reconciliations, management accounts, GST and corporate tax filings, and budgeting

Qualifications

• Knowledge of local regulations governing financial operations of law firms.
• Experience in client account bookkeeping with strict segregation of funds.
• Familiar with GST and Corporate Tax audit processes and tax filings.

Responsibilities

• Process daily payments and receipts across client and office accounts.
• Oversee billing, AR, AP, disbursements, GL and cash flow management.
• Maintain client ledgers with strict fund segregation; prepare monthly reconciliations.

Skills

Quality-driven

Communication

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting

Job description

Position Summary

To govern the financial operations of the Singapore office so that the financial information is maintained accurately and services are provided to staff in a helpful and timely manner.

Key Accountabilities

Daily Financial Support & Internal Control

• Payment Processing: Precisely manage and process daily bank payments and receipts across both Client Accounts and Office Accounts.
• Accounting Operations: Oversee daily billing, AR, AP, disbursements, and GL.
• Funds Segregation: Ensure strict daily maintenance and monthly management of client ledgers, enforcing absolute segregation of client and firm funds.
• Cash Flow Management: Monitor cash flow and prepare funding requests to the regional and head offices when required.
• Policy Enforcement: Enforce financial internal control and payment policies established by the head office.

Financial Reporting & Local Compliance

• Regulatory Reconciliation: Execute monthly bank reconciliations for both client and office accounts in strict compliance with the local regulations.
• Closing & Reporting: Prepare timely and accurate monthly management accounts, annual financial statements, and trial balances.
• Audit & Tax Filing: Liaise with external auditors and tax advisors, and review audited financial reports and tax filing documents to ensure full compliance with statutory requirements of auditing, GST and Corporate Tax.
• Credit Control: Generate regular AR aging and WIP reports and communicate with practice teams to enforce credit control.
• Annual budget and analysis: Assist in the preparation of annual budgets and management analysis.

Payroll & Employer Tax Compliance

• Payroll Execution: Process monthly payroll following the local regulations
• Employer tax return filing (Preferred): Handle annual employer tax return filings.

Cross-Border & Local Liaison

• Local Collaboration: Work with local practice groups and the administrative team to ensure smooth and efficient financial operations.
• Headquarter communication: Liaise with Regional and Head Offices on financial matters

Key Requirements

Regulatory Compliance & Client Account Management (High Priority)

• Compliance: Deep and practical knowledge of local regulations governing the financial operations of law firms.
• Client Account Control: Proven, hands‑on experience in client account bookkeeping, strict segregation of funds, monthly reconciliations, and disbursement control is a must.
• Audit & Tax Liaison: Familiar with local statutory audit processes and tax filings(GST, Corporate Tax), with a track record of smooth coordination with external auditors and tax advisors.

Technical Expertise

• FLP Full-Set Accounting: 3 to 5 years of solid experience managing full‑set accounts for a law firm (experience within a Foreign Law Practice and Elite system is preferred).
• Hands‑on Financial Operations: a. Extensive experience in law firm billing and AR with good working knowledge of WIP and disbursement control. b. Experience in generating AR age‑analysis reports and proactively communicating with practice teams to enforce credit control. c. Hands‑on experience in managing AP, GL, client ledgers, and monthly reporting.
• Budget & Analysis (Preferred): Prior exposure to budgeting and financial analysis is a plus.
• Payroll (Preferred): Prior hands‑on experience in local payroll processing and employer’s return filing is preferred.

Capabilities & Education

• High sense of responsibility, strict ethical standards, and strong ownership over financial data accuracy and deadline adherence.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively with local practice teams and counterparts in Regional/Head offices.
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or equivalent is preferred.

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Quality driven, service oriented and client focused
• Excellent written and oral communication
• Approachable and personable
• Ability to communicate in an effective manner with colleagues and clients
  (both verbal and written)
• Ability to prioritise tasks and meet deadlines
• Ability to work unsupervised and manage own work

Desirable

• A collaborative approach to work
• Capacity to deal with work pressure, maintain energy levels and commitment to on‑going personal development
• Dedication to work hard, remaining calm when confronted with extremes of work pressure and able to balance work/life needs
• Willingness to work flexible hours