Finance Supervisor (Account Payable & Treasury)

GESS - German European School Singapore; Singapore; On-site; SGD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

GESS - German European School Singapore is seeking a Finance Supervisor responsible for all aspects of accounts payable and treasury functions. This role supervises the AP team, ensuring timely vendor payments and compliance with internal financial policies.

The ideal candidate has over 8 years' experience in finance operations and strong expertise in GST regulations. Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and leadership experience are essential. The school values collaborative work and effective communication in fulfilling its goals.

Qualifications

• 8-10 years in finance operations including AP and treasury functions.
• Hands-on experience with GST and tax regulations.
• Experience leading a small team.

Responsibilities

• Oversee account payable and treasury functions.
• Supervise vendor creation and payment processing.
• Prepare cash flow forecasts and monitor bank activities.

Skills

Accounting expertise

Vendor management

Treasury functions

Microsoft Excel proficiency

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor or master’s degree in accounting or finance

Tools

Accounting software

ERP systems

Job description

Finance Supervisor (Account Payable & Treasury)

The Supervisor is in charge of all aspects of AP and treasury operational functions for GESS by supervising, leading, and managing the AP team in the day-to‑day operation. The Supervisor is the primary person responsible for vendor creation, invoice verification, payment processing and optimisation of payment terms with vendors. Being the main contact person of the GESS Finance team who interacts with external vendors and internal staff, the Supervisor ensures that the following tasks are performed by the AP team with satisfactory quality:

• Oversee and supervise all areas relating to account payable and treasury matters.
• Ensure smooth AP functions by leading the AP team to collate, verify and process invoice payment and staff reimbursement within the internal timeframes.
• Prepare and update cash flow forecasts, monitor cash positions and manage all bank and investment related matters, such as changes in authorised bank signatories, FD placement/renewal, purchase/disposal of short‑term investments, repayments/drawdown/rollover of bank loans, etc.
• Carry out the month‑end and year‑end closing process, prepare journal entries, adjust bank reconciliation items and prepare monthly schedules for the related modules/functions.
• Follow up open issues closely and propose solutions.
• Ensure all donations raised through school fundraising events are disbursed in a timely manner and keep comprehensive records.
• Ensure compliance of internal financial policies and procedures by enforcing adequate approvals and budgetary control, tracking cost categorisation and matching budget codes.
• Identify opportunities for cost savings and cost efficiency.
• Communicate, discuss and resolve issues with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Be a main contributor to school change management and support managers and Director of Finance to lead AP and treasury related pipeline projects (e.g. streamline AP internal process, system improvement, customization of AP reports, draft new policies and procedures, etc.).
• Execute new AP related policies and procedures and communicate effectively with internal and external parties for any changes implemented by the school.
• Update knowledge of changing statutory requirements, accounting standards, tax laws and charity regulations to determine their implications on financial/management reporting and internal processes.
• In charge of fixed assets accounting (FA) including creating FA cards, recording FA transactions, executing depreciation, retirement and scrap off, and reconciling FA quantity between accounting system and physical records under the supervision of finance managers.

Key Accountabilities

Account Payables

• Supervise/approve the creation/updates of vendor information.
• Supervise and work with the AP team to receive, match, verify and record supplier invoices (both PO and Non‑PO) in the accounting system.
• Review and ensure invoices are captured in the correct GL account codes.
• Verify purchased items have followed internal procurement SOPs and DOA authorization limits.
• Communicate and resolve any discrepancies or exceptions with stakeholders.
• Ensure payment batch is processed at least once a week promptly before supplier payment due dates.
• Identify, communicate and resolve all vendor payment and staff claim issues.
• Attend to queries from stakeholders, explain school policies and procedures, and propose solutions.
• Streamline the payment process, clear backlogs, build trust and improve operational efficiency.
• Manage cash process for the school, coordinate with requestors and ensure proper follow‑up of receipts and invoice submission.
• Assist all ERP post‑go‑live issues, coordinate with ERP consultants, test and close pending issues.
• Prepare new policies, SOPs and new forms for management review and approval.
• Reinforce school policies by identifying, communicating and rectifying abnormalities with stakeholders.
• Monitor actual utilisation of budget for all payments, prepare monthly report of actual vs budget for all budget holders, and communicate issues when necessary.
• Provide professional and technical support to the AP team in a timely manner.
• Identify cost‑saving opportunities and achieve cost and operational efficiency in collaboration with the procurement team.
• Other tasks, duties or projects assigned from time to time.

Supervisory Tasks

• Supervise and provide support to AP team members to ensure smooth day‑to‑day operation of the AP function.
• Act as backup staff in the absence of other AP team members.
• Resolve process and technical issues within the AP function.
• Prepare reports and analysis of all AP and treasury related functions.
• Report to school management for all AP and treasury related issues and highlights.
• Ensure low volume of urgent payments and zero overdue invoices.

Treasury Functions

• In charge of all treasury related functions of the finance team.
• Coordinate with banks, financial institutions and payment gateway service providers for all bank related matters.
• Ensure formalities for bank account opening/closures, implementation of new payment gateways and migration of payment portals are completed properly.
• Coordinate and ensure all formalities for changes in authorised signatories are prepared properly per BOG signing mandate.
• Monitor renewals, withdrawals and payments of bank loans, hedging and FD within the required timeframe.
• Oversee and arrange approvals for purchase, disposal and tracking of investment in financial assets.
• Ensure weekly and monthly treasury reports are updated correctly within timeline.
• Prepare monthly cash flow forecast with required accuracy.
• Ensure Corporate Card usage is in line with school policy.
• Monitor bank balances, propose bank transfers and FD renewal/maturity when necessary.
• Oversee all cash transactions and controls of the school, including petty cash, donations, kiosk machines, school shop cash collections, etc.
• Other tasks, duties or projects assigned from time to time.

System Related Projects, Streamline Business Processes and Ad‑hoc Assignments

• Be a key partner of the Finance team for system migrations or any other IT related projects.
• Use digitisation tools to automate internal workflow and processes.
• Involved in changes and improvements in process, and other tasks as assigned.
• Team leader for designing and implementing new accounting systems and parents’ portal.
• Assess, evaluate and implement payment gateway solutions.

Other Finance Operation

• Assist fund‑raising activities by coordinating with relevant departments to track funds, monitor disbursement of donations and keep proper accounting records.
• Update financial reports for fund‑raising events, CARE Committee, Student and Parents Committees.
• Assist all school events for collection and payments.

GL Function and Audit

• Prepare relevant journals to ensure month‑end, year‑end closings and annual audit tasks are completed within timelines.
• Liaise with external auditor for audit related tasks, including but not limited to preparing audit schedules, following up audit issues and preparing supporting documents.
• In charge of month‑end closing for allocated functions, prepare/review related journals, Debit Note, Credit Note.
• Follow up bank reconciliation open items and carry out adjustments.
• Prepare monthly schedules and financial reports as required from time to time.
• Coordinate with relevant team members to follow up the open items identified in the monthly schedule.

Fixed Assets

• Track all transactions of FA and record them into the accounting system.
• Reconcile the GL ledger and FA ledger on a monthly basis.
• Track FA additions and keep proper records for actual utilisation of FA budget.
• Calculate monthly depreciation and check reasonableness before posting into GL.
• Monitor FA tagging with other stakeholders across the school.
• Monitor FA obsolescence and disposals, and propose FA written‑off/impairment information for management approval.
• Facilitate the FA sighting exercise.
• Prepare FA schedules on a monthly basis and keep proper records of all FA transactions.

All Tax Related Matters

• Prepare/review quarterly GST filing calculation and reconciliation.
• Prepare/review withholding tax calculation and provide technical advice/support to AP officer.
• Assist in establishing the control process for all tax compliance aspects.
• Communicate with IRAS, internal and external parties for tax related matters.
• Perform tax filings on IRAS websites.
• Assist to follow up, communicate and resolve tax matters with IRAS.
• Identify potential tax risks proactively and propose solutions.

IT And Other Ad‑hoc Projects And Tasks

• Involved in assigned IT related projects for Finance and Procurement Team.
• Implement new processes and policies in new systems if required.
• Design new forms for internal application/approval and other reports using excel, Jotform, Microsoft Form and any other applicable software.
• Other tasks, duties or projects as assigned by Director of Finance from time to time.

Administrative

• Check and reply emails sent to generic email address.
• Dispatch finance documents/cheques & cash in/withdrawal of cash.
• Open letters when on duty.

Other Ad‑hoc Tasks

• Depending on any potential changes, the Supervisor may be assigned with any ad‑hoc tasks from time to time.

Knowledge And Experience

• Bachelor or master’s degree in accounting, finance or other equivalents, or professional degrees (e.g., ACCA).
• Hands‑on experience in all areas of finance operation, including but not limited to GL, AP, and treasury function for at least 8 to 10 years.
• Excellent knowledge and hands‑on experience of GST and withholding tax regulations is a must.
• Full hands‑on experience in handling both external and internal audit.
• Expertise in payment processing and treasury related functions.
• IT tech savviness in learning new systems and designing new templates using IT tools.
• Good knowledge of Financial Reporting Standards of Singapore and Charity Accounting Standard.
• Experience in leading a small team with 3‑4 members.

Technical And Soft Skills

• Highly proficient and advanced level in Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• Excellent communication skills in liaising with various internal and external stakeholders.
• Stress‑taker with high tolerance, patience, and proactive mindset in resolving issues across internal and external departments.
• Willing to be flexible for longer working hours (may include ad‑hoc weekends) during peak seasons and school events.
• Embrace “student focus” culture and have “customer service” mindset to promote professional services to the community.
• Passionate to achieve continuous improvement and willing to go beyond comfort zones.
• Adapt quickly to the changing environment and be “flexible” in possible areas while maintaining professional conduct.
• Team player with a spirit of sharing and willing to help others.
• Highly self‑motivated, self‑driven and proactive to resolve issues.
• Ability to adjust quickly in the changing environment and embrace ongoing changes.
• Flexible to take on additional tasks or changes in work scopes when required.

Fair Recruitment and Safeguarding

We are committed to fair recruitment practices and safeguarding the welfare of all students. We ensure that our hiring processes are free from discrimination and bias on the basis of age, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, caregiving responsibilities, race, religion, language or disability. As part of our commitment to safeguarding, we conduct thorough background checks on all candidates which include criminal background checks in all countries lived and worked in for the last ten years, as well as reference checks. Any offer is subject to the satisfactory completion of such checks. Our school prioritises the safety and well‑being of our students, and we expect all staff members to uphold these values.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analysing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgement. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.