Client Finance Coordinator

Smithfieldgroup; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 350,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

Smithfieldgroup in Johannesburg, South Africa, is seeking a Client Finance Coordinator to support the SA finance team and EMEA client finance administration. The role focuses on hands-on, structured financial administration, documentation, billing tracking and routine reporting across markets.

You will coordinate data, maintain trackers, follow documented processes and escalate issues as needed to keep cycles on track.

Qualifications

• Degree, diploma or equivalent experience in finance, accounting, business administration or a related field.
• Strong written and spoken English, due to the international EMEA working environment.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and confidence working with structured data, trackers and recurring templates.
• Strong organisation, time management and attention to detail; able to manage recurring weekly and monthly deadlines.
• Comfortable working with finance systems and following documented processes accurately.
• Clear communication style and ability to follow up professionally with stakeholders across markets and time zones.
• Good judgement on when to elevate rather than resolve independently.
• Ability to handle confidential financial, client and employee information appropriately.
• Service-oriented, process-minded and persistent in closing routine administrative actions.

Responsibilities

• Maintain administrative trackers; support routine setup requests by checking that mandatory information is present.
• Chase missing information; route complete packs to the correct owner; maintain records and process notes.
• Prepare billing administration packs using approved inputs and templates; track billing status and documentation.
• Distribute approved AR, AP or working-capital reports; maintain follow-up trackers and escalate blockers.
• Perform first-pass administrative checks for data completeness, coding and tracker status.
• Run and save standard Workday reports; populate templates and admin trackers; distribute outputs.
• Retrieve, organise and file invoices, POs, approvals, reconciliations and other documentation; track requests.
• Maintain SOPs, handover notes, calendars and escalation routes; support transition of tasks.
• Coordinate routine follow-up across multiple finance teams and project managers; escalate when needed.

Skills

English (fluent)

Organisational skills

Attention to detail

Stakeholder coordination

Communication

Education

Finance degree or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Workday

Job description

About the opportunity: We are looking for a Client Finance Coordinator to join the South Africa finance team and support selected EMEA client finance administration. This is a hands‑on finance operations role for someone who is structured, accurate and comfortable with detailed administrative work, recurring deadlines and stakeholder follow‑up across markets. The Coordinator will help keep core client finance administration moving by managing documentation, tracking billing and Workday requests, extracting routine reports, maintaining trackers and escalating issues to the correct owner when judgement is required.

Role Purpose

To provide accurate, timely and consistent finance administration support across selected EMEA clients and markets. The role is designed to improve process consistency, reduce duplicated administration, and allow senior finance colleagues to focus on business partnering, performance management and commercial judgement. The core operating principle is simple: execute, coordinate and elevate.

Key Responsibilities

• Client, project and Workday administration: Maintain administrative trackers; support routine setup requests by checking that mandatory information is present; chase missing information; route complete packs to the correct owner; maintain approved records and process notes.
• Billing and invoicing support: Prepare billing administration packs using approved inputs and templates; gather invoice backup, PO references, project codes and approved billing details; track billing status, missing backup, approval gaps and PO blockers; locate documentation for routine queries.
• Working‑capital coordination support: Distribute approved AR, AP or working‑capital reports where required; maintain internal follow‑up trackers; gather documentation or internal commentary requested by Credit Control, AP, Billing, local finance or the Regional Finance Lead; elevate blockers through agreed routes.
• Data quality and exception tracking: Perform first‑pass administrative checks for data completeness, coding, missing time, missing backup, project references and tracker status; compare approved exports and trackers to identify omissions or obvious mismatches; prepare exception lists for accountable owners.
• Reporting administration and tracker maintenance: Run, download and save standard Workday or approved finance‑system reports according to an agreed calendar and naming convention; populate pre‑agreed templates and admin trackers; distribute routine status outputs to the agreed internal audience.
• Documentation, audit and compliance support: Retrieve, organise and file approved invoices, billing backup, POs, approvals, reconciliations, correspondence and other supporting documentation; track evidence requests and submit documentation to the accountable owner on time.
• Process documentation and transition support: Maintain SOPs, task checklists, handover notes, reporting calendars and escalation routes; support safe transition of repeatable admin tasks by following agreed handover plans and controls; flag recurring manual work or unclear ownership.
• Stakeholder coordination and escalation: Coordinate routine follow‑up across South Africa finance, EMEA Client Finance, local finance, Billing/FSS, Credit Control, AP, account teams and Project Managers; send clear reminders, capture action owners and elevate when judgement is required.

Required Experience, Skills and Capabilities

• Degree, diploma or equivalent experience in finance, accounting, business administration or a related field.
• Strong written and spoken English, due to the international EMEA working environment.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and confidence working with structured data, trackers and recurring templates.
• Strong organisation, time management and attention to detail; able to manage recurring weekly and monthly deadlines.
• Comfortable working with finance systems and following documented processes accurately.
• Clear communication style and ability to follow up professionally with stakeholders across markets and time zones.
• Good judgement on when to elevate rather than resolve independently.
• Ability to handle confidential financial, client and employee information appropriately.
• Service‑oriented, process‑minded and persistent in closing routine administrative actions.

Preferred Experience and Capabilities

• Experience in finance administration, billing support, client finance administration, shared services, project finance administration or AR/AP coordination support.
• Workday experience is a plus.
• Exposure to a professional services, agency or multi‑market environment is preferred.
• Familiarity with purchase orders, invoices, invoice backup, project codes, WIP, AR/AP status reports and finance documentation.
• Additional EMEA language capability is a plus, particularly Spanish, Italian, French or German.
• Basic exposure to process improvement tools, SharePoint, Teams, PowerBI or PowerAutomate where it supports administrative efficiency.

Candidate Profile

The right candidate is structured, accurate and comfortable with detailed administrative finance work. They enjoy making processes run reliably, maintaining clean documentation and following up until actions are closed. They have enough finance awareness to recognise when information looks incomplete or inconsistent, and enough judgement to know when a matter needs to be escalated to the correct owner. The role requires a disciplined operator rather than a commercial finance decision‑maker.

Working Environment

South Africa‑based role supporting EMEA stakeholders across multiple markets and time zones. Recurring weekly and monthly finance administration cycles with clear deadlines. Close working relationships with local finance, Billing/FSS, CreditControl, AccountsPayable, account teams and Project Managers. Documented processes, named escalation routes and clear boundaries around decision rights. Regular handling of confidential client, finance and employee information.

Success Metrics

• Billing documentation and administration packs are prepared accurately and by agreed deadlines.
• Billing delays caused by missing backup, missing POs or incomplete administrative inputs are reduced.
• Workday and project administration requests are tracked consistently, with blockers escalated promptly.
• AR/AP support trackers and routine administrative reports are updated and distributed according to the agreed calendar.
• Exception lists and data‑quality issues are routed to the correct owner without assuming decision rights.
• SOPs, handover notes and escalation routes are maintained for assigned clients and processes.
• Feedback from South Africa finance, EMEA Client Finance, FSS, local finance and account teams is positive on reliability, accuracy and follow‑through.