Financial Accountant (Maternity Cover)

Absolute Pets (Pty) Ltd.; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 350,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

Absolute Pets (Pty) Ltd. is seeking a focused Financial Accountant on a maternity cover basis. The role centers on timely payroll processing for about 800 employees, accurate timekeeping adjustments, and complete payroll reconciliations.

You will also handle staff data, deductions, and banking details, with supporting payroll reports. The ideal candidate has accounting qualifications and hands-on payroll experience, with the ability to resolve discrepancies and support finance managers on ad-hoc

Qualifications

• Experience with monthly payroll for large staffs (approx. 800 employees).
• Strong reconciliation and reporting capabilities are essential.
• Detail-oriented with accuracy in payroll deductions and banking details.

Responsibilities

• Process monthly payroll and related documents for staff.
• Reconcile payroll GL accounts and maintain payroll covenants.
• Prepare payroll reports, turnover, and related stock/credit card reporting.
• Maintain employee banking details and staff movement for reporting.
• Handle payroll queries and assist with ad-hoc finance projects.

Skills

Payroll processing

GL reconciliation

Financial reporting

Cashbook management

Employee data management

Tax/deductions handling

Education

BCom Accounting

CTA/AYA or SAQA equivalent

Tools

Think Time

Excel

Job description

Absolute Pets is the leading pet care retailer in South Africa with over 200 stores nationwide. The Company caters to a high-end customer with premium products for pets ranging from pet food to health & wellness products and accessories. Absolute Pets is looking for a Financial Accountant for a maternity cover until 31 May 2027. The successful candidate will largely be providing support with the processing of payroll, with all duties included below:

Payroll

Responsible for the preparation and processing of the monthly payroll for approximately 800 employees which involves:

• Processing hours from rosters/clocking.
• Compiling the clocking issue report based on rosters and clocking issue tickets from Think Time, to reflect the hours worked and late comings.
• Preparing time register reports for all staff, reconciling short hours to leave reports and following up on discrepancies with their managers.
• To review clocking feedback and adjust hours accordingly.
• Record keeping of sundry deductions, garnishees, staff loans and advances.
• New hires and terminations processing – new hires clocking and backpay + leavers clocking and termination leave.
• Variance report compiled with adjustment tracker (Payroll Tracker updates) checked and sent for review by financial manager.
• Overtime checks. Ensuring that all overtime applications submitted are approved and then captured on the payroll system.
• Accurate capturing and processing of employee information. Maintenance of employee banking details. Staff movement tracking for reporting purposes.
• Manage all payroll related queries.
• Monthly reconciliation of all payroll related GL accounts.
• Preparing the staff turnover report.
• Weekly Damaged & Expired Stock reporting
• Weekly Pet Spa Price Changes reporting
• Scorecards publishing
• Monthly Stock Transfer reporting
• Monthly Departmental Reporting checks
• Credit Cards
• Processing, reporting and reconciliation of all company credit card spend.
• Ordering, renewal and cancelling of credit cards.

Payroll Cashbook Processing

• Processing and reconciliation of the payroll bank account.

Other

• Dealing with any company insurance claims.
• Finance admin and filing.
• Assisting as needed with other ad-hoc projects.