Financial Manager

Professional Recruitment Network; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Professional Recruitment Network is recruiting a hands-on Finance Manager in the Elsies River area of Cape Town. The role requires strong technical accounting, manufacturing costing and commercial acumen to support MD and operations leadership.

You will drive monthly management accounts, variance analysis, budgeting and forecasting, and develop Power BI-based financial dashboards to improve reporting and decision-making. Manufacturing experience and ERP (Syspro) familiarity are highly valued.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years' relevant post-graduate accounting/finance experience.
• At least 2–3 years in a senior accounting, management accounting or financial management role.
• Proven experience in a manufacturing, production or factory environment.
• Strong experience in management accounting and manufacturing costing.
• Practical experience with standard costing, Bills of Materials, product costing and margin analysis.
• Practical experience with budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis and financial reporting.
• Experience with inventory and stock reporting in a manufacturing environment.
• Proven practical experience using Power BI for reporting, dashboards and data analysis.
• Experience working with an ERP system; Syspro experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience with cash-flow forecasting and financial analysis.
• The proven ability to interpret financial and operational data and provide meaningful information and recommendations to senior management

Responsibilities

• Prepare monthly management accounts and financial reports.
• Review balance sheet and income statements for accuracy.
• Manage cash-flow forecasting and budgeting processes.
• Provide practical financial insight to support business decisions.
• Translate data into management information for senior leadership.

Skills

Management accounting

Financial analysis

Budgeting & forecasting

Variance analysis

Data interpretation

Stakeholder communication

Tools

Power BI

Syspro ERP

Job description

Our client, based in Elsies River, Cape Town, is recruiting for a hands-on, commercially minded Finance Manager with strong technical accounting and financial management experience, sound business judgement, and the ability to operate effectively in a manufacturing environment to join their team. The ideal candidate will be an experienced Management Accountant, Senior Financial Accountant, Cost Accountant or Finance Manager who has developed strong expertise within a manufacturing environment.

The successful candidate will be responsible for providing accurate, timely and commercially meaningful financial information to support the management of the business. You will work closely with the Managing Director and operational leadership to understand financial and operational performance, identify risks and opportunities, investigate variances and provide practical financial insight to support business decision-making. You must be comfortable working with both detailed financial information and the broader commercial and operational picture.

The successful candidate should have strong capabilities in the following:

• Monthly management accounts and financial reporting
• Balance sheet and income statement review
• Cash-flow management and forecasting
• Budgeting and latest estimates
• Financial controls and reconciliations
• Financial and operational variance analysis

Manufacturing Costing:

• Standard costing
• Product costing and margin analysis
• Customer and product profitability analysis
• Material, labour and overhead variances
• Recovery rates
• Labour efficiency analysis
• BOM and production-related costing
• Inventory valuation and reporting
• Stock ageing and stock-turn analysis
• Obsolescence and expiry-risk analysis
• Inventory forecasting and control
• Strong practical Power BI capability, including development of dashboards, reports and management information
• Ability to interrogate and analyse large datasets
• Ability to convert existing Excel-based reporting into more effective BI solutions
• Ability to identify opportunities to improve reporting, visibility and decision-making through data

Systems:

• Systems: Strong systems orientation, with the ability to understand, improve and integrate financial reporting processes

The successful candidate must be able to:

• Understand the commercial drivers behind financial results
• Explain financial information clearly to non-financial managers
• Identify the reasons behind variances rather than simply reporting them
• Challenge assumptions and investigate unusual results
• Identify financial risks and opportunities
• Translate financial and operational data into useful management information
• Make recommendations and support management decision-making
• Understand the relationship between costing, pricing, margins, inventory, production efficiency and profitability

Requirements:

• Minimum 5 years' relevant post-graduate accounting/finance experience
• At least 2–3 years in a senior accounting, management accounting or financial management role
• Proven experience in a manufacturing, production or factory environment
• Strong experience in management accounting and manufacturing costing
• Practical experience with standard costing, Bills of Materials, product costing and margin analysis
• Practical experience with budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis and financial reporting
• Experience with inventory and stock reporting in a manufacturing environment
• Proven practical experience using Power BI for reporting, dashboards and data analysis
• Experience working with an ERP system; Syspro experience is strongly preferred
• Experience with cash-flow forecasting and financial analysis
• The proven ability to interpret financial and operational data and provide meaningful information and recommendations to senior management