Payroll & Finance Specialist

Keen; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 279,000 - 390,600; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

In-office team culture

Professional development budget

Birthday leave

Job summary

A dynamic financial services company in Cape Town is seeking a Payroll & Finance Specialist to manage payroll processing and support internal finance operations. The ideal candidate should have 2-4 years of payroll or bookkeeping experience and a strong understanding of South African legislation. Responsibilities include ensuring accurate payroll submissions, supporting financial reconciliations, and assisting with reporting. This full-time role offers growth opportunities within a team-oriented environment.

Qualifications

• 2-4 years of experience in payroll or bookkeeping.
• Strong understanding of South African payroll legislation.
• Experience reconciling payroll and managing documentation.

Responsibilities

• Process monthly payroll for the South African entity.
• Ensure accuracy of PAYE, UIF, and statutory submissions.
• Support accounts payable and receivable functions.

Skills

Payroll administration

Bookkeeping

Google Sheets

Attention to detail

Tools

SimplePay

Sage

Job description

Payroll & Finance Specialist

Location: Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

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At Keen, we embed ourselves into the heart of our clients' businesses. From digital marketing and creative to customer experience, we craft bold, high-performance digital experiences for global brands. Keen helps U.S. and international companies scale smarter by embedding expert teams that drive results across marketing, creative, customer experience, and sales. We're not a legacy BPO. We're a partner in growth — and that's where you come in.

About The Role

We are hiring a Payroll Specialist & Finance Coordinator to support Keen's internal finance operations across our South African entity. You will manage payroll processing, assist with bookkeeping, and help maintain financial accuracy across a fast-growing team. This role is perfect for someone detail-oriented, organized, and proactive, with experience in payroll administration and general finance support. You will work closely with HR, operations, and leadership to ensure payroll, expenses, and financial records are accurate, compliant, and delivered on time.

Responsibilities

• Process monthly payroll for our South African entity, including new hires, terminations, salary changes, allowances, and leave.
• Ensure PAYE, UIF, SDL, and all statutory submissions are accurate and on time.
• Support global contractor and South African employee payment processing.
• Reconcile payroll changes with HR and operations each month.
• Maintain payroll records and resolve employee payroll queries.
• Assist with accounts payable and receivable, vendor payments, and expense tracking.
• Support monthly reconciliations and financial close with the finance team.
• Maintain accurate financial documentation and organized digital records.
• Support budgeting and reporting, including payroll-to-budget variance tracking.
• Work closely with HR, Talent Acquisition, and Operations on payroll movements and staffing planning.
• Communicate discrepancies or risks proactively.
• Assist leadership with ad-hoc financial reports or data requests.

Qualifications

• 2-4 years of payroll or bookkeeping experience (SimplePay, Sage, or similar preferred).
• Strong understanding of South African payroll legislation (PAYE, UIF, SDL, BCEA).
• Experience reconciling payroll, handling employee changes, and managing payroll documentation.
• Competence with bookkeeping basics (expenses, reconciliations, AP/AR).
• High attention to detail, confidentiality, and accuracy.
• Strong Google Sheets skills.
• Comfortable working in-office five days per week (office is located in Wembley Square).

Benefits

• In-office team culture with global exposure.
• Opportunity to grow into broader finance, payroll, or operations roles.
• Birthday leave plus professional development budget.
• Join a team that values accuracy, ownership, and clarity.

Seniorities

Associate

Employment type

Full-time

Job function

Accounting/Auditing

Industries

IT Services and IT Consulting

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