Staff Accountant (BBS865)

Overseas; Johannesburg; Remote; ZAR 582,000 - 915,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

USD salary paid bi-monthly

Paid Time Off

Holidays observed

100% remote setup

Own AI training data project

Job summary

Overseas is seeking a Staff Accountant to run the monthly accounting cycle for a simulated portfolio of small clients, from payroll to VAT and payroll returns, while documenting steps for AI learning.

You will design and test workflows so the AI can learn, review month-end outputs, and ensure accuracy. This long-term role involves working directly with the founder and an AI partner at the frontier of AI-enabled accounting.

Job description

We're looking for a Staff Accountant to run the monthly accounting cycle for a simulated portfolio of small, owner-managed clients, from payroll and the client's monthly information pack through to reconciled books, the management report, and the VAT and payroll returns. Your work becomes the training data and workflow designs that a cutting-edge AI accounting system learns from. This is a long-term, permanent role working directly with the founder and an AI partner at the frontier of AI development in accounting.

The work here goes beyond standard month-end execution. You will run each simulated client's month to a professional standard, but you will also document the steps, decisions, and judgments behind your work so an AI system can learn from them. That means designing and testing the workflows the AI follows, not just producing the outputs. If you have hands-on month-end experience, a working knowledge of South African VAT and payroll compliance, and a genuine interest in making accounting work teachable to a machine, this role is a strong fit.

Why You'll Want to Join

• You will be paid in USD (bi-monthly: every 15th and 30th)
• Paid Time Off in accordance with company policy
• Observance of Holidays per company guidelines
• 100% remote setup so you can work wherever you're most productive
• Own a simulated client portfolio and work alongside an AI partner from day one
• Long-term, permanent role at the cutting edge of AI development in accounting where your judgment directly shapes the AI that accountants will use

What You'll Work On

The Monthly Accounting Cycle

• Check that the client's payroll instructions are complete, process the payroll, and confirm the tax payment date
• Prepare the EMP201 covering PAYE, SDL, and UIF, tie it to the payroll summary, and prepare the payment
• Receive the client's monthly pack including bank and card statements, asset register, stock, creditors, debtors, bad debts, sales summary, and petty cash, and check that every file is present and covers the right month
• Capture and code bank and card transactions and post stock, depreciation, payroll, creditor, and debtor journals
• Reconcile bank and card accounts to the statements and keep loan and owner's loan schedules current
• Draft the monthly management report including income statement, balance sheet, gross profit analysis, and a short written commentary
• Prepare the VAT working and VAT201 return every second month and prepare the payment
• Clear AI partner review notes, save final versions, and close the month

Quality Control and File Management

• Spot what does not look right in the pack including old content carried into new files, changed bank file layouts, and supplier names spelled differently
• File every document for the period it belongs to, not the month it was produced
• Handle requests to simulated client management and bookkeepers to obtain missing or unclear records
• Flag turnover above the R2.3m VAT registration threshold when a client is not registered

Building AI for Accounting

• Run each simulated month to a professional standard so it serves as high-quality training data
• Record the steps, decisions, and judgments behind your work in a way that can be taught to an AI model
• Design and refine the monthly workflows the AI follows, step by step
• Test the AI against your own work, identify where it goes wrong, and help fix it
• Use AI models day to day to capture and code transactions, draft reports, and check your own work, and apply sound judgment about when their output is correct

What You Bring

• BCom in Accounting, National Diploma in Accounting, or equivalent
• 0 to 2 years in an accounting practice or finance team including completed articles or a learnership in progress
• Hands-on experience running month-ends including capture, bank reconciliations, journals, and management reports
• Working knowledge of South African VAT, PAYE, SDL, and UIF, and the EMP201 and VAT201 returns
• Confident with double entry; you can post journals and explain why a bank reconciliation does not balance
• Strong Excel skills including lookups, pivot tables, and cleaning up CSV files with irregular layouts
• Detail-oriented and deadline-driven; tax dates and payday do not move
• Clear, polite written English for client requests and review responses
• Genuine interest in AI and in breaking accounting work into clear, teachable steps
• Comfortable working with AI models and able to check and challenge what they produce

Nice to Have

• Experience with Eureka, Sage, Xero, or a similar accounting system
• Experience with Sage Pastel Payroll, Sage VIP, or SimplePay
• SARS eFiling experience
• Registered as a trainee with SAIPA or SAICA, or working towards it
• Exposure to small-business clients with stock such as retail, veterinary, or medical practices

If you are a detail-oriented staff accountant with hands-on month-end experience, a working knowledge of South African VAT and payroll compliance, and a genuine interest in shaping how AI learns to do accounting work, this role gives you the ownership, the AI partner, and the direct impact to do your best work.