Finance Accounting jobs in South Africa

An exciting role for a senior person to work alongside senior leaders within the firm. This is an opportunity to lead the back-office function for our most significant accounts. The role requires a diverse skillset in the areas of finance, relationship building and risk management across borders and across business units. The role has a dual reporting line, into the Service Line COO and the Account Leadership Teams of the Accounts they support. The key areas of responsibility are :

• Financial management and operational oversight of the Account
• Risk management and monitoring
• Working with the teams in executing the Account strategy
• Communicating analysis to firm leadership

The key activities that form part of the role are as follows :

• Develop and create the code structure for the management of the accounts
• Assisting teams with the preparation of and review of detailed account budgets in line with the budget timelines
• Preparation of regular management information for the account leadership team including budget vs actual analysis, variance and root cause analysis, cost, and profitability forecasts etc
• Escalation of any issues from this analysis early, proposing solutions / adjustments
• Project managing to various milestones set
• Management of the working capital function for these accounts (driving billings and collection of cash)
• Preparation and attendance of EXCO and margin management presentations
• Co-ordination of resources from other EY offices and Third parties with audit teams
• Communication with audit partners / senior managers daily on various items , Engagement codes, costs, margin, fees, etc
• Engagement Code maintenance (, estimates to complete etc.)
• Reporting to the Assurance COO and Operations Director on the financial results of the accounts
• Help implement and drive the optimal service delivery model (Regional Hub in Mauritius / Global Hub in India / Digital) for the accounts
• Implementing the use of service level agreements (SLAs) between service lines
• Control of costs hitting the account (disbursements, travel, third parties etc.) and ensuring this is recovered from the clients
• Ensuring compliance with relevant risk management / independence policies
• Being an integral part of developing the global account plan
• Responsibility for measuring and monitoring the execution of the account plan

Skill Set Required for the role

• Excel skills (formulae, pivot tables, dealing with large amounts of data)
• Powerpoint / Presentation skills (ability to craft presentations that accurately present a picture of the account position
• Financial Analytical skills – ability to identify the root cause of issues and provide recommendations to leadership
• Time Management
• Project Management
• Tailoring communication to different audiences, including an executive level
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to build a network across borders, across businesses and externally