Job Description

Job Purpose

The Senior Advisor – Accounting Advisory Services is responsible and accountable for performing day-to-day processing of our clients’ accounting transactions, ensuring that all their accounts are up-to-date, accurate and effectively maintained in line with Company’s accounting policies & procedures and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Senior Advisor’s primary role is also to provide the Accounting Advisory team (Advisors and Associate Advisors) with the full support & guidance to finalize client deliverables in a timely manner.

Job Description

• Implement the approved policies & processes of the Accounting Advisory Services Department and comply with the Company’s other policies throughout all daily activities.

Accounting Advisory Operations

• Handle & maintain a portfolio of 15-17 clients and supervise an internal team of up to three employees (including one Advisor and Two Associate Advisors) while serving as the main point of contact between assigned clients and Company.
• Conduct meetings with Company’s clients on a continuous basis and as required to obtain information regarding the clients’ business requirements, nature of services requested as well as to collect initial requirements from the clients to kick-off the project.
• Plan, schedule and organize work of the Advisors (2) and Associate Advisors (4) in order to complete tasks within designated timelines while balancing multiple priorities.
• Apply learning from one client engagement to the next and share learning with fellow team members in a continuous basis to ensure that errors & technical issues are kept to a minimal level for all client engagements.
• Monitor work performed by all subordinates (Advisors & Associate Advisors) on a continuous basis through reviews & thorough audits and ensure that all work being delivered to the client is of maximum quality and in-line with the set standards of Company.
• Resolve issues that may be faced by the Associate Advisors and Advisors while performing their duties and maintain accounting controls through recommending accounting policies & procedures to be implemented while handling work of clients.
• Reconcile the accounts to ensure that all transactions are accounted for and properly posted.
• Prepare as well as examine and analyze accounting records, financial statements and other financial reports prepared by subordinates to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
• Follow up with all concerned stakeholders and colleagues to ensure that all cash payments are transferred to the bank on a timely basis and keep the clients posted on the status of the same.
• Prepare and enter direct journal entries on behalf of the clients related to accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets, etc. to the General Ledger accounts and obtain approval from the Direct Manager.
• Perform General Ledger reconciliation with sub ledgers (all accounts and records will be reconciled to the General Ledger) on monthly and annual basis.
• Analyze general ledger process, identify, clean up and resolve irregularities that may occur in work of the subordinates to ensure the financial statements are accurately prepared.
• Provide the Associate Advisors & Advisors with all key information and data required such as bank statements and other important documents to be uploaded in the accounting system.
• Conduct regular reviews of data submitted by the clients in order to reduce the margin of error and maintain continuous communication with the clients for activities including but not limited to clarifications on issues, bank transfers missing documents, answering queries, workflow process as well as submission of any reports requested by the clients.
• Ensure timely posting of sub-ledgers and all period end transactions in accordance with the month end closing procedures
• Inform and follow-up with the Direct Manager if reconciliation between General Ledger accounts and subsidiary ledgers are not reconciled, in addition to recording all adjusting, closing and reversing entries to attain reconciliation in such cases (after obtaining approval of the Direct Manager).
• Prepare financial statements, balance sheets, income and expense reports, and cash flow analysis, in addition to the supporting schedules to assure timely completion according to the monthly close schedule in coordination with the Advisors & Associate Advisors.
• Conduct leave balance, indemnity, end of service benefits (EoSB) analysis and calculations on behalf of the clients and provide with them with the final data with maximum efficiency and accuracy.
• Maintain good working relationships with all assigned clients, demonstrate maximum awareness of their business and answer all their accounting related queries in a timely & efficient manner.
• Inform the appropriate person (both within Company and outside Company such as Clients) of any inefficiencies, roadblocks, and difficulties that you may experience with an assignment/task that could affect scheduled deadlines.
• Coordinate with external auditors for finalizing & closing all external audit related requirements of the clients such as providing general ledger accounts related information, documents, registers and any other reports or information requested by the external auditors.
• Stay up to date with updates & improvements in the Finance Industry specifically accounting, maintain and expand knowledge base of accounting principles & practices and provide necessary training of the same to all subordinates for enhancing their skills and promoting high standards of team development.

Reports

• Prepare and present accounting related reports as requested by the clients and ensure that all reports are clearly explained to the clients without leaving any doubts to increase client satisfaction and maximize client retention.
• Provide analysis and summaries of information as directed ensuring key issues are brought to the attention of the client as well as prepare recommendation reports to the clients highlighting issues being faced by them alongside resolutions to these issues.
• Prepare recommendation and limitation report and update it on a regular basis.
• Perform any other tasks & additional responsibilities as assigned by the Direct Manage.

Educational Qualification, Professional Certifications and Affiliations

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Accounting or any related field is a must.
• Professional Certifications such as Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Chartered Accountant (CA) or any related certifications is a plus.

Work Experience

• Minimum of 6 – 8 years of experience in the same or related field.
• Good knowledge of International Accounting standards & principles and Microsoft Excel skills is a must.
• Strong knowledge of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
• Strong knowledge of accounting software and bookkeeping principles.
• Ability to build and maintain solid working relationships with all levels of the firm and client personnel
• Strong analytical, organizational and project management skill sets
• Excellent command of Microsoft Office (Excel in particular, PowerPoint will be an added advantage).
• Strong ability to prioritize tasks and work on multiple assignments.
• Ability to work under pressure and perform several tasks concurrently in a deadline driven environment.
• This job may require conducting continuous visits to our clients’ sites and as such may require very good communication skills and highly friendly attitude.