Role overview
The Senior Accountant is responsible for providing Education Payroll Lwith timely, accurate and high-quality accounting functions and managing monthly financial reporting, annual budgeting and regular forecasting.
Key responsibilities and accountabilities
Monthly accounting
- Manage month end processes, including journals, reconciliations and monthly timetable.
- Prepare monthly financial results for management and budget holders, to agreed timetable.
- Consolidate monthly financial reporting with project reporting.
- Produce financial reports for senior leaders.
- Manage the maintenance of the fixed assets register.
- Manage cash flow to meet Education Payroll’s cash requirements.
Management
- Maintain up-to-date and fit-for-purpose accounting policies and procedures and take a continuous improvement approach to this to ensure that we are doing this the best way we can.
- Ensure financial transactions are carried out in an accurate and timely manner.
- Support the development of financial awareness and management capacity within EPL as a whole.
Budgeting and forecasting
- Support effective budgeting and forecasting processes across Education Payroll.
- Support the development of the annual budget, in conjunction with managers and budget holders.
- Maintain regular forecasting throughout the financial year, in conjunction with budget holders.
Financial analysis and advice
- Assist and support managers to identify and recommend opportunities for improvements.
- Undertake ad-hoc and special accounting projects as requested by management.
Reporting
- Assist in the preparation of the financial portion of the Annual Report, the Statement of Performance Expectations and Education Payroll Business Plan.
- Analyse and report significant variances against budget and forecast to management with appropriate recommendations for mitigating variances.
Compliance
- Ensure an appropriate control environment is in place and maintained.
- Manage the annual audit process and provision of financial audit work papers.
- Ensure compliance with government reporting requirements (including CFISnet) and tax filings.
Leadership expectations
The following leadership expectations apply to this role:
Lead self
- Demonstrate the EPL values – Treat everyone with respect; works as a team; make things easier; improve though understanding; learn through doing.
- Maintain positive relationships.
- Hold yourself accountable.
- Be agile and adaptive.
- Show courage.
Lead EPL
Strategic planning
Actively contribute to creating and maintaining a strategy that aligns actions, plans and resources with business objectives.
Financial management and strategic financial management
Make decisions that support the effective use and control of Education Payroll financial resources, within budget and delegations.
Risk management
- Identify, assess, mitigate and record risks arising from internal process, people, systems or external events that could potentially disrupt business operations and/or breach legislative requirements.
- Escalate risks that cannot be sufficiently mitigated within your span of control.
- Take collective responsibility for enterprise risk management and understand the cumulative impact of risks across the organisation.
Required experience, skill and knowledge
To be successful in this position you will need:
- relevant tertiary qualification and CA/CPA qualified
- experience in the use of integrated ERP and financial systems
- proficiency in Excel to an expert user level
- experience in the completion of annual reporting
- experience in budget processes, reporting, and analysis
- excellent communication with team, peers, internal and external customers, both written and oral
- to be able to show initiative and work well under pressure
- to be skilled in decision making and problem solving
- to be very flexible adaptable and resilient
- to self-manage.
If you have more questions about this role email myhr@edpay.nz and we will be able to get you talking to the right people.