Learnerships

Nutun: Junior Accountants

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Job Title: Junior Accountant
Location: Various
Closing Date: 16 January 2025

Overview:

A Junior Accountant is needed to support the finance team with various accounting tasks and ensure that the General Ledger is properly maintained for multiple entities. The individual will assist in the day-to-day accounting functions, such as journal entries, transaction processing, account reconciliations, and month-end financial reporting. The position requires attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and the ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines. This role provides an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a dynamic finance environment.

Key Responsibilities:

  • General Ledger Maintenance: One of the core responsibilities in this role is to assist with the General Ledger (GL) maintenance across three entities. The General Ledger serves as the primary accounting record for a company and is used to track all financial transactions. This requires a solid understanding of accounting principles and a keen eye for detail.You will be involved in:
    • Journal Preparations: You will help prepare journal entries that record the financial transactions of the company. These journal entries are essential for accurate accounting, as they update the General Ledger with the proper debits and credits.
    • Transactions Processing: You will assist in processing daily transactions, ensuring that all financial activities, such as purchases, sales, and expenses, are accurately recorded in the system. Proper transaction processing helps maintain the integrity of the financial records.
    • Month-End General Ledger Reconciliations: Reconciliation is a critical task in accounting. It involves comparing the recorded balances in the General Ledger against external documents or other financial statements to ensure that they match. At the end of each month, you will assist with reconciling the General Ledger accounts, ensuring that the balances are correct and any discrepancies are resolved.
    • Invoice Generation: You will help generate invoices for the company’s clients, ensuring that they are accurate and properly documented. This process also involves reviewing outstanding invoices and ensuring that they are paid promptly.
    • Accruals and Provisions Calculations: Accruals and provisions are accounting adjustments made to ensure that financial records reflect all liabilities and expenses, even if they haven’t been paid or received yet. You will assist with the calculation and processing of accruals and provisions to ensure that the company’s financial statements are accurate.
  • Reconciliation and Reporting: Reconciling accounts and generating reports are essential tasks that help ensure that financial records are up-to-date and accurate. You will be responsible for performing reconciliations for various accounts, ensuring that every balance in the General Ledger is supported by appropriate documentation or external records.Specifically, your duties will include:
    • Performing Reconciliations: You will perform detailed reconciliations to confirm that the amounts recorded in the General Ledger align with supporting records, such as bank statements, invoices, and receipts. This process is essential for validating the accuracy and completeness of the account balances.
    • Preparing Ad-Hoc Reports: At times, management may request specific reports to track business expenditures. You will assist with preparing these reports, which could include tracking expenses by department, monitoring cash flow, or summarizing the financial performance of different business units. These reports are crucial for decision-making within the company.
  • Month-End and Year-End Support: During both the month-end and year-end close processes, there is a significant volume of work to ensure that all transactions are properly recorded, and reports are prepared on time. As a Junior Accountant, you will assist in meeting these deadlines by providing support in several areas:
    • Coordinating with Various Departments: Each department within the company is responsible for providing financial information relevant to their operations. You will be responsible for following up with various departments to ensure that all necessary information is submitted by the required deadline.
    • Ensuring Timely Completion of Expenses: You will work with the creditors team to ensure that all expenses for the month are properly accounted for. This includes ensuring that invoices are processed in a timely manner and that no expenses are left out of the month-end reporting.
    • Finalizing Intercompany Transactions: In businesses with multiple entities, intercompany transactions (income and expenses between the entities) must be properly recorded and reconciled. You will help ensure that these transactions are finalized and accurately recorded across the group.
    • Month-End Reporting: You will assist with preparing various month-end reports, such as:
      • Consolidated Reporting: This includes combining the financial results from all entities to give an overview of the company’s overall financial performance.
      • Individual Management Accounts: You will help prepare reports for each department or business unit, showing their individual financial performance.
      • Specific Account Reconciliations: Certain accounts, such as bank accounts or accounts receivable, may need more detailed reconciliations. You will assist with ensuring that these accounts are reconciled accurately.
      • VAT and Tax Reconciliations: You will assist with the reconciliation of VAT (Value Added Tax) and tax-related accounts, ensuring that they are in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
  • Compliance and Internal Controls: Every company is required to adhere to specific internal controls and accounting standards to ensure the integrity of its financial reporting. As part of this responsibility, you will play a key role in maintaining compliance with the company’s internal controls framework. This could involve monitoring the finance team’s activities to ensure they align with the company’s policies and procedures.
    • Monitoring Compliance: You will help monitor compliance by ensuring that proper controls are in place, such as approving transactions before they are processed or reviewing reports to verify their accuracy.
    • Assisting with Statutory Auditor Requests: During audits, statutory auditors may request specific financial data or documentation to ensure that the company is following accounting regulations. You will assist by providing the necessary information in a timely and organized manner.
  • Ad-Hoc Finance Tasks: In addition to your core responsibilities, you will be asked to assist with various finance-related tasks as needed by management. These could include:
    • Assisting with year-end audits.
    • Helping prepare budget reports or forecasts.
    • Assisting with financial analysis or cost breakdowns.
    • Performing other ad-hoc tasks to support the finance team or other departments within the organization.

Requirements:

To succeed in this Junior Accountant role, the following qualifications and skills are required:

  • Proven Interest or Experience in Accounting: Ideally, you should have a background in accounting or finance, though fresh graduates with a strong interest in accounting are also encouraged to apply.
  • Knowledge of General Ledger and Reconciliations: A strong understanding of how the General Ledger works and how to reconcile accounts is crucial for this position. Any prior experience in handling these tasks will be beneficial.
  • Understanding of Financial Reporting: You should have a basic understanding of financial reporting, such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.
  • Communication Skills: As you will be liaising with various departments and external auditors, strong communication skills (both written and verbal) are essential.
  • Ability to Meet Deadlines: This role involves handling time-sensitive tasks, so the ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines is important.
  • Knowledge of VAT, Tax Reconciliation, and Internal Controls: While not mandatory, knowledge of VAT and tax reconciliation processes, as well as an understanding of internal controls, would be advantageous.

This role offers a valuable opportunity for a Junior Accountant to build their career in a supportive and dynamic work environment. You’ll gain hands-on experience in accounting functions while contributing to the accurate and timely completion of financial reports and records.

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