Accountant, USAID Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) Program at DAI Kenya - Development Alternatives, Inc.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Financial Reporting

• Develops and maintains reports of status of financial management activities (i.e. monthly and quarterly reporting).
• Responsible for ensuring project assets/inventory report is balanced against the general ledger/FAS/vFER prior to submission to USAID.
• Responsible for ensuring that any/all contractual financial reporting requirements are identified and complied in a timely and accurate manner.
• Ensures that tax reporting procedures are well documented to facilitate preparation and submission in a timely manner.
• Monitors and submits advance, commitment, and grant reports as applicable.
• Develops and submits other project reports necessary and based on registration requirements to local authorities.
• Monitors and reports on partner/vendor payment schedules and obligations.
• Provides annual budgets of expenditure as well as quarterly forecasts against budget statements (accruals, pipelines, etc.) as applicable.

Audit

• Supports preparation of internal and external audits.
• Supports responses and actions to internal audit comments.
• Conducts daily reviews of backup documentation to ensure completeness, accuracy, and full compliance with all regulations and the Field Operations Manual (FOM).
• Performs regular spot audits on project’s files.
• Ensures adequate backup documentation is uploaded to relevant system according to set deadlines.

Policies & Procedures

• Ensures that accounting policies and practices are carried out in accordance with GAAP standards; project internal controls are established and implemented in accordance with DAI policies, USAID rules/regulations and the terms of the contract.

General Accounting

• Initiates wire requests for field project implementation.
• Verifies vendor invoices for accuracy.
• Verifies accuracy of expenses and project accounting codes.
• Conducts regular cash flow analyses to ensure availability of funds and the accurate maintaining of bank balances.
• Ensures accurate and timely processing of invoices, advances and reimbursements, checks, and wire transfer payments.
• Ensures request for payments have appropriate approvals.
• Ensures the timely deposit of cash receipts.
• Responsible for recording and assigning costs based on approved budget in field accounting system (FAS/vFER).
• Performs monthly bank reconciliations and routinely monitors bank account balances.
• Verifies back up documentation for all project-related transactions,and ensures completeness and appropriate review and approvals are documented.
• Responsible for ensuring petty cash is maintained according to maximum petty cash policy, and that all petty cash procedures are followed.
• Ensures the safeguard of bank checks, and cash receipts.
• Manages periodic payments to local authorities (Income Tax, Social Security, etc) ensuring they are completed on timely and accuracy manner
• Ensures availability of bank check books and coordinates periodic updates for checking account signers.
• Prepares, reviews and submits project cost data prior to submitting Oracle data reports to DAI Washington.
• Maintains file management systems for soft and hard copy documentation.
• Maintains files on grant/procurement/subcontractor documents and modifications as applicable.
• Directs the schedule of financial activities to ensure the timely preparation of budget related reports.
• Performs periodic cash counts.
• Records non-billable expenses as appropriate and ensures they are thoroughly reviewed and are kept to a minimum.
• Ensures that foreign taxes paid, if any, are tracked, recorded, and reported to USAID in accordance with ADS guidelines.
• Analyzes and reconciles project inventory on a regular basis ensuring that the value/purchase price of project assets reflected in the inventory register agrees with the total shown in the cumulative Non-Expendable account balance.

Travel Advances & Reimbursements

• Reviews travel requests and expense reports for accuracy and compliance.
• Follows procedures to ensure accurate and timely payment and reconciliation of travel advances, reimbursements for staff and partner travel.
• Develops and monitors outstanding advances report by paying close attention to advances that have not been settled after 30 days of issuance.

Payroll

• Processes timely and accurate payroll payments for the office and ensures leave balance and payroll taxes and deductions are accurate.
• Tracks and monitors leave balances and liability payments.
• Ensures staff compliance with timekeeping policy and recordkeeping.

Financial Systems

• Uses field accounting system (FAS/vFER), cloud software for backup documentation, DAI’s project management system (TAMIS), etc. regularly.
• Communicates with home office system support teams on system or operations troubleshooting technical issues
• Ensures that voucher files are scanned and uploaded to DAI’s System for the Electronic Archival of Financial Documentation - SharePoint.

REPORTING:

The Accountant will report to the Finance Manager.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or equivalent and 7 years’ experience supporting international donor-funded projects. CPA professional qualification is an added advantage
• Relevant experience and progressive responsibility in finance and accounting including experience leading and managing the financial aspects of USAID projects, including a demonstrated understanding of applicable finance-related USG contracting regulations.
• Accuracy in working with large amounts of data
• Experience with enterprise accounting software, and Microsoft office suite.
• Ability to respond effectively to time sensitive inquiries
• An articulate individual who possesses excellent communications and personnel management skills and who can relate to people at all levels of an organization.
• A well organized and self-directed individual with sound technical skills, analytical ability, good judgement, and strong operational focus
• Excellent writing, speaking, and reading skills in English.