Senior Accountant – Countries Support at World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)

The Senior Accountant - Countries Accounting will:

• Support CIFOR-ICRAF’s country finance functions for the countries reporting to HQ
• Prepare journals and reconciliations for countries without a finance focal point.
• Assist the Assistant Finance Manager – General Ledger & Reporting in posting of countries journals.

Duties and responsibilities

Assist in the accurate recording and review of CIFOR-ICRAF’s countries' financial transactions:

• Journalize payroll costs and other adjustments as they arise.
• Assist in recording financial transactions for CIFOR-ICRAF countries whose finance unit has an identifiable gap.
• Assist in reviewing supporting documentation for payments made in various country offices ensuring completeness and accuracy; and recording of these transactions in the financial system affecting both bank and petty cash.
• Perform an initial review of the transactions journalized by Country Accountants/Officers before posting.
• Follow-up to ensure returns for countries without access to OCS are provided at least weekly to avoid bulking of transactions at the end of the month.
• Follow-up on balance sheet reconciliations liaising with the Country Accountants/Officers and ensure the balances are up to date.

Assurance of correctness and accuracy of CIFOR-ICRAF’s countries' financial transactions:

• Reviewing and posting of all payment journals; ensuring due diligence is observed while processing the accounting journals.
• Providing the required assurance that all accounting entries passed in the general ledger are free of any material misstatements.
• Ensuring proper accruals are done and subsequently cleared.
• Post payment run confirming the accuracy of the amounts, currency, bank code in the financial system as well as the bank details of the payee.
• Ensure payments are processed within the stipulated KPI.

Country accounting oversight:

• Carry out periodic compliance reviews of country office finance operations for the allocated countries.
• Provide support and capacity building to country office staff to ensure adherence to CIFOR_ICRAF or hosting organization policies.
• Support countries to transition to fully using the CIFOR-ICRAF systems.
• Provide necessary inputs to aid in the review of finance policies and procedures to support country offices.
• Ensure proper financial records are maintained in the country offices- both soft and hard.

Audit

• Timely preparation and submission of audit schedules.
• Respond to audit queries in a timely manner during both External and Internal Audit.
• Key contact support for both internal and external (interim and final) audits.

Balance Sheet Reconciliations

• Ensure that country accruals are done as per CIFOR_ICRAF policies and procedures, and monthly reviews are done to ensure only valid accruals remain in the account.
• Prepare and analyze the balance sheet reconciliation/schedules of allocated receivable and payable accounts and follow up on long outstanding balances.
• Timely preparation and submission of audit schedules.
• Respond to audit queries in a timely manner during both External and Internal Audit.
• Key contact support for both internal and external audits for countries supported.

Internal Controls

• Ensure compliance to policies and safeguard of CIFOR_ICRAF assets.
• Evaluate and communicate internal control deficiencies in a timely manner to the supervisor.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in accounting with at least 5 years of relevant experience and is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya.
• Fluent in written and spoken French and English.
• Experience in financial and accounting services.
• Experience in project or cost accounting.
• Experience in handling external audits.
• Experience with financial software applications, familiar with UNIT4 Agresso System.
• Strong computer skills in word processing, database and other relevant office applications.