Staff Accountant at Water.org

Key Responsibilities

Local Accounting Support and Facilitation (70%)

• Collaborate with finance and accounting leads to ensure accurate and timely recording of financial activity into the accounting system, including offices expenses, general ledger, and reconciliations.
• Lead reviews of monthly financial activity from local office accounts and completes required adjustments for accounting practices required for US GAAP.
• Engage the external auditors in discussion on technical accounting issues pertaining to the local entity and drive resolution on acceptable accounting treatment.
• Prepare local payments and support wire processing requests accordingly.
• Monitor, review, and report on the financial activity of local office relative to annual budget.
• Manage expenditure actuals and forecasting and initiate appropriate strategies to improve cash requirements.
• Review and reconcile local and foreign bank accounts for accuracy and proper reporting processes.
• Prepare or assist in the preparation of month-end, quarter-end, and annual financial reports.
• Ensure financial accountability and integrity of regional office operations, as well as adherence to Global Finance policies, procedures, and standards.
• Maintain internal controls.
• Maintain fiscal records, reports, and data for global offices as required.
• Advise financial professionals in global offices on best practices regarding general accounting practices.
• Identify and recommend opportunities for financial process and practice enhancements.
• Perform other global accounting and finance related activities as assigned.
• Other ad hoc task as required to support the financial management of the local offices in Africa.

Grants Collaboration and Coordination (20%)

• In collaboration with Regional Accountant, Grants, serve as primary Finance point of contact for assigned private, public, and government grants.
• In collaboration with cross-functional stakeholders, develop forecasts and budgets for grant proposals and ensure accurate representation of grant-supported activities.
• Produce grant-related post-award functions, including financial monitoring, expense analysis reporting, variances identification/explanation, reconciliations, re-budgeting, and grant closeout functions.
• Review journal entries applied to grant funds for allowable, reasonable, and compliant expenses and ensure proper expense coding. Collaborate with internal team members when expenses need to be confirmed or corrected.
• Advise internal team members on best practices with grant expenses and pseudo-grant expenses.
• Proactively prepare and communicate accurate and timely reports on assigned grants to internal stakeholders.
• Communicate monthly financial results with appropriate internal stakeholders, informing them of financial position of the project.
• Perform ad-hoc financial analysis in response to requests or to provide support to various programs. Prepare accurate and timely reports to donors as required.
• In collaboration with Sr. Grants Accountant, ensure compliance of grants with Water.org policies and procedures; as well as donor regulations.
• Acts as a finance business partner to support the needs of the local programs team.

Global Accounting Support and Facilitation (10%)

• Perform a regular and recurring general accounting functions as required.
• Reconcile various balance sheet accounts and prepare entries to general ledger accounts in assistance with month-end closing.
• Provide support to global offices for required audits as required.
• Assists in the preparation for the annual audit; including preparing audit schedules and producing requested documentation.
• Compile general financial and accounting related reports requested by external parties.
• Assist Donor Database Specialist with daily gift batch entry as needed.
• Produce ad-hoc reporting and special project analysis and reporting as assigned.
• Remain flexible to serve as back up and work with other departments to resolve issues.

Management Responsibility

• Individual contributor with no subordinates.

This description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required. Some duties, responsibilities and activities may change or be assigned at any time with or without notice.

Skills and Competencies

• Financial Acumen – Interpreting and applying understanding of key financial indicators to make better business decisions.
• Customer Focus – Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Communicates Effectively – Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Drives Results – Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Collaborates – Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Optimize Work Processes – Knowing the most effective and efficient processes to get things done, with a focus on continuous improvement.
• Manages Ambiguity – Manages ambiguity by operating effectively, even when things are not certain or the way forward is not clear.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a closely related field and/or equivalent related work experience
• Five or more years of professional experience in accounting, finance, or a related field with demonstrated knowledge of accounting functions, such as balance sheet reconciliations, budgeting, forecasting, and/or financial reporting.
• Proficient (written and verbal) in English