Finance Associate at Virunga Power

Duties & Responsibilities

The Finance Associate will be entrusted with the following duties and responsibilities:

Accounting & Financial Analysis

• Work closely with the Finance team and take ownership of a range of general financial & administrative tasks
• Supervise, review the work, and provide guidance and feedback to bookkeepers in multiple countries
• Research accounting implications of financial transactions
• Ensure accurate maintenance of all ledgers & sub ledgers for the group subsidiaries: account payables, account receivables, fixed assets, inventories and bank accounts
• Participate to the consolidation process
• Prepare the annual financial statements
• Handle the annual statutory audits
• Work with the Finance team in strengthening the control environment and improving the internal processes to improve quality of accounting records
• Create and maintain various spreadsheets and dashboards to analyse data
• Ensure journals and account reconciliations are completed accurately and timely
• Post transactions in the accounting system and perform monthly close of book procedures on all company ledgers
• Maintain the petty cash register
• Set up payments through MPESA
• Account for MPESA transactions
• Perform stock counts

Tax & Compliance

• Ensure accurate and timely filing of all taxes and contributions, and annual returns
• Follow industry trends and track changes in tax legislation; prepare overview briefs for Management
• Research tax implications of financial transactions
• Prepare necessary paperwork for tax declarations and payments
• Facilitate the communication with the administrations
• Ensure close monitoring of service providers (tax, payroll, company secretary)
• Build and sustain positive relationships and collaboration with the service providers
• Keep up to date with regulatory environment

Minimum Requirements:

The ideal candidate would have the following skills and credentials:

Education and Experience:

• Four plus years of experience in a similar role
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Accounting, Economics, Finance, or similar
• Past experience working with a ‘Big 4’ firm in a tax or assurance department is an added advantage
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word), QuickBooks, Odoo and other relevant accounting software
• Experience with accounting for infrastructure projects and/or energy project development, especially Power & Utilities, a plus
• Experience working or traveling in East and Southern Africa a plus

Competencies:

• Knowledge of accounting and bookkeeping procedures
• Solid understanding of basic accounting and IFRS knowledge
• Strong fluency with Excel formulas and reporting
• Detail-oriented and strong data gathering skills
• Good communication skills with team members
• Strong written and spoken English skills are required. French or additional language spoken which are relevant to working in East and Southern Africa is a plus.
• Effective organizational and prioritization skills
• Keen attention to detail
• Commitment to professionalism and high standards of integrity and ethics
• Ability to work autonomously and with minimal instruction
• Takes initiative, positive and proactive, hands-on
• Able to work in a multicultural environment
• At ease working remotely and with online collaboration tools