Lead Specialist: Consolidations at Liberty Group South Africa

Purpose

• To provide advice and support in management accounting practice formulation and associated best practice improvement tactics; enabling the provision of specialist expertise.

Minimum Experience

• 5 - 8 years experience in a similar environment, of which 2 - 3 years at specialist level

Responsibilities

• Consolidation of the Group earnings results on a monthly basis.
• Consolidation of the Group primary IFRS financial statements (Liberty Group and Liberty Holdings) on a monthly basis.
• Preparation of group note disclosures (Liberty Group and Liberty Holdings) on an annual basis.
• Assist in collating the main key indicators for the group for reporting to GAAC and Exco.
• General ledger review and maintenance and assigning of accounts and maintaining and developing new ledgers for new subsidiaries to ensure that the reporting structure will be in line with the group reporting requirements.
• Preparation of monthly management reporting for certain subsidiary companies and financial statement preparation.
• Liaison with various business units to obtain information for the group reporting and explaining variances against budget and movements in the reported results. 
• Assist in preparation of reports to Standard Bank on earnings, IFRS accounts, budgets and various other requests for Liberty group information.
• Establishment of accounting policies and procedures.
• Assist in the implementation of process enhancements.

Minimum Qualifications

• BCom Hons (Finance) or relevant degree
• Completed articles.
• Extensive knowledge of accounting policies and procedures.
• Sound accounting knowledge, particularly consolidation principles.

Knowledge and Skills

• Strong Organizational and planning skills
• Strong Analytical skills
• Service and Client focused
• Strong interpersonal Skills
• Results driven
• Strong Governance disciplines and standards

Process

• Determine resource allocation priorities and deployment necessary to support the effective integration of processes and development of practice/s.
• Consult and advise on applicable price structures and trades, that seeks to maximise assets and/ or minimise financial risk.
• Manage the approval of functional area journals, account reconciliations and suspense accounts to ensure financial integrity of the accounting system.
• Coordinate the sourcing, analyses and interpretation of financial information in order to review the financial performance of the business.
• Advise on the alignment and application of area specific practices and integrated processes across functional areas to ensure value chain integrity.
• Advise on the identification of financial targets and methods to track accomplishment and develop solutions leading to increase sales revenue.
• Compile, prepare and ensure accurate management accounts and related information to relevant stakeholders to inform cost saving and decision making.
• Ensure and assist with the sourcing, collation, analysis and interpretation of information to enable the review of financial business performance.
• Review and compare, on an bi-annual basis, internal tax accounting with SARS statements of accounts to ensure they are reconciled.
• Keep abreast of changes and new legislation and developments within industries that may affect area of specialisation.
• Accountable for contributing to strategy enablement and implementation and delivery optimisation across an internal value chain, through best practice development and implementation.
• Draw on own technical and/or professional knowledge and experience to proactively develop alternatives and identify optimal best practice solutions for tactical problems.
• Plan to deliver work outputs related to a service or operational area, Manages interdependent functional activities, and directs best-practice priorities, standards and procedures to ensure efficiency within area of specialisation.

Customer

• Provide authoritative, specialist expertise and advice to internal/external customers, that builds strong relationships and creates a favourable impression aligned to Treating the Customer Fairly (TCF) principles.

Finance

• Implement and monitor financial controls, management of costs and corporate governance throughout the area of specialisation.

Learning and Growth

• Contribute positively to human capability improvement, related to knowledge optimisation and associated with area of specialisation.

Governance

• Develop and/or align governance and compliance policies for own practice and/or tactical area to identify and manage risk exposure liability related to the area of specialisation.

Technical Competencies

• Management Accounting (Proficient)
• Financial Management (Proficient)
• Research and Information Gathering (Proficient)
• Reporting and Interpretation (Proficient)
• Financial Acumen (Proficient)
• Customer Advice (Technical) (Proficient)

Behavioural Competencies

• Professional/Technical learning (Proficient)
• Organisation and Attention to Detail (Proficient)
• People Management and Empowerment (Proficient)
• Interpersonal Effectiveness (Proficient)
• Problem Solving and Analysis (Proficient)
• Teamwork and Cooperation (Proficient)
• Communicating with Impact (Proficient)
• Relationship Management and Networking (Intermediate)
• Customer Orientation (Proficient)