Finance Officer

at  Jhpiego

Overview:
The Finance Officer supports the financial and operational aspect of Jhpiego programs in South Africa and contributes to ensuring that financial, administrative, and operational systems are sound and compatible with standard accounting practices and follow USG, JHU and Jhpiego rules and regulations. The Finance Officer will liaise with the Jhpiego Baltimore office and other stakeholders in the South Africa country program. S/he ensures that daily operations are maintained in an efficient and effective manner. The Finance Officer works closely with Jhpiego South Africa, Finance & Operations Manager to coordinate implementation of uniform and financial procedures.

Responsibilities:

• Assist and contribute to the implementation of financial policies and procedures in the office, and updating of policies and procedures where necessary
• Support and contribute to the implementation of systems and procedures to ensure adequate internal controls
• Be familiar with the related South Africa financial laws & regulations; and assist in their application
• On a daily basis, review expense reports to ensure completeness, accuracy, reasonability and validity of financial data before posting to financial system
• Prepare payment vouchers and ensure review and approval
• Monitor payments due and posted in the accounting system on a daily basis
• Management of petty cash
• Ensure that the petty cash replenishment is prepared the moment the disbursement is 75% of the cash float
• Assist the Finance Manager with routine follow-up and reconciliation of accounts payable
• Monitor and reconcile vendor statements on monthly basis and ensure timely settlement of bills
• Ensure prompt payment of staff advances and supplier invoices to safeguard Jhpiego reputation
• Send notification to vendors and staff on payments transferred to their accounts
• Provide updates to staff on their advance accounts on regular basis (at least once a month)
• Provide information to staff requiring reimbursement
• Reviews and prepares monthly financial analysis and budget versus expense reports to determine reasonableness of variances and take appropriate actions as required
• Ensure project procurement is in compliance to the USG and Jhpiego procurement policies by reviewing procurement documents
• Review financial transactions to ensure availability of funds and expenses are allowable and reasonable
• Process requisitions, payments, receipts and other necessary accounting activities ensuring timeliness and proper charge codes; verify documentation for all program disbursements and review numerical accuracy and ensuring proper authorization before making payment
• Assist staff in determining allowability and allocability of costs to a particular award
• Preparation of monthly bank reconciliation statement and reconciliation of control accounts
• Ensuring submission of monthly financial reporting (QuickBooks) and bank reconciliations and its timely submission to Jhpiego head office including preparing month-end journal vouchers as required
• Conducts routine surprise petty cash counts
• Designs and implements sound internal controls by implementing recommendations from Internal Compliance Reviews and external audits
• Completes cash flow analysis to ensure adequate cash needs
• Support to the Finance Manager and technical/program leads with provision of reports on obligations and expenditures of the program budgets, including sub-agreement budgets with partnering agencies and sub-grantees, monitor expenses versus budgets in coordination with the Finance Manager and in-country program staff, develop and monitor annual work plan
• Preparation of expenditure analysis report & ensure that the expenditure falls within the budget & work plans
• Assist in the preparation of budgets by providing relevant data and advice to program staff
• Maintenance of proper filing of records and ensure complete documents for all transactions
• Provide finance support to the Finance and Ops Manager and program staff as requested
• Use various software applications, such as spreadsheets, relational databases, and graphic packages to assemble, manipulate, format data and/or reports
• Perform other duties as may be required.

Required Qualifications:

• Knowledge in the use of financial software applications, databases, spreadsheets, and/or word processing required
• BA in Finance, Accounting or Diploma with 05 years relevant experience
• Experience with financial analysis, financial reporting, cash flow analysis, budget development, and forecasting
• Knowledge of US government cost principles
• Excellent knowledge and skills in QuickBooks and excel
• Familiarity with NGO and donor supported projects
• Must treat payroll, accounting and budget information on a confidential basis
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office software applications
• Ability to prioritize and organize workload
• Excellent communications skills including fluency in spoken and written English
• Strong interpersonal, writing, and oral communication and presentation skills
• Must be cooperative, hardworking, flexible, and dependable
• Willingness to travel locally
• Strong analytical skills

Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University affiliate, is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, other legally protected characteristics or any other occupationally irrelevant criteria. Jhpiego promotes Affirmative Action for minorities, women, individuals who are disabled, and veterans.

• Assist and contribute to the implementation of financial policies and procedures in the office, and updating of policies and procedures where necessary
• Support and contribute to the implementation of systems and procedures to ensure adequate internal controls
• Be familiar with the related South Africa financial laws & regulations; and assist in their application
• On a daily basis, review expense reports to ensure completeness, accuracy, reasonability and validity of financial data before posting to financial system
• Prepare payment vouchers and ensure review and approval
• Monitor payments due and posted in the accounting system on a daily basis
• Management of petty cash
• Ensure that the petty cash replenishment is prepared the moment the disbursement is 75% of the cash float
• Assist the Finance Manager with routine follow-up and reconciliation of accounts payable
• Monitor and reconcile vendor statements on monthly basis and ensure timely settlement of bills
• Ensure prompt payment of staff advances and supplier invoices to safeguard Jhpiego reputation
• Send notification to vendors and staff on payments transferred to their accounts
• Provide updates to staff on their advance accounts on regular basis (at least once a month)
• Provide information to staff requiring reimbursement
• Reviews and prepares monthly financial analysis and budget versus expense reports to determine reasonableness of variances and take appropriate actions as required
• Ensure project procurement is in compliance to the USG and Jhpiego procurement policies by reviewing procurement documents
• Review financial transactions to ensure availability of funds and expenses are allowable and reasonable
• Process requisitions, payments, receipts and other necessary accounting activities ensuring timeliness and proper charge codes; verify documentation for all program disbursements and review numerical accuracy and ensuring proper authorization before making payment
• Assist staff in determining allowability and allocability of costs to a particular award
• Preparation of monthly bank reconciliation statement and reconciliation of control accounts
• Ensuring submission of monthly financial reporting (QuickBooks) and bank reconciliations and its timely submission to Jhpiego head office including preparing month-end journal vouchers as required
• Conducts routine surprise petty cash counts
• Designs and implements sound internal controls by implementing recommendations from Internal Compliance Reviews and external audits
• Completes cash flow analysis to ensure adequate cash needs
• Support to the Finance Manager and technical/program leads with provision of reports on obligations and expenditures of the program budgets, including sub-agreement budgets with partnering agencies and sub-grantees, monitor expenses versus budgets in coordination with the Finance Manager and in-country program staff, develop and monitor annual work plan
• Preparation of expenditure analysis report & ensure that the expenditure falls within the budget & work plans
• Assist in the preparation of budgets by providing relevant data and advice to program staff
• Maintenance of proper filing of records and ensure complete documents for all transactions
• Provide finance support to the Finance and Ops Manager and program staff as requested
• Use various software applications, such as spreadsheets, relational databases, and graphic packages to assemble, manipulate, format data and/or reports
• Perform other duties as may be required