General Accounting And Treasury Manager
IITA - International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
full-time
Duties
General accounting, financial control and month-end close:
Provide overall oversight of IITA's general accounting operations, ensuring accurate, complete and timely recording of financial transactions.
Lead and coordinate monthly, quarterly and year-end financial closing processes, including review of journals, accruals, provisions and balance sheet reconciliations.
Ensure timely and accurate accounting for payables, receivables, payroll, advances, assets, liabilities, income and expenditure.
Establish and maintain robust balance sheet reconciliation processes, with clear ownership and timely resolution of reconciling items.
Ensure appropriate accounting treatment and allocation of transactions across projects, grants, cost centers, activities and funding sources.
Strengthen accounting policies, procedures and controls and ensure consistent application across IITA locations.
Identify accounting and financial control weaknesses and drive corrective actions to resolution.
Treasury, liquidity and cash management:
Lead IITA's day-to-day treasury and cash management activities, ensuring adequate liquidity to meet operational, statutory, donor and program obligations.
Prepare and oversee weekly cash position and cash-flow forecasts, providing management with clear visibility of available, committed and restricted cash.
Monitor cash requirements across IITA hubs, stations and country offices and coordinate funding transfers in line with approved budgets, donor conditions and cash-flow requirements.
Develop and maintain short-, medium- and long-term cash-flow forecasts and highlight emerging liquidity risks to the CFRO.
Ensure effective management of bank accounts, including account opening and closure, bank mandates, signatories, online banking access and banking controls.
Review bank charges, interest income and other banking transactions and ensure discrepancies are promptly investigated and resolved.
Ensure timely and accurate bank reconciliations and resolution of unidentified or long-outstanding items.
Support the CFRO in managing IITA's investment portfolio, ensuring preservation of capital, appropriate liquidity and prudent optimization of investment returns.
Monitor and manage foreign exchange exposures in accordance with approved policies.
Oversee the integrity of IITA's payment processes, including review of payment proposals and electronic banking transactions before submission for authorization.
Ensure payments are properly supported, approved, accurately coded and processed within agreed timelines.
Monitor supplier, partner, payroll, statutory, tax, utility and other payment obligations to ensure timely settlement.
Ensure appropriate segregation of duties and controls across payment initiation, review, approval and execution.
Strengthen controls over petty cash, imprest, corporate cards and other cash-equivalent arrangements.
Conduct or coordinate periodic independent cash counts and ensure all exceptions are investigated and resolved.
Work with banks and relevant internal teams to resolve banking and payment issues promptly.
Financial reporting and analysis:
Ensure the timely preparation of accurate monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports and financial statements.
Review balance sheet schedules and key accounting reports to ensure completeness, accuracy and appropriate supporting documentation.
Provide financial analysis and interpretation to identify emerging financial risks, trends and opportunities.
Support the CFRO with cash, treasury, investment and financial management reports for Senior Management and the Board/Finance and Audit & Risk Committee.
Ensure financial data is reliable, consistent and sufficiently visible to support evidence-based decision-making.
Contribute to the development of financial dashboards and management reporting, including liquidity, receivables, payables, cash utilization and other key financial indicators.
Audit, compliance and risk management:
Coordinate the day-to-day relationship with internal and external auditors and ensure timely provision of accurate supporting documentation.
Coordinate implementation and follow-up of audit recommendations relating to accounting, treasury and financial controls.
Ensure compliance with applicable accounting standards, IITA policies, donor requirements and statutory financial obligations.
Monitor changes in relevant accounting, tax, banking and financial regulations and advise the CFRO on implications for IITA.
Maintain adequate documentation and audit trails for all significant financial transactions and balances.
Financial systems, process improvement and data integrity:
Ensure the integrity of accounting and financial data within IITA's ERP and related financial systems.
Work with Finance, IT and other stakeholders to improve Oracle and related financial processes, reporting and system controls.
Identify opportunities to automate, simplify and standardize accounting, payment, reconciliation and treasury processes.
Improve the timeliness and quality of financial information and reduce manual/offline processes.
Ensure appropriate user access, segregation of duties and system controls within accounting and banking platforms.
Leadership and business partnership:
Lead, manage and develop the General Accounting and Treasury team, establishing clear responsibilities, performance expectations and accountability.
Build a high-performing team with strong technical accounting, treasury and financial control capabilities.
Provide guidance and support to Finance Managers and finance teams across IITA locations.
Promote a culture of financial discipline, accountability, transparency and continuous improvement.
Provide financial advice to management and operational teams on accounting, payments, cash management and financial control matters.
Collaborate with Grants, Procurement, Operations and programme teams to resolve financial issues and strengthen end-to-end financial processes.
Provide financial input to procurement and other relevant management committees as required.
Requirements
Master's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field, with a minimum of twelve (12) years' relevant experience, including at least six (6) years in a management or supervisory role in a structured organization performing similar functions.
A professional accounting qualification such as ACCA, CPA, ACA, or equivalent, with significant post-qualification experience in accounting, treasury, and financial management, is required.
Competencies:
The ideal candidate must have:
Financial Management & Treasury: Demonstrated experience managing accounting operations, liquidity, cash-flow forecasting, banking, investments, and financial risks in large, complex, multi-location organizations, preferably in international development, research, or donor-funded environments.
Technical Accounting, Reporting & Audit: Strong knowledge of accounting standards, financial reporting, period-end closing, reconciliations, internal controls, audit management, and implementation of audit recommendations.
Financial Systems & Analytical Skills: Proficiency in ERP systems, preferably Oracle or equivalent, advanced Excel, and financial reporting tools, with strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
Donor Compliance & Organizational Effectiveness: Strong understanding of donor-funded financial management and compliance requirements, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deliver results in a complex international environment.
Benefits
We offer highly competitive salary with equally attractive benefits and excellent working conditions in a pleasant campus environment.