The posting
ACCOUNTANT / FINANCIAL ACCOUNTANT – MANUFACTURING
Location: Strand Employment Type: Permanent, Full-Time Industry: Manufacturing / Building Materials Reporting To: Group CFO
ABOUT THE ROLE
Our client, a well-established manufacturing business in the Western Cape, is looking for a practical, hands-on Accountant / Financial Accountant to join their finance team.
This is an operational accounting role suited to someone who enjoys being close to the day-to-day running of a business and taking ownership of the accuracy and integrity of the accounting environment.
Reporting directly to the Group CFO, the successful candidate will be responsible for day-to-day accounting, working capital controls, debtors and creditors, stock accounting, reconciliations, banking, general ledger activities and selected finance-related operational processes.
The role requires someone who is not only comfortable processing and reviewing financial information, but who has a strong investigative mindset and will actively identify and resolve discrepancies rather than simply processing adjustments.
Please note: This is not a Financial Manager or senior strategic finance role. The Group CFO will retain responsibility for management accounts, VAT, taxation, treasury, budgets, forecasting, cash-flow strategy, group reporting and executive-level financial matters.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Cashbooks & Banking
- Maintain and update company cashbooks.
- Process daily banking transactions.
- Perform regular bank reconciliations.
- Investigate unidentified receipts and payments.
- Ensure customer receipts are correctly allocated.
- Monitor outstanding banking items.
- Prepare and load supplier payments for authorisation.
- Load ad hoc and operational payments where required.
- Maintain proof of payment and supporting documentation.
- Assist with banking queries and payment investigations.
- Ensure appropriate banking controls and documentation are maintained.
- Work within the company's banking approval and authorisation controls.
2. Accounts Receivable / Debtors
- Monitor debtor balances and ageing.
- Review customer accounts and account activity.
- Perform and review debtor reconciliations.
- Investigate unallocated customer receipts.
- Ensure customer payments are correctly allocated.
- Monitor overdue accounts.
- Assist with customer account queries.
- Review credit notes and adjustments.
- Monitor adherence to approved credit limits and payment terms.
- Reconcile the debtors control account to the general ledger.
- Provide debtor information and ageing analysis to the Group CFO.
- Identify and escalate problem accounts, material collection risks and credit risks.
3. CGIC / Credit Insurance Administration
The successful candidate will take operational responsibility for the administration and monitoring of the company's credit insurance arrangements with CGIC.
Responsibilities will include:
- Monitor customer credit limits.
- Ensure customers trade within approved credit insurance limits.
- Monitor changes to approved limits.
- Track overdue accounts against policy requirements.
- Ensure required notifications are submitted within prescribed timelines.
- Maintain supporting documentation relating to insured debtors.
- Assist with credit limit applications and reviews.
- Assist with claims documentation where required.
- Monitor policy compliance.
- Escalate adverse limit changes, withdrawn cover or material debtor risks to the Group CFO.
- Maintain accurate records of insured and uninsured debtor exposure.
Previous trade credit insurance experience will be advantageous, although training can be provided to a strong candidate with good debtor and credit-control experience.
4. Accounts Payable / Creditors Management
The Accounts Payable Clerk will be responsible for routine supplier invoice capturing. The Accountant will therefore focus on the control, review, reconciliation and overall integrity of the accounts payable function.
Responsibilities include:
- Monitor the accounts payable ledger.
- Review supplier reconciliations.
- Assist the Accounts Payable Clerk with complex reconciliations.
- Review creditor ageing.
- Investigate unmatched or unallocated supplier transactions.
- Review GRV, invoice and purchase order discrepancies.
- Monitor supplier credit notes.
- Review supplier payment schedules.
- Prepare and/or load approved payment runs.
- Ensure supplier accounts are properly reconciled before payment.
- Ensure changes to supplier banking details are properly verified.
- Assist with complex supplier queries.
- Reconcile the creditors control account to the general ledger.
- Monitor the quality and accuracy of work performed by the Accounts Payable Clerk.
The successful candidate will be responsible for the integrity of the creditor ledger, rather than routine invoice capturing.
5. Stock Management & Stock Accounting
Stock control and stock accounting are important components of this position.
Responsibilities include:
- Monitor stock movements and transactions.
- Monitor raw material and finished goods balances.
- Investigate unusual stock movements.
- Monitor negative stock.
- Review stock adjustments and transfers.
- Perform stock reconciliations.
- Reconcile stock control accounts to the general ledger.
- Investigate stock variances.
- Assist operations with stock-related queries.
- Monitor inventory accuracy.
- Identify weaknesses in stock controls.
- Work closely with stores, production, procurement and finance teams.
The successful candidate should understand the accounting flow from:
Purchasing GRV Stock Production Finished Goods Sales Cost of Sales
6. Bill of Materials (BOM) Management
The Accountant will assist with the control and maintenance of Bills of Materials used within the manufacturing process.
Responsibilities include:
- Monitor the accuracy of BOMs.
- Assist with the creation and maintenance of BOM structures.
- Review material quantities used in BOMs.
- Monitor changes to raw material inputs.
- Assist with investigating production variances.
- Identify incorrect or outdated BOM information.
- Liaise with production management regarding BOM changes.
- Ensure approved BOM changes are correctly reflected in the ERP system.
- Review the financial impact of material and production changes.
- Support the Group CFO with stock costing and margin analysis where required.
Previous BOM or manufacturing ERP experience will be highly advantageous.
7. Stocktakes
The Accountant will play an active role in scheduled stocktake processes.
Responsibilities include:
- Coordinate scheduled stocktakes with operational teams.
- Prepare stocktake documentation.
- Assist with stocktake planning.
- Monitor stock count procedures.
- Review completed stock sheets.
- Compare physical counts to system quantities.
- Investigate stock variances.
- Review proposed stock adjustments.
- Ensure material variances are properly explained.
- Maintain appropriate stocktake supporting documentation.
- Assist with year-end stocktake requirements.
- Provide stocktake variance reports to the Group CFO.
The successful candidate must be comfortable working in a manufacturing environment and engaging directly with stores and production teams when investigating stock issues.
8. Payroll Clocking & Timekeeping
The Accountant will have operational oversight of employee clocking information and the company's time and attendance system.
Responsibilities include:
- Monitor employee clocking reports.
- Review missing or irregular clockings.
- Monitor overtime information.
- Review late arrivals, early departures and attendance exceptions.
- Ensure clocking information is complete before payroll processing.
- Liaise with department managers regarding attendance discrepancies.
- Monitor approved overtime against clocking information.
- Maintain and administer the employee clocking system.
- Ensure new employees are correctly added to the system.
- Remove or update employees when required.
- Assist with clocking system queries.
- Monitor system functionality and escalate technical issues.
- Prepare time and attendance reports for management.
- Ensure information submitted to payroll is accurate and appropriately authorised.
The Accountant will not necessarily process the full payroll but will be responsible for ensuring that the underlying clocking and attendance information feeding into payroll is accurate.
9. General Ledger & Accounting
The successful candidate will maintain accurate accounting records and assist with month-end preparation.
Responsibilities include:
- Process routine general ledger journals.
- Process accruals and prepayments.
- Assist with fixed asset accounting.
- Review general ledger transactions.
- Perform balance sheet reconciliations.
- Investigate suspense and clearing accounts.
- Review unusual transactions.
- Maintain supporting accounting schedules.
- Perform intercompany reconciliations where required.
- Prepare accounting information for month-end review.
- Ensure the trial balance is accurate and properly supported.
- Provide reconciliations and supporting schedules to the Group CFO.
The Group CFO will retain responsibility for final management account preparation and review.
SYSTEMS & TECHNICAL SKILLS
Experience with an integrated accounting or ERP system is required.
Sage 200 Evolution experience would be highly advantageous.
The successful candidate should be comfortable working with:
- General Ledger
- Accounts Receivable
- Accounts Payable
- Inventory
- Purchase Orders
- GRVs
- Sales Orders
- Manufacturing / BOM functionality
- Cashbooks
- Banking platforms
- Payroll clocking / time and attendance systems
Microsoft Excel
Strong Excel skills are required, including the ability to work with:
- XLOOKUP / VLOOKUP
- SUMIFS
- PivotTables
- Large accounting datasets
- Reconciliations
- Exception reports
- Data analysis
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
The preferred candidate will have:
- A relevant accounting qualification, diploma or degree.
- Approximately 3–5 years' relevant accounting experience.
- Experience working with debtors.
- Experience working with creditors.
- Experience with cashbooks and bank reconciliations.
- Experience preparing or loading payments.
- Experience performing balance sheet reconciliations.
- Experience with stock or inventory accounting.
- Understanding of general ledger journals.
- Experience working with an ERP or integrated accounting system.
- Good Microsoft Excel skills.
Experience within a manufacturing, engineering, distribution, FMCG, construction materials or other stock-intensive environment will be strongly preferred.
HIGHLY ADVANTAGEOUS EXPERIENCE
The following experience would be particularly beneficial:
- Manufacturing accounting.
- Sage 200 Evolution.
- Stock reconciliations.
- Stocktakes.
- Bills of Materials.
- Raw material and finished goods accounting.
- Production environments.
- CGIC or other trade credit insurance.
- Debtor credit control.
- Payroll clocking systems.
- Time and attendance reporting.
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
The successful candidate should be:
- Accurate and detail-oriented.
- Practical and hands-on.
- Organised and methodical.
- Comfortable working in an operational manufacturing environment.
- Able to investigate discrepancies independently.
- Comfortable dealing with both finance and non-finance personnel.
- Deadline driven.
- Accountable and reliable.
- Able to supervise and support junior finance staff.
- Confident enough to challenge incorrect information.
- Able to identify control weaknesses and escalate issues appropriately.
Most importantly, the candidate should have a strong investigative mindset.
When stock does not reconcile, a customer account does not make sense, a supplier reconciliation is incorrect or payroll clockings appear unusual, the expectation is that the Accountant will investigate the underlying cause rather than simply process an adjustment.
REPORTING STRUCTURE
Accounts Payable Clerk
Responsible for:
- Supplier invoice capturing.
- Supporting documentation.
- Routine accounts payable administration.
- Basic supplier queries.
Accountant / Financial Accountant
Responsible for:
- Cashbooks and banking.
- Debtors.
- CGIC administration.
- Credit monitoring.
- Accounts payable management and review.
- Stock management.
- BOM management.
- Stocktakes.
- Payroll clocking reports.
- Clocking system administration.
- General ledger.
- Journals.
- Reconciliations.
- Month-end accounting preparation.
Group CFO
Responsible for:
- Management accounts.
- VAT.
- Tax.
- Treasury.
- Cash-flow management.
- Budgets and forecasting.
- Banking facilities.
- Group reporting.
- Executive reporting.
- Financial strategy.
- High-level financial controls.
IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE
This position would suit someone currently working as an:
- Accountant
- Financial Accountant
- Junior Financial Accountant
- Senior Bookkeeper
- Assistant Accountant
- Manufacturing Accountant
- Stock Accountant
- Cost Accountant with broader accounting exposure
The role is particularly suited to someone who enjoys being close to the operational side of a business, rather than someone who wants to focus purely on financial reporting.
The successful candidate should be able to take ownership of the daily accounting environment and provide the Group CFO with accurate, reconciled and reliable financial information.
EMPLOYMENT DETAILS
Position: Accountant / Financial Accountant – Manufacturing Location: Western Cape Employment Type: Permanent, Full-Time Reporting To: Group CFO Industry: Manufacturing / Building Materials
