ACCOUNTS PAYABLES OFFICER

Job Purpose

The Accounts Payable Officer – Accounts Payable and Reconciliations is responsible for supporting the effective operation of the Finance Department through the timely reconciliation of vendor accounts, management of advances and prepaid balances, preparation of accounting schedules, credit card reconciliations, audit support, and proper maintenance of financial records.

The role requires regular interaction with internal departments, suppliers, auditors, banks, and other external stakeholders to resolve outstanding matters and ensure that accounting records are complete, accurate, properly supported, and maintained within established reporting deadlines.

The position will also support interim and final audits, month-end reporting, and other finance-related duties as assigned.

Key Responsibilities

1. Audit Support

The Accounts Payable Officer will assist the Finance Department in preparing for interim and final audits. This includes preparing audit schedules, submitting supporting documents, assisting with sample testing, following up on outstanding audit information, and ensuring that all audit documentation is properly filed and readily available for review.

The officer is also expected to maintain an audit request tracker showing requests received, responsible persons, submission dates, and outstanding items. Any delays or unresolved audit matters should be escalated to the Accounts Payable Supervisor or Finance Manager.

2. Vendor Reconciliations

The officer will be responsible for reconciling assigned vendor accounts to supplier statements, the Accounts Payable subledger, and the general ledger where applicable. This includes investigating differences between invoices, payments, supplier statements, credit notes, and accounting records.

The officer must follow up with vendors and internal departments to resolve missing invoices, unapplied payments, credit notes, long-outstanding balances, and other reconciling items. All reconciliations must be properly supported, clearly explained, and maintained in an organised manner.

3. Cash Advances and Prepaid Accounts

The officer will review, reconcile, and maintain assigned cash advance and prepaid creditor accounts. This includes following up with internal departments, suppliers, customs agents, and other stakeholders to obtain invoices, receipts, customs documents, and other supporting information required to clear outstanding balances.

Long-outstanding advances or unsupported balances must be investigated and escalated with recommendations for resolution.

4. Filing and Record Management

The officer must ensure that Accounts Payable documentation is filed promptly and systematically. This includes invoices, payment documents, reconciliations, schedules, receipts, and other supporting records.

Both electronic and physical records, where applicable, must be maintained in accordance with Finance Department procedures. Records should be organised and easily retrievable for management, audit, regulatory, and reporting purposes.

5. Corporate Credit Card Reconciliations

The officer will assist with reconciling company credit cards to the relevant credit card statements, subledger, and general ledger accounts. This includes matching transactions to statements, invoices, receipts, and other supporting documents.

The officer must follow up with cardholders for missing receipts, unsupported expenditure, or disputed transactions, and assist in ensuring that payments, refunds, foreign exchange differences, bank charges, and other adjustments are correctly reflected.

6. Financial Schedules and Reconciliations

The officer will prepare and maintain assigned balance sheet schedules and supporting reconciliations. This includes reconciling accrued expenses, spares, purchase orders, goods received, invoices, Accounts Payable records, and other related accounts.

The officer must investigate reconciling items, ensure schedules agree to the general ledger, and provide explanations for unusual or significant balances. Schedules must be kept current and prepared to a standard suitable for management review and external audit.

7. Meeting Deadlines and Progress Reporting

All assigned reconciliations, schedules, reports, and audit requests must be completed within the deadlines set by the Finance Department. The officer is expected to manage competing priorities, maintain version control, organise working files, and provide regular updates on outstanding matters.

Any issue that may prevent a deadline from being met must be communicated promptly to the Accounts Payable Supervisor or Finance Manager.

8. General Finance Support

The officer may be required to assist with additional reports, reconciliations, investigations, financial analyses, payment-processing support, month-end close activities, audit requests, and process-improvement initiatives.

The officer may also be assigned other reasonable finance-related duties by the Finance Manager or designated supervisor.

Key Performance Expectations

Performance in the role will be assessed based on:

Accuracy – reconciliations must agree to the relevant general ledger, subledger, supplier statements, or supporting records. Reconciling items must be supported, clearly explained, and followed up.

Timeliness – audit requests, weekly reconciliations, monthly schedules, advances, supplier reconciliations, and other deliverables must be completed within agreed deadlines.

Completeness – all reconciliations and schedules must include sufficient supporting documentation. Outstanding items must be tracked until properly resolved.

Stakeholder Follow-up – regular and professional follow-up must be maintained with suppliers, Purchasing, Stores, Treasury, Finance personnel, credit card holders, banks, customs agents, and other relevant stakeholders.

Record Management – schedules and supporting documents must be properly filed, backed up where required, and maintained in the approved shared location.

Required Knowledge and Skills

The incumbent should demonstrate:

Knowledge of Accounts Payable processes and controls.

Understanding of vendor statement reconciliations, general ledger reconciliations, subledger reconciliations, advances, prepayments, and accruals.

Ability to prepare audit schedules and maintain supporting documentation.

Strong Microsoft Excel skills, including formulas, lookups, filters, PivotTables, and reconciliation techniques.

Working knowledge of an ERP system would be an asset.

Good organisational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

Strong attention to detail and ability to work with large volumes of financial information.

Effective written and verbal communication skills.

Ability to follow up professionally and persistently with internal and external stakeholders.

Ability to prioritise tasks and meet deadlines.

Minimum Qualifications and Experience

CAT or A Diploma or Associate Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related discipline would be an asset.

At least 1 to 3 years’ experience in Accounts Payable, general accounting, reconciliations, audit support, or a similar finance role would be desirable.

Experience in a manufacturing, FMCG, distribution, or high-volume transaction environment would be an advantage.