Accountant (Financial Reporting & Reconciliation) at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional grouping with 15 Member States in West Africa (three landlocked and one island) with a population of about 300million and an annual economic growth rate of around 6%. The ECOWAS Commission is one of the eight Regional Economic Communities supporting the African Union to coordinate the implementation of continental and regional integration and development programmes in the West African region.

We are currently seeking to employ suitably qualified candidates to fill the vacant position below:

Job Title: Accountant (Financial Reporting & Reconciliation)

Reference: ECW-FIN-REC/P/002/2017
Location: ECOWAS Commission, Abuja, Nigeria
Department: Finance
Grade: P3
Supervisor: Principal Accountant
Duration: Two years (with extension subject to “Staff Regulation” of the ECOWAS Commission, satisfactory performance and availability of funds)

Job Objective

• Reporting directly to the Principal Accountant (Reporting & Reconciliation), the Accountant has a responsibility for the execution of financial policies and regulations in the area of production of financial statements including Income & Expenditure statements, Balance Sheet and other reports as may be required by management.
• Ensure all ledger reconciliations and maintain an up to date record of all accounts.

General Description

• A major responsibility of this position is performing or managing the daily, weekly, and monthly financial activities that are required for the proper preparation of financial statements.
• The Accountant will be responsible for generating accurate, timely and complete financial statements, weekly/monthly/quarterly as required by the Financial Regulations.
• In addition, the Accountant would spend time on the supervision of the work of his staff including providing solutions to bank reconciliation problems as they arise from time to time. Providing guidance, motivating and mentoring of staff would be important to the success of this position.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Supervise and produce the requisite monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements with related notes;
• Supervise an up to date reconciliation of all ledgers so as to ensure the validity of financial statements in accordance with extant regulations;
• Supervise and review posting of transactions into the accounting software;
• Ensure efficient and effective functioning and maintenance of the accounting software;
• Liaise with the banks to provide weekly and monthly bank statements for all the bank accounts and ensure prompt update and reconciliation of each bank account;
• Check and certify the correctness of the bank reconciliation statements and ensure that they are filed safely for the review of both internal and external auditors;
• Liaise with the bank for any errors or misstatements found on the bank statements;
• Supervise staff working on reconciliation statements and ensure that they are provided with all the logistics needed for the proper accomplishment of the job;
• Ensure that guidelines and policies for cash operations are adequate and effective, and that such policies prevent significant errors in cash management;
• Provide reports on all dormant accounts and ensure prompt action is taken on them;
• Perform other related duties as required.

Qualifications, Knowledge, skills and abilities Required

• A Bachelor's degree in Accounting (or equivalent qualification) with additional 5 years of relevant record of professional experience. Being a professional accountant (CPA, ACCA, CIMA, CA etc.) will be an added advantage.
• A higher degree will reduce the number of years of experience to three (3);
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills (fluent) in one of the official languages of the ECOWAS Community (English, French and Portuguese). Good working knowledge of a second Community language will be an added advantage.
• Excellent knowledge of financial accounting principles and concepts including the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Experience with EU Pillar Assessment on Internal Control and Accounting will be an added advantage.
• Good knowledge of general aspects of financial management software and of at least one ERP software. Previous specific experience with SAP will be an asset.
• Sound knowledge of Financial Reporting, Financial Statements Analysis, and Financial Control techniques.
• Ability to operate standard Microsoft office software (Word, Excel, Power Point, Access)
• Good inter-personal skills and team working ability necessary to enable effective interaction in performing key financial activities of other team members and supervise their works, including peers. Proven record of experience in multicultural environments will be an added advantage.
• Ability to set and meet deadlines including strong ability to manage multiple tasks to completion and with set deadlines.
• Ability to make recommendations on key financial and managerial issues.

Language:

• Must be fluent in one of the official languages of the Commission; English, French and Portuguese. A working knowledge of another would be an advantage.

Annual Salary
USD 36,901 - USD 44,469.

Application Closing Date
29th August, 2017.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should download the "Application Form" below, fill the form and send it as an e-mail attachment along with their CV's to: [email protected]

Click here to download Application Form (Ms Word Format)