Job Details
Finance: budgeting and forecasting, creating interim and annual financial statements, facilitating internal mergers and acquisitions, as well as dealing with analysts and investors.
Job Purpose
Provide overall direction for the creation and maintenance of the integrity of the Finance Master Data for the Group as well as ICBC to ensure that internal and external reporting requirements are met and that the data conform to statutory, regulatory and other legislative requirements as well as internal Group Policies.
Finance Master Data includes the Group’s Chart of Accounts (i.e. General Ledger Accounts), Cost/Profit Centres, Legal Entities and hierarchies/structures for all of the above.
Provide guidance and advice to the Finance across the Group (including executives) to ensure Master Data is consistently and optimally used as intended, including finding solutions for complicated data needs, considering the impact on the Bank’s myriad of systems.
Key Responsibilities/Accountabilities
Manage the maintenance of the Group’s Chart of Accounts
Partner with and guide senior Finance members across the group regarding any proposed changes to the Group’s Chart of Accounts and ensure the Group’s reporting requirements are not compromised and that the Group maintains a lean General Ledger.
Critically assess all requests for new GL accounts and collaborate with senior finance across the bank (including Group technical and Tax team) to ensure validity of the request and consider alternative solutions for the data need (e.g. use of sub-ledger or existing GL accounts)
Ensure quality assurance for all GL account change requests (open/close/change), e.g.
Appropriate authorisations (including Group Technical and Group Consolidation team for changes to account nodes)
Adequate motivation for the creation of new accounts, including light weight business cases / product papers for bulk account opening and assurance that the account will be owned by someone and used as intended
All fields were completed and where necessary, that supporting documents were attached (e.g. accounting flows)
Naming convention of accounts and account nodes are in line with Group standards
Correct mapping to all account hierarchies
New nodes are created at the correct level in each of the hierarchies and that they are created in the correct area
Consider the impact of deleting nodes and ensure it will not cause issues (e.g. relevant data for reporting no longer available or failure of source feeds)
Manage VAT settings for income statement accounts querying if a setting is not provided]
Ensure that all NII income statement accounts are linked to an alternate balance sheet account for margin purposes
Collaborate with Finance Technology (i.e. IT function supporting Finance) to ensure that all hierarchy mapping changes are accurately performed within monthly deadlines.
General maintenance of the Group’s Chart of Accounts
Monitor and query the correct usage of GL accounts (e.g. assets with credit balances, revenue accounts with debit balances etc.
Ensure static balances are cleared where needed and close accounts that are no longer required/used or whose volumes don’t warrant a separate account whilst being cognisant of source feeds and impact on other systems
Partner with the accounting technical department to ensure compliance with IFRS regulations
Partner with the tax department at times for complex tax accounts and VAT issues to ensure compliance with the relevant legislations
Partner with HC to ensure that all salary related accounts are duly authorised and correctly interfaced with the payroll system
Understand and manage the impact on source systems to ensure that accounts have been set up correctly at source if required (e.g. source system feeds into the General Ledger)
Ensure the appropriateness of all source system mappings before being mapped by Finance Technology (i.e. IT function supporting Finance) (e.g. authorised and that the relevant SAP account is active and correct).
Ensure all Branch accounts have been created at source before creating a SAP GL account and ensure they are appropriately linked to a SAP GL account.
Manage the maintenance of the Group’s Cost/Profit centres structure
Partner with and guide BU Finance (senior management) regarding any proposed changes to their cost centre structures and ensure the Group’s reporting requirements are not compromised.
Ensure quality assurance for all cost centre structures change requests, e.g.
Appropriate authorisations
Adequate motivation for changes
All fields were completed and where necessary that supporting documents were attached (e.g. a signed organogram for complex moves and business restructures)
Naming convention of centres and nodes are in line with Group standards
Correct mapping to all 5 hierarchies
New nodes are created at the correct level in each of the hierarchies and that they are created in the correct area
Consider the impact of deleting nodes and ensure it will not cause issues (e.g. relevant data for reporting no longer available or failure of source feeds)
Collaborate with Finance Technology (i.e. IT function supporting Finance) to ensure that all hierarchy mapping changes (to all 5 hierarchies) are accurately performed within monthly deadlines.
Guide Business regarding the process and implications to close centres and ensure that all balances have been cleared and headcount moved before a centre is closed (and that there are no outstanding PO’s in the pipeline)
General maintenance of cost centre structures
Periodically review cost centre structures with the view of identifying unused nodes and centres which could be deleted to streamline the Group’s structure.
Managing the maintenance of the Group’s legal entity structure in SAP
Ensure that the Group’s legal entity structure is accurately maintained in SAP
Ensure quality assurance for all change requests relating to company structures, e.g.
Appropriate authorisations (including Group Consolidation team and Group Secretarial Services (to ensure necessary statutory and regulatory approvals have been received))
All fields are appropriately completed
Correct mapping to all the company hierarchies
New nodes are created at the correct level in each of the hierarchies and that they are created in the correct area
Collaborate with Finance Technology (i.e. IT function supporting Finance) to ensure that all companies are accurately mapped to the relevant legal entity hierarchies within monthly deadlines.
Guide Business regarding the process and implications with deregistered/closed/sold companies and ensure that these companies are timeously locked in SAP (variant 7) and that all centres attached to the company have been appropriately cleared and closed.
Manage and enforce the Group’s freeze periods
Ensure that there are no master data changes in the month end freeze between BD1 and BD5
Ensure that there are no structural changes in the critical reporting periods i.e. year-end, half year end, budget and revised estimate processes
Ensure that structural changes are only done between BD6 and BD-6
Provide assurance that the FMI updates have been successfully executed on BD-6
Assess change request received in the freeze period and manage that all critical changes are done and appropriately approved (e.g. the RTB/CTB board and head of Group Budgeting).
Ad-hoc deliverables
Represent Group Central Finance as a Finance Data Steward. This entails attending the monthly Finance Data Steward workshops and participate and drive data improvement initiatives
Ensure that the Master data policy is reviewed and updated every 2 years and ensure compliance to the policy
Provide general guidance to the Finance community regarding the correct usage of GL accounts
Assisting with interface failures where incorrect/invalid accounts have been used and advise on correct allocation
Manage the extension of accounts to the COUPA procurement system
Partner with Finance Technology (i.e. IT function supporting Finance) to point out system problems and failures, and ensure that Master data request are timeously and adequately actioned by them
Manage and assist with external audit queries during the annual audit and ensure the auditors are directed to the appropriate people who can assist them
Preferred Qualification and Experience
B Com Accounting Honours, or equivalent/Chartered Accountant or equivalent
7 - 10 years of experience in a financial accounting environment with systems knowledge of source systems and familiarity with the SAP system.
3 years Financial Control related experience or experience in Master Data management
Knowledge/Technical Skills/Expertise
3 to 4 years SAP experience and it’s various modules BW, R3 and BCS
4-5 years in an accounting department in a Business unit or Group company
Knowledge of the General Ledger function and the Group’s structures as well as the support systems of the various Business units and how each impact on SAP production system
Knowledge of the Planning process, vendor, fixed assets and transfer accounts process.
Good knowledge of the Bank’s products and process flows to assist users in identifying the correct GL account to be used
Knowledge of tax and VAT implications and their impact on the Chart of Accounts
