The primary objective is to establish and oversee efficient systems for financial management for the Myanmar Program Office and field projects and develop capacity at the local level to carry those responsibilities. S/he will maintain appropriate communication with Project leaders, key donors and funding agencies and local governmental institutions (e.g. Ministries of Finance, Labor etc.). S/he will coordinate and consult regularly with the NY Program Manager and the Global Service Center (New York) to manage timely and accurate submission of reports. Responsibilities include:
General responsibilities
• Oversee, develop and empower all local finance and administrative staff to manage the finance and administrative functions effectively.
• Ensure financial efficiency in all aspects of operations, advising the Country Director of any problems or weakness in financial controls and procedures, and any ways in which costs could be reduced
• Strengthen and document administrative and financial policies and procedures
• Ensure that highest standards of financial integrity are followed
• Ensure that all projects/activities in the country program are respecting national legislation including customs regulations, labor rights, taxes, benefits, etc.
Financial Management
• Prepare and submit accounting and reporting on all country project expenditures to New York according to established procedures and deadlines
• Oversee monthly and year-end closure of accounts, reports and bank reconciliations
• In consultation with the Country Director and the Project Managers/Directors, ensure communication, reporting and administrative requirements of donors are met
• Perform budgeting, projections and cash flow management on a regular basis
• Assist in preparing budgets for project proposals and annual program budgeting
• Maintain the budget, including preparation of budget adjustments according to established procedures
• Ensure that up-to-date figures for costs of staff salaries and benefits
• Compile quarterly projections of expenditure and cash flow for projects and country office to ensure that sufficient funds are available for project operations
• Maintain an accurate database of project funding, including contracts, project budgets and donor-specific procedures and regulations
Monitoring and managing expenditures
• Ensure that all expenditures are made in accordance with established procedures, including verification of supporting documents and budget availability
• Monitor and review expenditure against budgets on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis by project and for country office as a whole
• Oversee the preparation of monthly financial reports including monitoring of expenditure against project activity budgets as well as project, org and account code.
• Where expenditures on projects is not in line with budgets, bring this to the attention of the project director and/or country director and make recommendations to adjust spending accordingly
• Monitor all bank transactions in coordination with NY and check and approve monthly bank reconciliations by the 10th day of the following month
• Ensure complete accounting records are maintained including vouchers, authorizations, and reconciliations, including both paper and electronic records. Ensure that back ups are made of data at least twice per week, and that a copy of the latest back up is maintained at a secure location out of the office.
• Ensure proper tracking of project advances to staff, ensuring that advances are accounted for in a timely manner according to procedures, and that an accurate balance sheet is kept of each staff member’s outstanding advances.
Audit and quality control
• Ensure that all transactions entered into the accounting system in the central office are correctly and consistently recorded, including donor and/or activity information where needed.
• Ensure that revenue and expenditure posted by NY is correct, and is assigned to the correct project, donor and account codes, and where problems are found ensure that these are resolved with the appropriate staff in NY along with project staff as required
• Supervise regular petty cash counts out on a weekly basis
• Assist in preparation of internal and/or external audits, prepare audit responses and ensure implementation of accepted recommendations
Contracts and sub-awards
• Review budgets for contracts and sub-awards to other organizations to verify that costs are reasonable and sufficient for proposed activities, and meet donor requirements for budget presentation
• Ensure that contractees and sub-awardees meet financial reporting requirements
• Where necessary, perform audits of contractee or sub-awardee financial systems and reports.
If you would like to apply or find out more information, please email jobs@afid.org.uk for more information.
