Job Description

We're looking for a motivated and experienced Financial Manager to join our growing franchise division. This is a key role that will be responsible for the financial health and management of a specific region, working closely with our franchisees and leading a small finance team.
The Financial Manager is responsible to execute and takes accountability for the OK Franchise Western Cape divisional financial service portfolio from end to end. The purpose of the role is to drive the strategic growth agenda, operational excellence, critical stakeholder management, bad debts management and financial budgetary targets. The role is critical to ensure financial effectiveness throughout the regions departments and segments within the OK Franchise Western Cape division.
The role is responsible for day-to-day account reconciliation and reporting related to OKFD Western Cape's financials. The Financial Manager leverages their specialised tactical knowledge as a key success factor in providing support to a variety of financial, operational and project scenarios.
Job Advert Details
Job Category Finance
Job Objectives

• Lead and prepare for monthly financial meetings for the region.
• Report on financial performance of corporate stores (ex member sites operated under Shoprite name).
• Perform data driven analyses and solutions of operational matters that have financial impact.
• Ensure that expenses are allocated to the correct accounts, cost centres and divisions.
• Identify risks and implement mitigating risk controls by involving all stakeholders
• Ensure awareness, involvement, and support of all key stakeholders and cross-functional teams i.e., buying, information technology and various internal and external functional areas by maintaining robust collaboration and communication.
• Contributing to business needs analysis & development issues of finance related SAP & other projects

General ledger Review:

• Review the general ledger (GL), which serves as the central repository for financial transactions.
• Review financial transactions accurately and timeously.
• Take full ownership of the accounting functions for the region and ensure that IFRS standards are adhered to.

Financial reporting: (Franchise Business)

• Gather pertinent financial data, including transaction records, invoices, and bank statements.
• Compile management statements on a monthly basis summarizing and analysing revenue, expenses, net income and all income statement line items pertaining to the region over a specific period.
• Ensure the analysis pertaining to the region's credit/debtor management is appropriately included in the management statements.
• Work through the monthly creditor reporting points and present the findings thereof in the monthly management accounts.
• Manage necessary adjustments, such as accruals for expenses or revenue recognition, to ensure precise financial reporting.
• Review and validate statements for accuracy, consistency, and compliance with accounting standards.
• Calculate, review and report on member incentive schemes to share with management and franchisees.

Financial reporting preparation: (Corporate stores - where applicable)

• Review financial reporting on corporate stores monthly.
• Assist and provide financial information when corporate stores come up for sale.
• Keep stakeholders informed and report on a timely basis the total profit / loss position of each store (or where applicable).

Credit & Risk Management

• Onboarding of franchisees, including review of Cashflow projections, reviewing new store viability in line with OK Franchise Benchmarks.
• Monitor and follow up on overdue debtor accounts in accordance with company credit policies and agreed payment terms.
• Identify and escalate high-risk or persistently overdue accounts to the Credit & Legal Department for appropriate action and resolution.
• Implement, monitor and review of credit limits with existing and new franchisees on a weekly, monthly basis.
• Preparation and review of Cash Flow Statements as and when necessary for cross-departmental support purposes.
• Maintaining of outstanding loan accounts including updating of interest payable.

Budget Preparation

• Assist the Divisional Management team with the compilation of the Turnover budget to ensure that the required turnover growth is achieved taking into consideration:
• Forecast the Turnover based on ytd actual trend to determine the Turnover base to be used for budget purposes.
• Determine Deleted Business
• Determine New Business: Taking into consideration month of store opening and impact of opening stock.
• Determine Growth on Existing Business: Taking into consideration any know factors that might increase/decrease turnover i.e. refurbishments.
• Prepare Income & Expense budget based on guidelines, market trends, prior year trends and any known factors at time of budget.
• Ensure that the required growth & profit margins are achieved as per instruction.

Audit Preparation:

• Maintain and update records on a regular basis to ensure a smooth audit
• Monitor developments instituted by regulatory bodies and remain updated to ensure accurate financial reporting.
• Manage timelines to ensure accuracy and timely delivery of audit review.
• Working closely with the audit function to ensure that all risks and related areas of reconciliations are identified for audit purposes - and communicating with, participating in and supporting all audit activities and closing of findings etc.

Qualifications

• Qualified Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)) - (preferred)
• BCom Finance, Commercial or equivalent - (essential)

Experience

• + 5 years of relevant experience in the Financial Services industry (especially franchise related) - (essential).
• Exposure to and an understanding of Corporate, Retail, and/or Customer interfacing environment in a similar role (non-sector specific) - (preferred).

Knowledge and Skills

• Advanced Excel experience - (essential).
• Extensive exposure to SAP - (preferred).
• Franchise operating model exposure - (preferred)

Skills Required