Financial Controller

Job Title

Financial Controller

Department

Finance

Reporting To

Business Controller

Location

Aeroton, Johannesburg, South Africa

Employment Type

Full-time

Purpose of the Role

The Business Controller Assistant provides accurate, timely and well-documented financial, audit, tax and ERP system support to the Business Controller. The role assists with quarterly internal audits, the annual review of annual financial statements, SARS eFiling submissions, provisional tax calculations and the administration of the financial ERP environment, while maintaining strong access controls, reliable financial data, statutory compliance and complete audit-ready records.

Key Responsibilities

1. Quarterly Internal Audits

• Assist with planning and coordinating quarterly internal audits in line with the approved audit schedule.
• Prepare audit working papers, checklists, samples and supporting documentation.
• Perform agreed control testing and document the procedures performed, evidence obtained and results identified.
• Verify compliance with finance policies, approved procedures, delegated authorities and internal control requirements.
• Maintain an audit findings register and follow up with responsible employees on corrective actions and due dates.
• Escalate control gaps, repeated exceptions and overdue actions to the Business Controller.
• File audit evidence, reports and closure documentation in an orderly and retrievable manner.

2. Annual Financial Statements Review

• Assist with the annual review of the annual financial statements before approval and issue.
• Agree statement balances and note disclosures to the trial balance, general ledger, supporting schedules and prior-year comparative information.
• Check the mathematical accuracy, internal consistency, cross-references, presentation and completeness of the annual financial statements.
• Review supporting schedules for areas such as fixed assets, provisions, taxation, related parties and commitments, as allocated.
• Maintain a review checklist and record outstanding matters, proposed amendments and their resolution.
• Coordinate information requests and supporting documentation required by external auditors or independent reviewers.
• Maintain a complete, organised year-end file and protect the confidentiality of financial information.

3. SARS eFiling and Tax Compliance

• Prepare and capture assigned tax returns and supporting information on SARS eFiling for review and approval by the Business Controller.
• Verify taxpayer details, return periods, amounts and supporting schedules before submission.
• Maintain a tax compliance calendar and monitor filing and payment deadlines.
• Download and retain submission confirmations, statements of account, assessments and proof of payment.
• Monitor eFiling correspondence and promptly escalate notices, requests for information, discrepancies or rejected submissions.
• Maintain secure and confidential tax records with an appropriate audit trail.

4. Provisional Tax Calculations

• Prepare first and second provisional tax calculations, and an optional top-up calculation where required, for review by the Business Controller.
• Compile estimated taxable income using the latest approved management accounts, forecasts and supporting tax schedules.
• Reconcile accounting profit to estimated taxable income, including permanent differences, temporary differences, tax allowances and other relevant adjustments.
• Compare current estimates with prior submissions and the latest assessed information, investigate material movements and document the rationale applied.
• Prepare IRP6 supporting schedules, payment instructions and review packs before filing.
• Track submission and payment status and retain calculation sheets, approvals, submission confirmations and proof of payment.

5. ERP System Administration

• Administer the day-to-day finance functions of the ERP system and act as the first point of contact for finance-system queries.
• Create, amend, suspend and remove user access only after authorised approval, applying role-based access, least-privilege principles and appropriate segregation of duties.
• Maintain an access register, perform periodic user-access reviews and promptly address dormant, excessive or conflicting access.
• Maintain approved finance master data, configuration tables, workflows, posting rules, periods and reporting structures, with complete supporting documentation and change logs.
• Monitor scheduled jobs, interfaces and data flows between the ERP system and connected applications; investigate failed, incomplete or duplicate transactions.
• Perform system-to-ledger and source-to-ERP reconciliations to support the completeness, accuracy and integrity of financial data.
• Log, prioritise, investigate and resolve user incidents; escalate complex technical matters to IT, the ERP service provider or other relevant specialists and track them through to closure.
• Coordinate approved system changes, patches, upgrades and enhancements, including requirements documentation, risk assessment, user acceptance testing, evidence retention, deployment validation and rollback planning.
• Support month-end and year-end processing from a systems perspective, including period controls, posting validation, scheduled reports and resolution of system-related exceptions.
• Develop and maintain ERP procedures, process maps, user guides, configuration records and training material, and provide training to finance users.
• Support audit and compliance reviews by providing system reports, access records, change histories, audit trails and evidence of control performance.
• Monitor system performance, data quality and recurring issues, and recommend practical control, automation and process improvements.
• Coordinate with IT on backup, recovery, business-continuity and disaster-recovery requirements for the financial system, and retain evidence of agreed testing.
• Protect confidential financial information and comply with company information-security, change-management, data-retention and acceptable-use requirements.

6. Other Ad Hoc Projects

• Assist the Business Controller with ad hoc finance and process-improvement projects as required.
• Gather and analyse information, prepare schedules or reports, and coordinate project actions with relevant stakeholders.
• Complete assigned project tasks accurately and within agreed deadlines, while maintaining appropriate supporting documentation.

Minimum Qualifications and Experience

• Honours in Financial Accounting or at least a bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, Business Information Technology or a related field.
• Three to Five years’ relevant experience in accounting, audit support, financial reporting, tax administration or financial systems administration.
• Practical experience administering or supporting an ERP or accounting system; experience with Syspro, M3, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics or a comparable platform is advantageous.
• Working knowledge of user-access administration, role design, segregation of duties, master-data governance, system controls and audit trails.
• Experience with incident management, change control, user acceptance testing, upgrades, interfaces and system documentation.
• Ability to reconcile data between source systems, subledgers and the general ledger and to investigate data-integrity exceptions.
• Understanding of core finance processes, including general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets, inventory, tax and financial reporting.
• Working knowledge of South African tax compliance and SARS eFiling.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and competence in Word and Outlook; reporting, data-query or business-intelligence exposure is advantageous.
• Basic knowledge of databases, data structures, reporting