The Senior Accountant will be responsible for maintaining accurate financial records, strengthening financial controls, and supporting the financial management of Domaine Kenya Ltd.
The role will oversee general ledger accounting, inventory and stock accounting, supplier and customer accounts, statutory compliance, payroll, budgeting, and management reporting. The Senior Accountant will work closely with management, sales, procurement, warehousing, and logistics teams to ensure the accurate financial reporting of the company’s wine importation, distribution, and sales activities.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
Financial Accounting and Reporting
- Maintain the general ledger and ensure that all financial transactions are accurately and promptly recorded.
- Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements and management accounts.
- Review and analyse financial performance, including revenue, gross margins, operating costs, and profitability.
- Prepare monthly balance-sheet reconciliations and resolve outstanding reconciling items.
- Maintain appropriate accounting records and supporting documentation for all transactions.
- Support the preparation of annual financial statements and coordinate external audit requirements.
- Ensure that accounting records comply with applicable accounting standards, company policies, and legal requirements.
Inventory and Stock Accounting
- Maintain accurate financial records for wines and other products held in the company’s warehouses and distribution points.
- Reconcile physical stock records to the accounting and inventory-management systems.
- Monitor stock receipts, transfers, sales, returns, breakages, damages, expiries, and promotional stock.
- Investigate and report stock variances in collaboration with the warehouse, sales, and logistics teams.
- Ensure that the cost of inventory includes the appropriate purchase cost, freight, insurance, customs duty, excise duty, and other directly attributable costs.
- Monitor slow-moving, damaged, and obsolete inventory and recommend appropriate accounting treatment.
- Participate in periodic and annual physical stock counts and ensure that all variances are properly documented and resolved.
Accounts Payable and Supplier Management
- Manage supplier accounts and ensure invoices are properly supported, approved, and recorded.
- Prepare supplier reconciliations and resolve discrepancies promptly.
- Review payment schedules and ensure suppliers are paid in accordance with approved credit terms.
- Verify importation, freight, clearing, and logistics costs before payment.
- Maintain accurate records of local and international suppliers.
- Ensure that payments are supported by valid invoices, purchase orders, delivery documents, and relevant approvals.
Accounts Receivable and Credit Control
- Ensure timely and accurate invoicing of customers through the approved accounting and invoicing systems.
- Maintain accurate customer accounts and allocate receipts promptly.
- Monitor customer credit limits, outstanding balances, and overdue accounts.
- Prepare regular debtor-ageing reports and coordinate collection of outstanding amounts with the sales team.
- Reconcile customer statements and resolve invoicing, pricing, discount, and payment disputes.
- Ensure that credit notes, discounts, promotional offers, and customer rebates are appropriately authorised.
- Recommend corrective action for long-outstanding or doubtful debts.
Revenue, Sales and Margin Management
- Reconcile daily and monthly sales to invoices, receipts, bank deposits, mobile-money collections, and inventory movements.
- Review product pricing, discounts, and sales margins to ensure they are accurately reflected in the accounting system.
- Prepare sales reports by product, customer, sales channel, region, and salesperson.
- Monitor gross-profit margins and investigate unusual fluctuations.
- Ensure that cash and other collections are banked intact and within the required timelines.
- Review sales returns, product replacements, damaged goods, and promotional stock transactions.
Banking, Cash and Treasury Management
- Manage and reconcile all company bank accounts, mobile-money accounts, cashbooks, and suspense accounts.
- Prepare daily or periodic cash-position reports for management.
- Monitor cash flows and support the preparation of short- and medium-term cash-flow forecasts.
- Ensure that all receipts and payments are recorded accurately and promptly.
- Manage petty cash and ensure that all expenditure is properly approved, supported, and reconciled.
- Assist management in planning for supplier payments, taxes, payroll, and other financial obligations.
Tax and Statutory Compliance
- Prepare and submit all applicable statutory returns accurately and within the prescribed timelines.
- Ensure compliance with VAT, PAYE, withholding tax, corporate tax, excise duty, and other applicable statutory requirements.
- Ensure that invoices and credit notes are processed through the required electronic tax-invoicing system.
- Reconcile statutory deductions and tax-control accounts every month.
- Maintain proper tax records and supporting documentation.
- Support the company during tax audits, compliance reviews, and correspondence with regulatory authorities.
- Monitor changes in tax requirements affecting wine importation, distribution, and sale, and advise management accordingly.
Payroll Administration
- Prepare and process the monthly payroll accurately and within the approved timelines.
- Verify salaries, allowances, commissions, bonuses, deductions, and other payroll changes.
- Ensure timely remittance of payroll-related statutory deductions.
- Reconcile payroll records to the general ledger.
- Maintain the confidentiality and security of employee payroll information.
- Coordinate with management on approved employee changes affecting payroll.
Fixed Assets
- Maintain an accurate and up-to-date fixed-asset register.
- Record asset acquisitions, transfers, depreciation, disposals, and write-offs.
- Conduct periodic physical verification of company assets.
- Ensure that all company assets are properly tagged, safeguarded, and accounted for.
- Reconcile the fixed-asset register to the general ledger.
Budgeting and Financial Planning
- Support the preparation of annual budgets, forecasts, and departmental expenditure plans.
- Monitor actual income and expenditure against approved budgets.
- Prepare regular budget-variance reports and explain significant deviations.
- Support management in pricing, investment, procurement, and cost-control decisions.
- Provide financial analysis to guide sales targets, product profitability, and business expansion.
Internal Controls and Risk Management
- Implement and monitor financial policies, procedures, and internal controls.
- Identify financial, operational, and compliance risks and recommend corrective measures.
- Ensure proper segregation of duties and adherence to delegated approval limits.
- Review transactions for accuracy, completeness, validity, and appropriate authorisation.
- Support the development and improvement of finance, inventory, and reporting systems.
- Safeguard the company’s cash, inventory, records, and other financial assets.
Leadership and Team Supervision
- Supervise, guide, and review the work of Accounts Assistants and other designated finance personnel.
- Allocate duties and monitor completion of finance tasks within agreed timelines.
- Provide coaching and on-the-job support to finance team members.
- Promote accountability, teamwork, professionalism, and continuous improvement within the department.
- Work collaboratively with the sales, procurement, warehouse, logistics, and administration teams.
- Perform any other finance-related duties assigned by the General Manager.
Requirements
Qualifications and Experience
- A bachelor’s degree in Commerce, Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
- Full professional accounting qualification, preferably CPA(K), ACCA, or an equivalent recognised qualification.
- Membership in good standing with the relevant professional accounting body.
- At least five years of relevant accounting experience, including responsibility for management accounts, general ledger accounting, budgeting, and financial controls.
- Experience in wine, alcoholic beverages, fast-moving consumer goods, importation, distribution, hospitality, or retail sectors will be an added advantage.
- Demonstrable experience in inventory accounting, stock reconciliation, credit control, and statutory compliance.
- Proficiency in accounting and enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) systems.
- Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft Office applications.
- Experience supervising finance or accounts personnel will be an added advantage.
Required Knowledge, Skills and Competencies
- Strong knowledge of financial accounting, management accounting, and internal controls.
- Understanding of inventory costing, landed-cost allocation, and stock-management processes.
- Knowledge of Kenyan taxation and statutory reporting requirements.
- Strong analytical, numerical, and problem-solving skills.
- High level of accuracy and attention to detail.
- Ability to prepare and interpret financial and management reports.
- Strong planning and organizational skills, with the ability to manage competing deadlines.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong leadership and team-management capability.
- Commercial awareness and the ability to support management decision-making.
- High standards of confidentiality, integrity, and professional conduct.
- Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
- Ability to collaborate effectively with internal departments, customers, suppliers, auditors, and regulatory authorities.
- Results-oriented, proactive, dependable, and able to work effectively in a fast-paced environment.
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