Finance Officer - Federation of Canadian Municipalities

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has signed a contribution agreement with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) for a six-year project entitled Partnerships for Municipal Innovation – Women in Local Leadership (PMI-WILL). PMI-WILL intends to contribute to improved quality of life for women and girls, in particular those from marginalized groups, in Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Sri Lanka and Zambia. The project will use a two-pronged approach to achieve this goal:

• increasing the participation and enhancing the role of women as leaders and decision-makers in local governance
• increasing the effectiveness of local governments in delivering inclusive, gender-responsive public services.

FCM will implement the project in collaboration with national Local Government Associations (LGAs) in each country, selected local governments (LGs)/municipalities and other selected partners, including relevant Ministries, CSOs and women’s rights organizations. FCM will mobilize Canadian municipal practitioners and elected officials from FCM’s membership to provide peer-to-peer technical assistance.

The project office will be based in Ghana and covering all target countries, supported by the FCM head office in Ottawa, Canada.

Major Purpose

Under the direction of PMI-WILL’s Finance and Operations Manager based in Ghana and working in collaboration with the other members of the team, the Finance Officer is responsible for carrying out day-to-day accounting functions and providing support for the financial management of project activities with accuracy, transparency and due diligence.

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The Finance Officer will coordinate all aspects of the finance and accounting activities for a specific number of countries in addition to supporting the Project Field Office in Ghana, including, but not limited to: ensuring compliant and timely financial reporting, supporting our LGA partners in the financial aspects of the project, reviewing contractual agreements to ensure compliance with project agreements, and monitoring progress against budgets.

The Finance Officer protects FCM’s integrity, reputation and supports FMC’s role as a global leader in international cooperation aimed at strengthening local capacities and enhancing governance.

Key Responsibilities

Accounting duties including accounting system accounts payable and cash management

• Ensure that all expenses are properly documented and entered into the accounting system in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles, FCM’s policies and donor procedures;
• Ensure compliance with the provisions and laws of the country related to accounting, income tax, social security and labour law;
• Make the entry of all expense transactions into the project accounting system daily and ensure their accuracy and consistency with the supporting invoices, receipts or other documents;
• Ensure complete transparency of all financial transactions;
• Verify that all expenses have been accurately coded using the program’s Chart of Accounts;
• Conduct the monthly closing and fiscal year enclosing into the accounting system;
• Prepare monthly financial reports that are required by the Finance & Operations Manager according to the established format and deadlines;
• Ensure that all the documents within the Accounting Department are complete, properly filed, easily traceable and are kept strictly confidential at all times;
• Set up and implement a tracking system to ensure consultants and service providers comply with the commitments detailed in their contracts;
• Manage cash flow for the bank accounts, including funds transferred from Canada;
• Initiate process for payments and obtain final approval by the Finance & Operations Manager or the Director;
• Provide support to Project staff regarding financial arrangements for business travel (i.e.advances, mission expenses reconciliation, etc.) and verify that all travel-related expense reports are accurate and properly documented.

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Financial reports

• Reviews partner monthly financial reports and forecasts;
• Prepare conversion of expenses from local currencies to Canadian dollars for monthly journal entry to the FCM accounting system in Canada;
• Submit the monthly financial reports and supporting documents according to FCM regulations to Ottawa HO; including general ledger summary sheets, reconciliations, balance sheet, profit and loss and trial balance;
• Produce monthly financial reports for the Project financial monitoring; such as staff advances and vendor payments;
• Guide and review staff and partner’s expense reports and track the monthly submission in due course;
• Update finance templates to be more user friendly to staff and consultants.

Budget preparation and tracking

• Under the supervision of the Finance & Operations Manager,contributeto creating theannual workplanbudgetbyworking withthe project technical staffto reflect technical activityestimations;
• Assist in and preparemonthlybudgeting and financial planningto prepare monthly wire and cash flow of project;
• Monitorthemonthlyfinancialexpendituresofthe project activities by trackingbalancesusing the pipeline template;
• Perform financial classification and support technical team in providing activities budget codes to ensure efficient reporting.

Budget Analysis

• Analyse financial data from accounting system for decision support for Finance&Operations Manager;
• Analyse past financial spending trends and make recommendations for improvements;
• Evaluate financial performance by comparing and analysing actual cost with plans and forecasts;
• Utilize the accounting system functions to ease financial reports and data retrieving for efficient reporting;
• Track project commitments through direct collaboration with the project and admin staff in the FO office and partners.

Payroll

• Prepare the monthly payroll, including preparation and distribution of payslips and yearly income tax forms;
• Liaise with local governing bodies for the effectiveness of scheduled payments (Sales and Income Tax Department, Social Security Corporation and Labour Ministry, etc.);
• Responsible for reflecting income tax and social security laws amendments on staff and project finances.

Other duties

• Serve as the focal point of contact for theFCMexternal audit, provide all necessary means to complete the audit process promptly;
• Conduct a preliminary review of audit report including financial statements, trial balance, cash flow and profit and loss along with audit recommendations;
• Submit the financial annual report to the income tax department, if required locally;
• Liaise with bank staff on wire transfers, checks and bank guarantees;
• Coordinate with vendors, suppliers and consultants regarding payments and supporting documents;
• Provide support in finalising the residency and work permit for ex-pats;
• Deliver required financial capacity building pieces of training to partner municipalities related to creating budgets for initiatives proposals;
• Provide support in HR-related matters under the supervision of the Finance & Operations Manager for the project staff as requested;
• Perform other duties as assigned by finance & Operations that are consistent with the overall scope of the position.
• Duties and responsibilities may be modified or expanded upon at any time as required for the successful implementation of the project.

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Qualification Required & Experience

Knowledge, Education and Experience

• A university degree in Accounting
• A professional accounting designation preferred [e.g. Certified Professional Accountant (CPA), Certified Accountant (CA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified General Accountant (CGA) or equivalency in Ghana].
• Five (5) years’ experience as an accountant or Finance Officer, preferably in an international non-profit organization.
• Sound experience in computer business applications including accounting software, Quickbooks, MS Applications (Excel, Outlook, Word, Powerpoint, MS Project).
• Strong organization and communications skills.
• Demonstrated experience working within a team environment
• All applicants must be residents of Ghana or legally entitled to work in Ghana.

Language Requirements

Fluency in English is required. French is considered an asset.