Finance Assistant - 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 (2021-2027) entitled Partnerships for Municipal Innovation – Women in Local Leadership (PMI-WILL). PMI-WILL aims to enhance the enjoyment of rights 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 municipal services.

FCM will implement the project in collaboration with national Local Government Associations (LGAs) in each country, selected local governments/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 field office is based in Ghana and covers all 5 countries, supported by FCM head office in Ottawa, Canada.

Major Purpose

Reporting to the Finance and Operations Manager, and working closely with the Finance Officers, the Finance Assistant will be responsible for providing financial support services for the PMI-WILL project. The Finance Assistant will assist with the financial duties related to compliance with the Contribution Agreement and FCM’s policies and procedures.

Key Responsibilities

• Responsible for entering disbursement information and ensuring expenses are reconciled with the accounting records;
• Reviews expense claims, advances and credit card statements against project budgets and other established processing procedures, assessing accuracy and eligibility, following up on any missing information or discrepancies, and coding according to established guidelines and proper signing authority;
• Assists Finance Officers with monthly journal entries and reconciliations;
• Assists with preparation of monthly reporting package for program staff;
• Assists with training of partner finance and admin staff on accounting procedures and processes as requires and attends regular partner finance team meetings;
• Reviews supplier contracts and ensures proper signing authority; creates purchasing requisitions for vendor contracts;
• Provides support and assistance to Finance and Operations Manager with spot audits of partners, and assists in external organizational / project audits by collecting required information;
• Participates in and/or supports the implementation of the finance Annual Work plan.
• Responsible for document retention (filing hardcopy and on the server) of financial documents

Qualification Required & Experience

Knowledge and Experience

• Legally entitled to work in Accra, Ghana
• First degree or bachelor’s degree in accounting and 3 years practical experience with accounting practices and procedures, specifically, general ledger activities and expense claim processing;

• Good analytical skills in order to reconcile accounts and prepare reports;
• Strong Organizational skills and the ability to work unsupervised;
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail is essential;
• Strong oral and written communication skills;
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office, specifically Excel and PowerPoint, and experience with accounting software packages.
• Ability to work in hybrid work environment.

Language

The ability to work in both official languages (English and French) is an asset.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is committed to fostering an organizational culture that embraces equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging, where individuals from diverse racial and ethnic identities, nationalities, social economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and physical and mental abilities can thrive and be fully engaged at their best level.

Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the recruitment and selection process.