Accountant at The People Practice

Our client, a fast-growing culinary company, is looking to hire an Accountant who will have sole internal accountability for the integrity of the organisation Limited’s financial records, statutory compliance, management reporting, and internal controls.

The company also retains external accountants who provide accounting services, and the Accountant will be expected to work hand in hand with them on an ongoing basis, ensuring seamless coordination, consistent data, and clear delineation of responsibilities. This is a hands-on, senior-level role requiring someone who takes ownership without prompting, identifies risks before they materialise, and understands that in a company of this size the finance function has no margin for errors of omission.

The Accountant will supervise the Account Officer and serve as the primary internal contact for all external financial advisers, auditors, and tax consultants.

Responsibilities

QuickBooks Online: Data Integrity and Stewardship

• Assume full stewardship of the company’s QuickBooks Online account from day one, including completing an immediate health check covering chart of accounts structure, VAT, WHT, and PAYE configuration accuracy.
• Maintain complete, accurate, and current records at all times. The chart of accounts, customer and vendor records, and full transaction history must be audit-ready on demand.
• Perform weekly bank reconciliations across all corporate bank accounts and flag any unreconciled items or anomalies to the Managing Director without delay.
• Implement and maintain a documented data backup protocol. Loss of accounting data is not an acceptable risk and will be treated as a serious performance failure.
• Ensure no external party has the ability to alter, export, or delete company data from QuickBooks without the Managing Director’s explicit written authorisation.
• Reconcile QuickBooks records against Shopify sales data on a weekly basis to ensure revenue completeness and accuracy, including reconciliation of payment gateway settlements.

Bank Account Monitoring and Fraud Prevention

• Review all corporate bank account transactions daily and cross-reference against authorised payment records.
• Immediately report any transaction that does not correspond to an approved payment instruction to the Managing Director, regardless of amount.
• Maintain a register of all authorised signatories, payment counterparties, and approved payment channels. Query any deviation from established payment patterns before processing or accepting transactions.
• Work proactively with the company’s bankers to ensure account security controls, transaction alerts, and access restrictions are in place and functioning.
• Conduct a monthly bank mandate review to confirm that only current, authorised personnel have access to corporate accounts. Report any discrepancy immediately.
• Maintain a log of all banking correspondence, access changes, and security-related incidents for internal governance purposes.

Tax and Statutory Compliance

• Prepare and file monthly VAT returns accurately and on time with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Every return must be independently verified before submission.
• Process and remit WHT and PAYE deductions within statutory deadlines without exception.
• Maintain a live compliance calendar covering all federal and state tax obligations, with advance reminders built in. No deadline is to be missed under any circumstances.
• Liaise directly with the company’s external tax consultants (currently Bradley Professional Services) and provide complete, accurate documentation for all periodic reviews.
• Take ownership of any FIRS, LIRS, or State IRS correspondence and escalate to the Managing Director immediately upon receipt.
• Maintain a complete tax filing archive, including evidence of all returns filed, payments made, and receipts obtained, organised by period and tax type.

Payroll

• Process monthly payroll accurately, including PAYE, pension (PFA), NHF, ITF, NSITF, and all other statutory deductions applicable.
• Ensure all remittances are completed on time and retain documentary evidence of each filing and payment.
• Maintain payroll records in a format that is accessible, auditable, and reconcilable to bank statements at any point.
• Process and document any changes to staff compensation, new hires, and exits in a timely manner with appropriate approvals.

Management Accounts and Reporting

• Produce monthly management accounts comprising profit and loss statement, balance sheet, and cash flow summary, delivered to the Managing Director by the 10th working day of each month.
• Provide event-level and product-level cost analyses to support the Managing Director’s pricing and margin decisions across the organisation’s three business pillars (Sweet Treats, Events, and the Academy).
• Prepare a monthly variance commentary identifying material differences between budget and actual performance, with explanations and recommended actions.
• Maintain accurate petty cash records and produce a reconciliation on request at any time.
• Produce a monthly cash flow forecast projecting a minimum of 60 days ahead, flagging any anticipated shortfalls or liquidity risks to the Managing Director in advance.
• Provide quarterly business performance summaries to support strategic planning and any investor or stakeholder reporting requirements.

Internal Controls

• Implement and maintain a documented internal controls framework covering payment authorisation, cash handling, procurement, inventory costing, and bank access, aligned with the company’s SOP Manual.
• Maintain an accurate and up-to-date fixed asset register with condition assessments conducted annually.
• Conduct periodic surprise checks on petty cash, inventory valuations, and expense claims. Report any irregularity to the Managing Director immediately.
• Ensure that all financial transactions above a threshold agreed with the Managing Director require dual authorisation.
• Document all internal control procedures and update them as the business evolves, ensuring the Account Officer is trained and compliant.
• Maintain a risk register identifying key financial risks, their likelihood, impact, and the mitigating controls in place.

Cost Management and Operational Finance

• Work with the Operations Manager and Head of Kitchen to track food costs, packaging costs, and event production costs against budgets, flagging overruns promptly.
• Reconcile inventory data from Apicbase against financial records to ensure consistency between operational and financial reporting.
• Review vendor contracts and payment terms periodically to identify cost-saving opportunities or renegotiation possibilities.
• Track and report on all operational expenditure by category, enabling data-driven procurement decisions.

Coordination with External Accountants and Advisers

• Work hand in hand with the company’s external accountants on all shared accounting functions, ensuring that data flows between internal and external teams are timely, accurate, and fully reconciled.
• Agree and maintain a clear, documented delineation of responsibilities between the in-house finance function and the external accountants, ensuring there are no gaps or duplication of effort. This delineation must be reviewed periodically and updated as the business evolves.
• Provide the external accountants with all financial data, schedules, reconciliations, and supporting documentation they require to perform their services, within agreed timeframes.
• Conduct regular check-ins with the external accountants to review progress on shared deliverables, resolve discrepancies, and ensure alignment on reporting standards and accounting treatments.
• Serve as the primary internal contact for external auditors (Baker Tilly Nigeria / Kreston Pedabo) during annual audit exercises, providing all schedules, working papers, and documentation required.
• Coordinate with the company’s external tax consultants (currently Bradley Professional Services) on all tax advisory and compliance matters, ensuring consistency between internal records and externally filed returns.
• Support the Managing Director in responding to any regulatory or tax authority enquiries.
• Prepare a year-end audit file to a standard that minimises audit queries and facilitates a clean audit opinion.
• Escalate to the Managing Director any disagreements, delays, or quality concerns arising from the working relationship with external accountants or advisers.

Supervision and Team Development

• Directly supervise the Account Officer, delegating appropriate tasks while retaining accountability for output quality and accuracy.
• Provide on-the-job training and mentorship to the Account Officer, building internal capacity and ensuring continuity in the finance function.
• Conduct periodic quality checks on the Account Officer’s work and escalate performance concerns through the appropriate channels.

Technology and Systems

• Proficiency in QuickBooks Online is mandatory. The Accountant must be capable of configuring and managing the system end-to-end without external support for routine operations.
• Familiarity with Shopify reporting and the ability to reconcile e-commerce sales data against financial records.
• Competence in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets at an advanced level (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, data validation, financial modelling).
• Openness to working with additional business systems including Apicbase (recipe and inventory management) and Rotageek (staff scheduling) as the company’s technology stack evolves and supporting any future ERP migration.

Must have skills

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present financial information clearly and concisely to a non-finance audience.
• A proactive, ownership-oriented mindset. The successful candidate must identify issues and act on them without waiting to be asked.
• High degree of personal integrity and professional ethics, consistent with ICAN’s Code of Professional Conduct. The company has no tolerance for dishonesty in any form.
• Exceptional attention to detail and a zero-tolerance disposition towards errors, omissions, and approximations.
• Discreet and trustworthy in handling confidential business, financial, and personnel information.
• Comfortable working in a high-standard, fast-paced environment with variable workloads driven by event cycles, seasonal demand, and business growth.
• Ability to manage upwards effectively, providing the Managing Director with honest, timely assessments and recommendations even when the information is difficult.
• Resilience under scrutiny. The Managing Director will ask hard questions about the numbers, and the Accountant must be able to answer them with confidence and evidence.

Qualifications

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related discipline from a recognised institution.
• ACA (ICAN) qualification is required. ACCA qualification will also be considered.
• Minimum of 4 years’ post-qualification experience. Experience in hospitality, food service, events, or consumer goods sectors is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated, hands-on proficiency in QuickBooks Online is mandatory. Candidates who have only used desktop versions or other platforms will not be considered.
• Strong working knowledge of Nigerian tax law, including VAT, WHT, PAYE, and CIT obligations under FIRS and relevant State IRS (LIRS) frameworks.
• Familiarity with CAMA 2020 and Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) reporting requirements is an advantage.
• Prior experience working collaboratively with external accountants and coordinating with external auditors is essential.
• Experience implementing or strengthening internal financial controls in a small or medium enterprise is highly desirable.