Accounts Receivable (AR) Accountant at British Council

Role Purpose:

At an unprecedented time of change globally, the British Council seeks an enthusiastic and professional Accountant to manage its Order to Cash and Accounts Receivables processes across operations in Nigeria

The role is accountable for the operational management of British Council Nigeria’s Accounts Receivable activities. Focusing on timely, accurate, complete receivables management in line with internal organisational requirements and external regulatory standards, while acting as a trusted partner to the business delivery and operational support teams.

This role supports the Senior Financial Accountant with the end-to-end receivables management process across the operation, including contract and billing management process while supporting compliance with internal policies, credit management (including ADR and bad debt provision) activities, revenue recognition in line with British Council income manual and IFRS, management of all Accounts Receivable controls in line with Period End closure (PEC), Financial Control and Compliance Framework (FCCF), and Year End closing process, etc.

Main opportunities/challenges for this role:

The role presents great opportunity for us in building a strong, efficient, effective, innovative and value driven order to cash and receivables management services for the British Council.
The role holder will:

• Manage end to end Accounts Receivable activities and processes in Nigeria while ensuring accuracy and completeness of business partners / customers' accounts and balances.
• Act as one of the key finance business partners across operations in Nigeria.
• Ensure compliance with key Accounts Receivable controls in line with internal Period End Closure checklists, Quarterly Financial Control and Compliance Framework (FCCF) report, etc.
• Manage the contract and billing process while supporting compliance with internal policies
• Lead credit management (incl. customer profiling, aged debt management, Bad Debts & provisions, etc.) activities
• Close engagement with Exams team, Customer Service, and business leads to drive innovation and improvement in the O2C processes and systems.
• Support Senior Financial Accountant with cashflow and bank accounts management.
• The finance function has gone through several change programmes, and the post holder will play a key role in sustainability and achieving desired results of the changes and improvement projects, especially those that are Accounts Receivable related.
• The organisation requires the financial function to have a level of commercial finance acumen as we expand our income generating activities, streamline our portfolio and target more partnership income. As a result, the role holder will also contribute in driving income target/performance.

Requirements

Essential:

• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Qualified accountant – ACA and ACCA – with a minimum of 3 years post-qualification experience in accounting and finance and similar role
• Bachelor’s degree in any field
• Good knowledge and understanding of transaction taxes – e.g. VAT.
• Good and demonstrable knowledge of O2C and AR
• Excellent written and oral communications skills
• Demonstrates high level of understanding in all areas of the finance and accounting function.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Strong analytical and time management skills.
• Attention to detail and data entry skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel
• Experience of an ERP system

Desirable:

• Experience working with the Big 4 audit firms
• Master’s degree
• CGMA, CIMA, CITN, etc.
• Practical exposure to SAP or similar accounting solution