Payments & Accounts Receivable Officer at Miva Open University

Overall Function

• The Payments & Accounts Receivable Officer is responsible for ensuring accurate, timely recording of all student payments, reconciliation of payment gateways (e.g., Paystack), validation of student financial data across systems (SIS, Zoho, Google sheet), and maintenance of reliable receivable balances.
• The role requires strong analytical ability, exceptional attention to detail, and the capacity to manage high-volume transactions in a fast-growing educational technology environment. The officer will ensure financial data integrity, support revenue recognition, and provide accurate ageing reports for decision-making.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Accurately post all student payments (bank transfers, Paystack, card, POS, USSD, deposits) into Zoho and/or SIS.
• Create student profiles on the ERP and ensure correct setup for billing and payments.
• Map and validate payments to the correct student accounts, programs, cohorts, semesters, discounts, and scholarships.
• Verify payments and reconcile amounts with payment gateways and bank statements.
• Identify and resolve misposted payments, missing references, duplicate transactions, unmatched amounts, and related discrepancies.
• Maintain an accurate receivables ledger for tuition and other academic charges.
• Monitor overdue accounts, flag long-outstanding balances, and support follow-ups for timely collection.
• Manage instalment plans by tracking compliance, allocating instalments correctly, and escalating default cases.
• Clean and validate payment lists before reconciliation or revenue processing.
• Perform regular (daily/weekly/monthly) reconciliations between Paystack, Bank, SIS, and Zoho.
• Investigate settlement delays, unidentified transactions, mismatched amounts, failed payments, and escalate issues to Paystack or banking partners when necessary.
• Match student charges to payments to maintain accurate receivable balances and identify overpayments, underpayments, unallocated, or unapplied credits.
• Prepare monthly receivables ageing reports and support analysis of outstanding balances.
• Review and confirm student program, cohort, discounts/scholarships, payment plans, and chargeable fees.
• Reconcile student balances, tuition schedules, and payment histories on SIS.
• Identify and correct inconsistencies across SIS, Zoho, Paystack, and bank records; support major historical data cleanup efforts.
• Ensure the accuracy of data used for monthly revenue calculations, including charges, discounts, and student status updates.
• Provide validated payment and receivable data to support revenue reporting.
• Collaborate with Product, Data, and Admissions teams to improve discount/scholarship tracking, enrollment data accuracy, and status updates.
• Prepare operational and financial reports such as daily payment dashboards, reconciliation updates, ageing reports, and payment-settlement variance analyses.
• Maintain complete documentation of reconciliation processes, adjustments, write-offs, and reclassifications.
• Respond to student inquiries regarding fees, instalment plans, payment status, and outstanding balances.
• Support internal and external audits with required schedules and supporting documents.
• Ensure compliance with university financial policies and regulatory standards.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of financial workflows, payment processes, and data accuracy.

Key Success Indicators

• Accuracy of payment postings
• Reduction in unidentified/duplicate transactions
• Clean and reliable receivables data
• Timeliness of reconciliations (daily/weekly/monthly)
• Reduction in reconciliation variance
• Clear audit trails and documentation
• Improved data alignment across SIS, Zoho, Paystack, and GL.

Education & Experience

• BSc in Accounting, Finance, Economics, or related fields.
• 2–4 years of experience in finance operations, accounts receivable, banking operations, or audit.
• Experience in EdTech, higher education, fintech, or subscription-based business is an added advantage.
• Familiarity with Nigerian payment channels (Paystack, Remita, card payments, transfers).

Required Skills & Competencies:

• Strong accounting knowledge (double entry, revenue recognition, reconciliations).
• Excellent analytical and data-cleaning skills (Excel/Google Sheets at medium level).
• Experience with Zoho Books, Paystack, SIS platforms, or similar systems (preferred).
• High attention to detail; ability to work with large datasets (10,000+ students).
• Strong communication skills to collaborate with non-finance teams.
• Ability to spot data inconsistencies, investigate root causes, and recommend corrective actions.