Senior Financial Accountant

Location: Cape
Town
Employment Type: Full -time 
Reports To: Company Directors / Senior Management

Role Overview

WOLO Travel is looking for a reliable, detail -oriented
and hands -on Senior Financial Accountant to take ownership of
the company’s day -to -day accounting function, month -end reporting,
reconciliations, statutory compliance and financial controls.

This role is ideal for an experienced accountant who
enjoys working close to the numbers, improving systems and processes, and
supporting management with accurate, timely and commercially useful financial
information.

The successful candidate will play an important role
in ensuring that WOLO Travel’s financial records are accurate, reconciliations
are completed on time, statutory obligations are met, and management has clear
visibility over financial performance, cash flow, supplier payments and
business margins.

This is a practical, hands -on accounting role suited
to someone who can work independently in a fast -moving travel business with
multiple suppliers, customer deposits, refunds, forex transactions, payment
channels and high -volume reconciliations.

Key Responsibilities

Accounting & Month -End Reporting

• Manage the
  day -to -day accounting function for WOLO Travel.
  
• Own the
  month -end close process, including journals, accruals, provisions and
  reconciliations.
  
• Prepare
  monthly management accounts and financial reports for review by
  management.
  
• Prepare
  quarterly and annual financial information as required.
  
• Maintain
  accurate and complete accounting records.
  
• Ensure all
  transactions are recorded correctly and allocated to the correct accounts,
  departments, destinations or cost centres where applicable.
  
• Review
  income, cost of sales, expenses and balance sheet items for accuracy and
  completeness.
  
• Identify
  and investigate unusual variances, duplicate transactions, missing entries
  or reconciliation issues.
  

Reconciliations & Financial Controls

• Perform
  bank reconciliations across relevant accounts.
  
• Reconcile
  supplier accounts, customer receipts, deposits, refunds and payment
  gateway transactions.
  
• Maintain
  accurate accounts payable and accounts receivable records.
  
• Reconcile
  balance sheet accounts monthly.
  
• Monitor
  outstanding supplier balances, customer balances and internal finance
  queries.
  
• Support
  the management of customer deposits, supplier prepayments and
  booking -related transactions.
  
• Ensure
  financial controls are followed and recommend improvements where gaps are
  identified.
  
• Assist in
  strengthening internal processes to reduce errors, improve visibility and
  ensure clean financial records.
  

Travel -Specific Finance Support

• Support
  reconciliation of travel bookings, supplier invoices and customer
  payments.
  
• Assist
  with margin reporting across travel packages, destinations and sales
  channels.
  
• Help
  identify discrepancies between booking systems, accounting records and
  payment platforms.
  
• Assist
  with reconciliations involving multi -currency supplier payments and
  foreign exchange transactions.
  
• Support
  the finance process around cancellations, refunds, credits and supplier
  recoveries.
  
• Work
  closely with sales, product and operations teams to resolve
  finance -related booking queries.
  

Statutory Compliance & Tax

• Prepare
  and assist with SARS submissions, including VAT and other relevant
  statutory returns.
  
• Support
  PAYE, EMP201, EMP501 and related payroll compliance processes where
  required.
  
• Assist
  with income tax preparation and year -end tax schedules in coordination
  with external accountants or tax advisors.
  
• Ensure
  compliance with South African accounting standards, tax requirements and
  statutory deadlines.
  
• Maintain
  accurate supporting documentation for all statutory submissions.
  
• Coordinate
  with external accountants, auditors, tax advisors and regulatory bodies
  where required.
  

Cash Flow, Budgeting & Management Support

• Assist
  with cash flow reporting and supplier payment planning.
  
• Support
  management with budgeting, forecasting and financial analysis.
  
• Provide
  financial information to help management make informed commercial
  decisions.
  
• Assist
  with tracking actual performance against budget or targets.
  
• Prepare ad
  hoc financial reports and analysis when required.
  
• Support
  directors and senior management with financial queries and reporting
  requests.
  

Systems & Process Improvement

• Work with
  accounting and operational systems to ensure accurate financial data.
  
• Support
  improvements to accounting processes, reconciliations and reporting
  workflows.
  
• Assist
  with the integration or alignment of finance data across systems such as
  Xero, Zoho, Moonstride or other relevant platforms.
  
• Identify
  opportunities to automate manual processes and improve reporting accuracy.
  
• Maintain
  organised financial records, schedules and documentation.
  

Audit & Year -End Support

• Prepare
  year -end schedules and supporting documentation.
  
• Assist
  with annual financial statement preparation.
  
• Liaise
  with external auditors or accountants during audit and year -end processes.
  
• Ensure
  audit files and supporting schedules are complete, accurate and available
  on time.
  

Requirements

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Degree in
  Accounting, Finance or a related field.
  
• Minimum of
  5 years’ relevant accounting experience.
  
• Strong
  experience in month -end accounting, reconciliations and management
  reporting.
  
• Experience
  handling a broad accounting function independently.
  
• Strong
  understanding of South African VAT, SARS compliance and statutory
  requirements.
  
• Experience
  with accounting software, preferably Xero.
  
• Strong
  Microsoft Excel skills.
  
• High
  attention to detail and strong organisational ability.
  
• Ability to
  work independently and meet deadlines.
  
• Strong
  problem -solving skills and willingness to investigate discrepancies.
  
• Good
  communication skills and ability to work with non -finance teams.
  
• Comfortable
  working in a fast -paced SME environment.
  

Advantageous Experience

• SAIPA or
  SAICA articles completed.
  
• Professional
  Accountant (SA), CA(SA), ACCA or similar qualification advantageous but
  not essential.
  
• Experience
  in travel, tourism, hospitality, retail, e -commerce or another high -volume
  transactional environment.
  
• Experience
  with multi -currency transactions and foreign supplier payments.
  
• Experience
  with customer deposits, refunds, supplier prepayments and margin
  reporting.
  
• Experience
  with Xero, Zoho, Moonstride or similar booking/accounting platforms.
  
• Experience
  improving accounting processes, reconciliations and internal controls.
  
• Experience
  supporting directors or senior management with reporting and analysis.
  

Key Attributes

The ideal candidate will be:

• Detail -oriented
  and accurate.
  
• Reliable
  and deadline -driven.
  
• Hands -on
  and willing to get into the detail.
  
• Commercially
  aware.
  
• Comfortable
  working independently.
  
• Process -minded
  and organised.
  
• Proactive
  in identifying issues and recommending improvements.
  
• Able to
  communicate clearly with management and other departments.
  
• Calm under
  pressure and comfortable in a fast -moving business.
  
• Responsible,
  accountable and solutions -focused.
  

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role would mean:

• Monthly
  accounts are accurate, complete and prepared on time.
  
• Bank,
  supplier, customer and balance sheet reconciliations are clean and up to
  date.
  
• SARS and
  statutory obligations are submitted accurately and on time.
  
• Management
  has clear visibility over financial performance, cash flow and key finance
  issues.
  
• Finance
  queries from sales, product and operations are resolved efficiently.
  
• Booking,
  supplier and payment discrepancies are identified and corrected quickly.
  
• Financial
  controls and accounting processes improve over time.
  
• The
  business has reliable financial information to support better
  decision -making.
  

Benefits