Position Summary

The Finance Officer ensures the accurate and complete financial, accounting and administrative operations of the organization through building and maintaining accepted systems and procedures for the organization as well as for its partners. S/he is responsible for helping to safeguard the assets and resources of the organization’s finances and administration management through the proper execution of accounting, resource management and administration while complying with Ethiopian accounting principles; financial regulations related to Ethiopian NGOs; and Roots Ethiopia financial policies .  S/he is responsible for compiling, generating and submitting/sharing appropriate financial reports to internal and external users in a timely manner.

Specific Roles and Responsibilities

The Finance Officer will:

·         Oversee the day-to-day financial operations of the in-country organization under the guidance of the Country Director and in compliance with Ethiopia’s generally accepted accounting principles, legislation guiding NGO’s, and Roots Ethiopia’s Financial policies;

·         Ensure timely and accurate financial reports and practices including cash management, payroll, financial disbursements, ledgers etc. Responsible for entering financial information and maintaining all financial records for projects and for the organization.

·         Maintain financial information, financial records, donor agreements, and staff contracts as required in the Roots Ethiopia HR Manual and Financial Policies Manual; as well as the Record Retention Guidelines governing Ethiopian NGOs:

·         Prepare and analyze in-country budgets in cooperation with Senior Management Team, and make recommendations on expenditures to best manage the resources of Roots Ethiopia; Provide financial inputs for project proposals, human resource management, logistics, travel, forecasting project budgets, and other activities;

·         Maintain records by fund accounting and track expenses for grants/programs/projects; review and monitor expenditures to ensure that program funds are utilized;

·         Provide input to the improvement and development of appropriate financial management policies, procedures and systems to safeguard resources and assets across the in-country operations of Roots Ethiopia; and maintain the proper segregation of financial duties.

·         Ensure the preparation, accuracy and timely submission of monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports of project budgets, expenditures, fund balances, and account balances;

·         As required, create and maintain reports that comply with grant or contract agreements and ensure compliance with all aspects of Roots Ethiopia policies and donor funding; Ensure all financial reporting is completed on time and submitted to the Board Treasurer of the Executive Committee, government counterparts, and the management;

·         Check and verify all inventories and promote efficient management of organizational assets, including the maintenance of the fixed asset register, auditing the use of inventory tags, calculation of annual depreciation, and completion of Fixed Asset Disposal Certificates as needed; conduct an annual audit of fixed assets;

·         Oversee the financial audits of the projects of the organization; and support periodic audits of the overall financials of the organization;

·         Provide orientation and training to all staff on cost-effective management and financial policy compliance;

·         Responsible for all statutory reporting, including that government filings, administrative fees, taxes and audits are submitted in a timely manner; handle tax clearance and other compliances with government offices;

·         Deal with the reconciliation of staff advances, monitor the timely reimbursement of balances on working advances,  and make necessary entries;

·         Resolve accounting discrepancies/irregularities, and ensure all invoices submitted are legitimate and valid;

·         Arrange transfer of funds to the field office per agreed financial guidelines;

·         Supervise, coach, train and evaluate performance of staff under her/his supervision;

·         Prepare quarterly wire request and submit to Senior Management Team; prepare cheque payment vouchers and general journal vouchers; prepare monthly payroll and entries;

·         Verify monthly cost allocations; monitor the cash liquidity position of the organization and determine the monthly cash requirement for the projects;

·         Perform cash count during petty cash replenishment held by the Cashier and conduct surprise count once a week at various times;

·         Facilitate the transfer of grant funds to partner and beneficiary organizations; funds for workshops/trainings, and ascertain that they are received and liquidated in a timely fashion;

·         Perform other duties as required.

Position Requirements

The position holder should:

·         Have at least a University Degree in Finance, Accounting or other related field

·         Have 5-6 years of relevant work experience in bookkeeping and accounting, preferably in a similar position in an NGO; familiarity with grant reporting preferred;

·         Have excellent MS Office application skills including MS-Word, MS-Excel, etc.

·         Be familiar with computerized accounting systems (RE currently uses Peachtree);

·         Strong organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail.

·         Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to establish effective work relations at all levels.

·         Proven ability to prioritize tasks, meet deadlines and work with limited supervision, pro-active and a good team-player.

·         High level of integrity and honesty.

·         Proficiency in English and Amharic languages is desired