Job Title: Chief Accountant / Assistant Finance Manager
Industry: Construction Materials / Ready-Mix & Precast Concrete
Reports To: Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Location: On-site / Corporate Office
Job Purpose
The Chief Accountant / Assistant Finance Manager oversees daily accounting operations, financial reporting, cost control, and financial compliance for the concrete business. This role serves as the bridge between day-to-day accounting operations and executive strategic planning, ensuring tight control over raw material procurement, fleet and equipment depreciation, project job costing, and cash flow optimization.
Key Responsibilities
1. Financial Management & Reporting
- Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow) in accordance with IFRS / local GAAP.
- Lead month-end and year-end closing processes, ensuring accurate accruals, provisions, and revenue recognition.
- Analyze financial variance against budgets and operational forecasts, delivering actionable insights to senior management.
- Oversee the management of fixed assets, maintaining fixed asset registers for batching plants, transit mixers, concrete pumps, and heavy equipment.
2. Cost Accounting & Inventory Control
- Monitor and analyze unit costs for concrete mix designs, cement, aggregates, chemical admixtures, and fuel.
- Track batching plant operational costs, delivery logistics, equipment downtime, and maintenance expenses.
- Implement inventory valuation and reconciliation controls for raw material stockpiles (silos, aggregate yards).
- Perform continuous batch-to-dispatch reconciliation to identify raw material variance and yield loss.
3. Working Capital & Treasury Management
- Manage accounts receivable (AR) and credit control, working closely with sales and project managers to enforce credit terms with contractors and developers.
- Manage accounts payable (AP), negotiating payment terms with suppliers and sub-contractors to optimize cash outflow.
- Monitor daily cash position, project short-term cash flow needs, and manage bank reconciliations and credit facilities (LCs, LGs, overdrafts).
4. Tax, Audit & Compliance
- Oversee tax compliance, including VAT/GST filings, corporate tax calculations, and withholding tax obligations.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for external and internal auditors during annual audits.
- Ensure strict internal controls across procurement, sales invoicing, weighbridge logging, and payroll.
5. Team Leadership & Systems
- Supervise and mentor the accounting team (accounts clerks, AP/AR specialists, cashier, plant accountants).
- Optimize ERP utilization (e.g., SAP, Oracle, MS Dynamics, or industry-specific dispatching/batching ERPs like Command Alkon).
Required Qualifications & Skills
-
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance.
-
Professional Certification: CPA, ACCA, CMA, or CA qualified preferred.
-
Experience:
- 10–15 years of progressive accounting experience, with at least 8–10 years in a senior accounting role.
-
Proven track record within the concrete, ready-mix, precast, building materials, or construction manufacturing industry.
-
Technical Expertise:
- In-depth knowledge of cost accounting, job costing, and inventory control systems in manufacturing/processing environments.
-
Advanced proficiency in ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, MS Dynamics) and Microsoft Excel (data modeling, financial analysis).
-
Key Competencies: Strong analytical capabilities, leadership skills, high attention to detail, and commercial acumen.
