Background
Taawon (Welfare Association) is an independent non-profit organization established in 1983. Taawon strives to make a distinguished contribution toward furthering the progress of the Palestinians, preserving their heritage and identity, supporting their living culture and building civil society across the areas it serves: the West Bank (including Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip, the 1948 Areas, and the Palestinian communities in Lebanon.
In Lebanon, Taawon works closely with local and grassroots organizations to address the specific needs of Palestinian refugees living in difficult circumstances. Programming is delivered under three tracks — Investing in People, Building Resilient Communities, and Securing Humanitarian Relief — in partnership with more than 25 local organizations, reaching over 100,000 Palestinian refugees annually.
Taawon's Lebanon office manages a growing portfolio of donor-funded programmes, which requires accurate accounting records, timely donor and management reporting, and full compliance with Lebanese statutory obligations relating to payroll taxation, social security, value added tax, withholding on payments to non-residents, and annual financial closing. The Accountant position exists to ensure that these obligations are met accurately, on time, and with complete supporting documentation.
Purpose of the Role
Under the direct supervision of the Finance and Administration Manager, and in close coordination with the Programs Department, the Accountant is responsible for maintaining complete and accurate accounting records, processing payments and payroll, preparing statutory tax and social security declarations, and supporting month-end, year-end and audit processes in accordance with Taawon's financial policies and procedures, donor requirements, and applicable Lebanese legislations.
Key Responsibilities
- Accounting Records and Transaction Processing
- Prepare and review accounting entries in the accounting system, ensuring that all transactions are complete, accurate, correctly coded to the relevant project, budget line and cost centre, and posted within the applicable period.
- Prepare the weekly payment run and ensure that every payment and accounting entry is supported by complete, valid and approved documentation in line with Taawon's authorization matrix.
- Prepare monthly petty cash counts and bank reconciliations, and investigate and resolve reconciling items on a timely basis.
- Prepare the monthly payroll, including calculation of gross-to-net, family allowances, deductions, end-of-service accruals and any contractual entitlements, in coordination with Human Resources.
- Calculate payroll tax (income tax on salaries and wages) and the employer and employee shares of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) contributions and reconcile them to the payroll register and the general ledger each month.
- Maintain complete payroll records and supporting documentation and ensure the confidentiality of all payroll data.
- Taxation and Statutory Declarations
- Prepare the periodic and annual payroll tax declarations and payments to the Ministry of Finance, within the statutory deadlines.
- Prepare NSSF declarations, contribution payments and periodic reconciliations, and maintain the employee registration and update files required by the Fund.
- Prepare the periodic Value Added Tax (VAT) declarations and reconciliations, including the treatment of exempt, zero-rated and non-recoverable input VAT applicable to the organization's activities.
- Prepare withholding tax calculations and declarations on payments to non-residents (non-resident tax), including consultants and service providers based outside Lebanon, and ensure that the correct rates and supporting documentation are applied.
- Prepare the annual financial closing declaration and the related year-end submissions to the Ministry of Finance, and coordinate the supporting schedules and reconciliations.
- Maintain a statutory compliance calendar tracking all filing and payment deadlines and alert the Finance and Administration Manager in advance of each due date.
- Monitor changes in Lebanese tax and social security legislation relevant to the organization and escalate any change that affects the organization's obligations.
- Closing, Reporting and Audit
- Perform month-end closing procedures, including accruals, prepayments, allocations and reconciliation of all balance sheet accounts.
- Prepare monthly and quarterly financial reports, and donor financial reports and reconciliations, in line with approved project budgets and donor reporting requirements.
- Prepare year-end closing schedules and the audit file, and act as a focal point for internal and external auditors, responding to queries and providing supporting documentation.
- Support budget monitoring by providing expenditure analysis and variance information to the Finance and Administration Manager and the Programs Department.
- Documentation, Controls and Compliance
- Ensure that all financial documentation is filed both physically and electronically, is complete, retrievable and kept up to date, and is retained for the periods required by law, by Taawon policy and by donor agreements.
- Apply Taawon's internal control framework in all transactions, and report any control weakness, discrepancy or suspected irregularity to the Finance and Administration Manager without delay.
- Comply with Taawon's policies and procedures, including the Code of Conduct, Anti-Fraud and Corruption, Conflict of Interest, Confidentiality and Data Protection, and Safeguarding and PSEA policies.
- Perform any other relevant duties assigned by the Finance and Administration Manager.
Required Qualifications, Experience and Skills
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance or a closely related discipline.
- A minimum of five years of solid, hands-on professional accounting experience, of which at least two years in the non-governmental or donor-funded sector.
- Solid experience in financial reporting, including donor financial reporting and budget-versus-actual analysis.
- Sound working knowledge of Lebanese tax and social security legislation as it applies to non-profit organizations, and the ability to keep that knowledge current.
- Proficiency in computerized accounting systems, and advanced command of Microsoft Excel, including reconciliation and analysis functions.
- Strong command of Arabic and English, written and spoken.
- High level of accuracy and attention to detail, with the ability to meet firm statutory and reporting deadlines.
- Sound judgement, integrity, and the ability to handle confidential financial and payroll information appropriately.
- Good communication skills, teamwork and cooperation, with the ability to work effectively with diversified teams and colleagues.
