Accounts Receivable

**Job no**: 515759

**Brand**: Flight Centre Travel Group

**Work type**: Full time

**Location**: Johannesburg West

**Categories**: Finance & Strategy

**General Information**

**Job title**:
**Accounts Receivable & Banking Manager**

**Purpose**:
The purpose of this role is to manage the debtor’s book, banking process and all related risks, processes, and procedures within the department.

Own credit control across the corporate businesses, ensuring that the clients’ payment terms are adhered to, and debt owed is collected on time.

Ensure the client experience from time of billing to receipting of payments is of the highest quality. Queries are to be resolved in a timely fashion and regular feedback to the business on the performance and health of the debtor’s book is essential.

Identify risks and opportunities within the customer billing, reconciliation, query handling and payment cycles and advise the business of proposed corrective action when required to improve overall processes.

Keep the business updated through regular reporting and communication on overdue debtors and co-ordinate involvement from all internal stakeholders in the collection strategies.

Manage and support the offshore team (Cognizant) ensuring productivity, accuracy and timely delivery on all duties performed in the accounts receivable and banking pillars of accounting operations.

Lead and develop direct reports to ensure an optimal functioning accounts receivable team. Create and drive team strategies in line with company needs.

**Primary duties and responsibilities (KRAs)**
- Financial control
- Managing FCTG’s cash flow by preparing payment files and ensuring clients remain strictly within their credit terms.
- Work alongside the FC to maintain the overall aging targets set by the business (e.g., 95% of the debtor’s book to sit in “current”)
- Assist with cash flow forecasts based on client collection expectations.
- Analyzing open orders and working with the creditors TL and Cognizant to ensure that customers are billed on time.
- Performing the month end closing process - allocation of all customer receipts and ensuring that the GL balances to the full subledger totals
- Responsibility for the daily client bank account reconciliations performed by Cognizant. Ensuring reconciling items are resolved on a timely basis.
- Identify and report on risk areas within the client billing and collection cycle.
- Creation of a One Best Way process within accounts receivable department
- Process efficiency
- Seek out opportunities for automation through review and redesign of existing processes and reports.
- Question relevancy of existing procedures and have a strong appetite to embrace change in favour of productivity and risk mitigation.
- Improving the quantity and accuracy of invoices captured per person, per day.
- Ownership of training for all people in this department
- Work in partnership with front end to deliver processes, systems and workflow that improve productivity whilst protecting the business.
- A willingness to get your hands dirty and take accountability, e.g., if you see something isn’t working, resolve it.
- Strong aptitude to learn new systems and understand processes which impact them.
- Become a champion on all systems the accounts receivable team work on
- Leadership of team, including setting the direction and culture of the team
- Responsible for onboarding and training of new team members
- Setting up growth and development plans for each staff member
- Daily team meetings (especially starting off)
- Monthly 1-on-1s with direct reports
- Biannual performance reviews
- Driving a vision of process excellence, continual improvement and maintain a team aligned to this vision.
- Coaching & Mentoring

- Communication & stakeholder relationship management including query management with all stakeholders ensuring the agreed deliverables and turn-around times are adhered to.
- Ability to present ideas and scenarios succinctly, in writing and verbally

**Hierarchy**:
Reports to the Financial Controller, +-5 direct reports locally and an offshore team performing both receipting and bank reconciliations.

**Key communication and relationships**:
Internal: Creditors Team leader, accounting operations financial controller, Invoicing team, Operations Team leaders, Direct reports, Debtors & Banking team leader, internal audit, CFO.

External: Clients & Auditors

**Job Requirements**

**Education and qualification**:
**Minimum requirements**

**Added advantage**

Degree in Financial studies

**Experience**:
At least 5 years working in a debtors or accounting department (Travel management company experience advantageous)

Protas experience crucial. Proven leadership track record

**Other**:
**Location**:
Johannesburg

Travelling:
Local travel may be required

Office hours:
8:00- 5:00

Additional:
Will need to attend Buzz nights and occasional weekend focus days, working overtime over month end is sometimes r