Costing & Invoicing Manager

Our client is looking for a Costing and Invoicing Manager. The core purpose of the role is to drive operational excellence and to optimize financial outcomes. It involves meticulous oversight of costing analysis, validation processes, and efficient coordination of invoicing activities to uphold financial integrity and client satisfaction. Additionally, it requires proactive management of credit note investigations, compliance with tax regulations, and fostering strong debtor relationships. Through astute analysis of production performance, estimating standards, and customer profitability, this role contributes to strategic decision-making and sustainable growth.

Responsibilities:

• Manage Team Comprising of:

• 8 Costing & Invoicing Clerks

• 3 Commercial Analyst 

• Team Leadership and Development:

• Review Team Structure and Skills: Continuously evaluate team structure and skills, developing and implementing related strategies to achieve team and business objective.

• Lead and Mentorship: As Manager, undertake the role of a leader within the department, guiding and mentoring a team consisting of costing & invoicing clerks and commercial analyst. This involves providing direction, motivation, and support to team members to help them achieve their individual and collective goals.

• Encouraging Collaboration: Foster a collaborative and cohesive team environment where members feel comfortable sharing ideas, collaborating on projects, and supporting each other's growth and development.

• Objective Setting: Work with each team member to set clear and achievable objectives aligned with departmental and organizational goals. These objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) and provide a roadmap for success.

• Performance Evaluations: Conduct regular performance evaluations for team members to assess their performance, provide feedback, and identify areas for improvement. This process should be fair, objective, and constructive, with a focus on recognizing achievements and addressing challenges.

• Training and Development: Provide ongoing training and development opportunities for team members to enhance their skills, knowledge, and capabilities. This may involve organizing workshops, seminars, or online courses, as well as offering on-the-job training and mentoring.

• Career Pathing: Support team members in their career growth and advancement by identifying their strengths, interests, and areas for development. Work collaboratively with each individual to create a personalized career development plan that aligns with their aspirations and the organization's needs.

• Open Communication: Maintain open and transparent communication channels within the team, fostering an environment where team members feel comfortable expressing their ideas, concerns, and feedback.

• Conflict Resolution: Address conflicts and disputes within the team in a timely and constructive manner, promoting understanding, collaboration, and resolution. Act as a mediator or facilitator when necessary to ensure a positive and harmonious working environment.

• Costing Analysis and Validation:

• Oversee the process of costing & de-costing jobs as they move through production process and holistically post-dispatch, ensuring that all costs (materials, time, labour, transport, outwork, machine time etc) are accurate, complete and validated against job estimates.

• Investigate discrepancies between estimated and actual costs, collaborating with department heads to resolve issues before closing off job costing and invoicing client. 

• Track and report on de-costing trends over time, identifying opportunities for cost reduction and process improvement.

• Invoicing Coordination:

• Coordinate with the invoicing team and other departments to ensure timely and accurate invoicing of clients based on validated job costs.

• Verify that invoiced amounts are consistent with agreed-upon pricing and terms, resolving any discrepancies or billing issues promptly.

• Monitor invoice generation and delivery processes to ensure compliance with client deadlines and payment terms.

• Manage month end invoicing and cut-off dates and times ensuring compliance with revenue recognition polices. 

• Work Closely Sales and PC to follow up on monthly invoicing against budgets and forecasts. Track progress and report on potential deviations.

• Credit Note Investigation and Approval:

• Investigate and validate reasons for credit note requests, ensuring their accuracy and validity.

• Refine or establish a credit note policy, clearly defining requirements such as reasoning, necessary supporting documents, and the approval framework.

• Ensure strict compliance with the credit note policy to maintain accuracy and integrity in financial transactions.

• Identify trends in credit note requests by reason and client and implement strategies to reduce the frequency of credit notes raised through proactive improvement initiatives.

• Work Tickets Closed at No Charge:

• Develop a comprehensive policy outlining criteria for no-charge work tickets, including defining reasons for no charge, department involved, approval frameworks, claims recovery process and tracker, required documentation.

• Ensure compliance policy.

• Actively monitor open no chare work tickets, ensuring they closed off timeously per established policy.

• Review and analyse work tickets closed at no charge to identify trends and verify the validity of reasons provided.

• Utilize trend analysis to identify areas for process improvement and collaborate with stakeholders to implement solutions.

• Maintain documentation of all no-charge work tickets and establish a claims recovery process to recoup costs where applicable.

• Manage WIP Account

• Manage work tickets open in WIP.

• Investigate and resolve open tickets exceeding 5 days.

• Establish and implement policy to improve WIP account and duration of open tickets.

• Costing and Invoicing Process Improvement:

• Continuously evaluate and improve costing, de-costing / analysing and invoicing processes to enhance accuracy, efficiency, and effectiveness.

• Identify opportunities to streamline workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and implement best practices to optimize resource utilization and minimize errors.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement system enhancements or process changes to improve overall performance.

• Ensuring Compliance with Tax and Accounting Standards:

• Ensure adherence to local tax regulations and export tax requirements by staying abreast of changes in tax laws and regulations and implementing necessary adjustments to invoicing processes.

• Ensure compliance with accounting standards IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards).

• Provide training and support to staff members involved in invoicing processes to ensure understanding and compliance with tax and accounting standards.

• Monitor changes in tax laws and accounting standards, proactively identifying potential impacts on invoicing practices and implementing necessary adjustments to maintain compliance.

• Engagement with Debtors:

• Liaise with debtors to confirm the accuracy and timeliness of payments, addressing any discrepancies arising from invoicing team.

• Assist in any Debtors Queries to ensure collections are streamlined and collected on time.

• Production Performance Analysis:

• Monitor production performance through de-costing process measuring metrics, such as throughput and efficiency against established standards.

• Collaborate with production teams to implement efficiency improvements and optimize resource utilization.

• Monitor and analyse waste in the production process, including material waste, run time waste and rework.

• Identify root causes of waste and develop strategies to minimize waste and improve overall efficiency.

• Track waste / reworks reduction initiatives and quantify their impact on cost savings and productivity improvements.

• Estimating Standard Accuracy Assessment:

• Review and validate estimating standards, including material usage, press & finishing time to ensure accuracy and relevance. A thorough understanding of the business and its intricate processes is required in order to streamline cost analysis and facilitate accurate reliable job costings

• Identify discrepancies or outdated standards and work with relevant stakeholders to update or revise them as needed.

• Analyse actual production data vs standards to maintain accuracy and consistency.

• Raw Material Pricing Analysis:

• Analyse purchase prices of raw materials, inks, packaging, consumables etc used in the estimating process to:

• Manage Standard Prices for raw materials in BC.

• Establish if prices used in estimating process adequately recovers raw material purchase prices (buying vs selling price)

• Establish if raw material prices used in estimating process does not expose the business to potentially outpricing itself vs market quotes to customers.

• Customer Profitability Analysis:

• Analyse customer profitability by evaluating revenue generated, costs incurred, and profit margins associated with each client or customer account.

• Identify high-profit and low-profit customers, assessing factors such as order volume, pricing agreements, and production costs.

• Provide insights and recommendations for pricing strategies, contract negotiations, and customer segmentation based on profitability analysis.

• Involvement in Financial Audits:

• Collaborate with auditors to facilitate the audit process, providing necessary documentation and insights into invoicing and costing procedures.

• Participate in audit preparations, ensuring that financial records related to invoicing, costing, and credit notes are accurate, complete, and compliant with regulatory standards.

• Provide support during audit fieldwork, addressing auditor inquiries and assisting in the resolution of any audit findings related to invoicing and costing activities.

• Implement corrective actions and recommendations stemming from audit findings to strengthen internal controls and enhance the efficiency and accuracy of financial operations.

• Monitor post-audit activities to ensure that implemented changes effectively address audit recommendations and contribute to ongoing compliance and improvement efforts.

• Involvement in Budget and Forecasting Process:

• Collaborate with the Finance Department in the preparation of annual budgets and forecasts, providing insights and data related to invoicing and costing activities.

• Review historical financial data and trends to assist in the preparation of accurate revenue and cost projections for budgeting and forecasting purposes.

• Provide input and recommendations on revenue targets, cost-saving initiatives, and investment opportunities based on analysis of invoicing and costing trends.

• Monitor budget performance throughout the fiscal year, identifying variances and working with finance teams to investigate underlying causes and implement corrective actions as needed.

• Reporting / Feedback to Business:

• Provide feedback to the business on customer profitability, including analysis of job profitability and margin contributions.

• Report on De-costing Trends and status of improvement strategies.

• Report on Monthly Sales, VA’s, Rebates i.e.  Budget vs Forecast vs Actuals.

• Identify opportunities to improve profitability through pricing adjustments, process optimization, or cost reduction initiatives.

• Communicate findings and recommendations to relevant stakeholders, including management, sales teams, and production staff.

Key Skills:

• Working knowledge of accounting principles and International Financial reporting standards (IFRS).

• Working knowledge of Tax principles

• Working Knowledge of Exports

• Microsoft NAV experience

• Previous experience in printing, packaging or manufacturing industry.

• Strong analytical skills with proficiency in data analysis and financial modelling.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across departments.

• Detail-oriented and highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.

• Problem-solving mindset with a focus on continuous improvement and optimization.

• Effective report writing

• Strong communication skills

• Ability to interact at management level.

• High level relationship building a critical component.

• Structured 

• Work well under pressure.

• Proven ability to meet and exceed deliverables.

• Good people skills, ability to create and handle team.

• Performance and achievement oriented

• Sharp, go-getter, innovative, goal oriented

• Solutions orientated.

• Resilient to criticism/rejection

• Team player

• Decision making skills

• Proficient in Microsoft Excel and other data analysis tools.

• Proficient in Microsoft word and PowerPoint 

• SQL Data base knowledge would be an advantage

• Familiarity with ERP systems and production management software.

Qualifications:

• CA (SA) or CIMA Qualification 

• 5 - 8 years of Costing and Invoicing experience with 2-3 years being in a leadership position