Sr. Accountant / FC

Senior Accountant / Finance Controller – Nigeria

Role Purpose

Own the financial integrity, accounting discipline and local financial controls of Precom’s Nigeria operations. Ensure procurement, supplier payments and advances, inventory, operating expenses, banking, taxes and local financial records are accurately captured, reconciled and reported, while providing reliable visibility over capital deployed and Nigeria financial performance. This is a hands-on control role, not merely bookkeeping.

Key Responsibilities

• Own/supervise day-to-day Nigeria accounting and ensure books are complete, accurate and current.
• Ensure timely monthly close and preparation of Nigeria P&L, Balance Sheet and supporting schedules.
• Maintain bank, cash, supplier, customer, employee and intercompany reconciliations.
• Maintain complete supplier-advance control: amount, supplier, purpose, procurement delivered, outstanding balance, ageing and recovery.
• Reconcile procurement records with payments, supplier accounts, physical stocks and accounting records.
• Work with Operations/QC to reconcile inventory quantities and values across physical stock, operational records, CTRM and accounts; investigate discrepancies.
• Maintain working-capital visibility: advances, inventory, receivables/payables and other capital tied up.
• Prepare budget-versus-actual reporting and explain material variances.
• Track local Opex by category/location/function and identify unusual or recurring leakage.
• Verify supporting documentation and approval authority before payment; commercial approval and independent finance verification must remain distinct.
• Maintain segregation between procurement initiation, approval, payment and accounting/reconciliation.
• Control employee expenses, advances, petty cash and local expenditure documentation/reconciliation.
• Coordinate payroll accounting and statutory deductions with HR/local providers.
• Own/coordinate local tax, statutory and regulatory accounting requirements with advisers where needed.
• Coordinate local audit/accounting requirements and provide schedules/supporting documents.
• Maintain fixed-asset and other required financial registers.
• Ensure proper intercompany accounting/reconciliation with relevant group entities.
• Support Finance/Risk with exposure, liquidity, cash requirement and working-capital information.
• Support Vishnu with reliable procurement costings and realised economics without making procurement decisions.
• Compare expected versus actual trade/procurement costs and highlight material deviations.
• Ensure finance information is captured in approved systems and reduce uncontrolled Excel/WhatsApp dependency.
• Maintain organised, auditable electronic records.
• Escalate unusual transactions, unexplained variances, overdue advances, stock discrepancies, control breaches or suspected fraud immediately.
• Help build a robust but practical Nigeria finance/control environment.

Required Management Information

• Weekly/periodic control view: cash & banks; supplier advances; procurement/payments; inventory reconciliation; working capital; outstanding recoveries; local Opex; budget vs actual; tax/compliance; exceptions/control issues.
• Monthly: Nigeria P&L + Balance Sheet + Working Capital + Product/Procurement Economics + Key Reconciliations.

Candidate Profile

• Approximately 7–12 years of accounting/financial-control experience.

• Must have experience in managing the TAX office & compliance. 

• CA/ACCA/ICAN or equivalent preferred; strong part-qualified candidates with relevant commodity experience may be considered.
• Commodity trading, agricultural procurement, FMCG procurement, manufacturing, distribution or another inventory/working-capital-intensive environment strongly preferred.
• Nigeria experience important.
• Strong supplier accounting, advances, inventory, banking, reconciliations and working-capital capability.
• Hands-on: able to work personally through ledgers, bank statements, stock reconciliations and Excel.
• Strong control mindset and ability to identify transactions that do not make economic/accounting sense.
• Comfortable challenging Procurement/Operations when records do not reconcile.
• High integrity, confidentiality and clear written reporting.
• Strong Excel and ERP/accounting-system capability; willingness to work with CTRM.
• Ability to communicate effectively with international/group management.

Role Boundaries

• Not responsible for procurement decision-making or commodity trading.
• Not responsible for supplier commercial negotiation.
• Not responsible for shipping/logistics management.
• Not a substitute Country Manager or broad HR manager.
• Not responsible for Africa strategy or lender/institutional relationship ownership.

Operating Architecture

• Vishnu / Head Africa: procurement strategy, costings/commercial judgment, supplier decisions and approved payment/advance decisions.
• Kareem / Operations: physical execution and operating coordination.
• Senior Accountant / Finance Controller: accounting, cash, advances, reconciliation, financial control and compliance.
• Group Finance/Risk: functional oversight and independent challenge.

First 90 Days

• Clean up and validate books, bank/supplier/advance/intercompany reconciliations and opening balances.
• Create complete supplier-advance and working-capital registers.
• Establish inventory-to-accounts reconciliation with Operations/QC.
• Assess payment controls, documentation, tax/statutory compliance and major control gaps.
• Establish reliable monthly close and concise Nigeria financial-control reporting.
• Map recurring accounting/control weaknesses and propose practical fixes.
• Support implementation of CTRM/approved systems as the financial-control source architecture develops.

Success Test

Management can reliably answer how much cash and capital is deployed in Nigeria, where it sits, what is outstanding, what stock exists, what Nigeria is earning and where material exceptions exist.

Supplier advances, inventory, bank/cash and procurement payments reconcile with minimal unexplained variance.

Material financial/control problems reach management early rather than being discovered after the season.

Financial discipline strengthens without adding unnecessary bureaucracy to the commercial operation.

Document generated for internal use only.