POSITION : Accountant

DESCRIPTION 

Growth and Employment (GEM) is being implemented under the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) and operationalized in the Growth and Employment (GEM) Project.

It is the initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to diversify the economy, support sectors that have potential for growth and create employment.

The FGN is partnering the World Bank in this project to grow the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) operating in different sectors of Nigeria.

GEM has appointed our company Ace Human Resources to support grantees under GNIP to insource either their primary marketing/sales activities or their key finance/accounting tasks to one new employee to work on-site at its business location and implement the functional activities (marketing/sales or finance/accounting) needed to increase the MSE’s productivity and performance.

 Description
Needs Assessment of the MSE:

• The key objective is to get a better understanding of the nature of the MSE’s business and the current status of the MSE’s finance/accounting activities.
• This may be done by administering questionnaires on their current systems and practices, observing how the MSE operates and maintains its finances, or possibly shadowing other workers to see how they keep records.
• Suggested areas to look into include:
  • Business type, industry and environment.
  • Mode of operations.
  • Roles of current staff, particularly their tasks related to finance/accounting.
  • Structure of ownership and decision-making power.
  • Sources of funding or capital investments (e.g., equity, debt, etc.).
  • Stakeholders in the business.
  • Supply chain and input costs.
  • Review any records kept (financial and non-financial, including bank statements).

Developing a Work Plan:

• Based on the information collected during the needs assessment, further analysis of the business (e.g., financial statements, records, systems), and discussions with the MSE owner and other staff, the newly hired accounting/finance employee will develop a work plan for the 9-month period of the program.
• The work plan should include some of the activities recommended in this section of the manual and others that the employee and MSE agree on together.
• The focus should be on implementing financial practices in the firm that will aid the GEM goal of helping the firm grow and generate employment.
• It is recommended that the work plan include several anticipated “quick wins” where the GPI identifies accounting and financial practices, that, when implemented, will quickly show measurable value to the firm.

Setting up a Daily Book Keeping System:

• This activity will ensure the MSE has books/ledgers they can use to track their financial activities at the most basic level.
• Purchase necessary books for both financial and non-financial record keeping.Initial purchases may include:
  • Receipt/invoice books - completed for each customer transaction. The original receipt is given to the customer and the duplicate is retained in the office. In order to save costs on invoices, a daily Sales Book may be used instead.
  • Vouchers - used to record expenses made by the company. In order to save costs on vouchers, a daily expense book may be used instead.
  • Registers or notebooks - this could either be regular notebooks with drawn in lines or printed registers to be used for the various accounts.
• Open day books that cover the key accounts:
  • Sales
  • Cash
  • Assets
  • Liabilities
  • Stock and inventory
  • Purchases

Cost Accounting:

• Identifying areas where the MSE can improve efficiencies and cut the costs of operations
• Helping the MSE understand what the true costs of producing each product is:
  • Collecting, recording, and categorizing all costs incurred.
  • Applying basic formulas to determine optimal pricing strategies and costing, e.g. breakeven formula, gross margins, price variance, etc.

Financial Reporting:

• To provide relevant and useful information to the MSE owner on the MSE’s performance.
• This can only be done after the key books have been opened and the employee has been recording transactions for at least a one-month period.
• General Ledger/Trial Balance - a complete record of financial transactions of the company, including assets, liabilities, capital, equity, revenues, and expenses:
  • This is prepared quarterly or annually. Information from the general ledger will make-up the financial statements.
• Financial Statements:
  • Income Statement
  • Balance Sheet
  • Statement of Cash Flow
  • Comparative Statements
• Other reports may include comparatives and ratios that show performance, chart of accounts, statement of affairs, etc.
• In addition, at the point when a business has been formalized the Federal Government of Nigeria may require certain paperwork to be filed such as:
  • Payment of taxes.
  • Registration with the government insurance scheme, pension scheme, money laundering controls, etc.

Financial Planning:

• Upon setting up the necessary books for recording daily operations and conducting necessary financial reporting, the employee will have enough information to conduct analysis that will be useful for financial planning.
• The analysis will allow the MSE owner to make better decisions on future actions: e.g., cutting costs, adjusting prices, planning purchases/investments, etc. Analysis may include:
  • Budgets - needed to understand trends of business - income, expenses, cash flow. This should include forecasted numbers and monthly plans. Budgets can be created monthly or quarterly depending on the sales activity of the MSE and reviewed with the MSE owner.
  • Feasibility studies for an expansion program or starting a new line - which would require the employee to open a separate new set of books.
  • Research and supporting documents to access loans and other avenues for raising capital.

Non-financial Tasks:

• This ordinarily may not fall under the responsibility of a finance/accounting employee, but in the case of micro and small businesses that do not have any officers managing the non-financial documents, the newly hired finance/accounting employee may need to assist with the following:
  • Developing a description of the business, including its mandate and vision.
  • Assisting the MSE to become a formally registered, and possibly incorporated business, registered with CAC.
  • Keeping personnel records and salary info of all staff.
• The above list of Finance/Accounting activities are not meant to be prescriptive and will vary from MSE to MSE.
• The activities implemented by the newly hired employee will likely depend on the MSE’s current status and an assessment of its needs.
• That said, however, the focus should always be on no- to low-cost strategies, especially during the employee’s first couple months at the MSE. Upon demonstrating results from the no- to low-cost strategies, the MSE owner should have more confidence in the employee and be more willing to spend additional money on finance/accounting activities.

Minimum Recruitment 

• Degree or HND in Accounting
• 1-2 years in Accounting
• Able to work Flexible hours.

Knowledge/Skills:

• Administrative and planning skills.
• Experience of using accounting packages, as well as MS Office.
• Impeccable, corruption free reputation and integrity.
• Keep deadlines and keen attention to detail.
• Maintain confidentiality.
• Take initiative, get things done really well and fast.