Finance Manager - Beirut

Scope of Responsibilities: The Finance Manager is a member of the senior management team. His role is head of accounting for the financial mission. Based in capital with the coordination team, he/she is either :              - the senior accountant for the mission, reporting to the Finance coordinator (medium or large mission)              - or the capital administrator, reporting to the HOM (if small mission with no Admin/Fin coordinator)   Personally responsible for quality and timely accounting for the whole mission: paper accounting (vouchers, support documents), electronic data-entry (encoding in SAGA), consolidation of fields & capital balzacs, monthly closing process and documents Ensure compliance to MSF guidelines, standards, policies, and procedures for the mission: especially purchasing, validation, payment procedures. Ensure strict respect of deadlines, encoding rules, budget lines. Technical reference for accounting : feedback, support, training, control of finance staff (assistants, accountants, cashiers) in capital and on the field Production of consolidated financial documents : draft monthly budget follow-up + monthly cash request, participate to budget design and revision   The Finance coordinator sets the framework and rules (and performs control checks and analysis), while the Finance manager guarantees their strict implementation, and is directly responsible for the quality of accounting, on a daily / monthly basis. Technical Responsibilities: General finance duties: Ensure confidentiality on all cash / finance issues related to MSF Know perfectly, respect, and ensure strict compliance at any time with MSF standards : MSF chart of accounts MSF financial guideline MSF standards for accounting quality (paper and electronic) MSF purchasing / validation / payment procedures for the mission Cash security rules for the mission (cash holding limits for safe and petty cash, security envelopes, cash movement, currency exchange, advances) Donors’ specific requirements, as per donor guidelines and Finance coordinator instructions National tax regulation and other legal requirements from the local government Cash safety and availability: Responsible for safety of cash during storage, and daily payment and transfer (in accordance with cash security rules), recommend improvements Ensure petty cash boxes are properly handled, cashbooks maintained, and a cash count performed every day, by all cashiers/accountants on the mission Monitor cash balance levels in capital, anticipate short-term needs and request relevant cash transfers or withdrawals to Finance coordinator (or HOM by default) to avoid any shortage Consolidate the monthly cash request for the mission, in coordination with all relevant persons (in field + capital), submit to Finance Coordinator (or HOM by default) for validation, and send to controller at HQ before the 5th of each month Organize currency exchange transactions when needed, according to the country exchange policy Prepare transfers to the fields according to need, in a timely manner, and in accordance with cash security rules Daily cash management: Ensure close and proper follow-up of all cash advances, in capital and on the field (extra-accounting) Ensure proper understanding and use throughout the mission of all finance tools : cashbooks, advance books, cash inventories, bank reconciliations, monthly cash request, etc Ensure payments to suppliers are performed in a strict but swift manner, in accordance with the MSF purchasing and payment procedures for the mission Ensure compliance with cash control procedures for each cash balzac : cashbook updated at every single transaction IN/OUT, daily cash count, weekly cash inventory including reconciliation with SAGA together with line manager, complete cash inventory performed and signed on last day of the month Ensure any cash discrepancy is investigated (and reported to finance coordinator if not identified) Check refunds are properly followed-up and encoded (private telephone calls, medical refunds, etc) Bank management: Prepare cheque payments, transfer requests and bank reconciliations for all bank accounts in capital, check all bank reconciliations from the field Ensure copies of checks / proof of transfer are always attached to voucher, for payments from bank balzac  Paper accounting (vouchers): Develop relevant (or suggest improvements to existing) tools and forms to help finance staff record and follow-up recurrent costs in a proper and consistent manner (incentives, per diems, utilities, refunds, etc) Responsible for quality of receipts / vouchers throughout the mission : check every single voucher from capital + field, ensure that all vouchers are in accordance with MSF standards Ensure vouchers are properly presented and stamped, include all relevant & required validation signatures, include attached any relevant and required support documents Report immediately any litigious / suspicious voucher / receipt / document to the finance coordinator Send personalized feedback to each relevant accountant/administrator in case vouchers are incomplete or invalid, request missing documents, counter-sign every single voucher for approval, before filing & archiving the accounting. Ensure availability, knowledge, and strict compliance with MSF Finance guideline Ensure rebilling of other sections when relevant Ensure proper filing and archiving in capital of all original monthly accounting for the whole mission according to MSF standard (by month / balzac / voucher number), including copies of monthly closing documents sent to HQ Ensure all relevant finance-related box files are labelled with a red label (“to be taken in case of evacuation”), throughout the mission, and according to procedure. Electronic data-entry: Direct interlocutor of referent Accountant at HQ, for any question related to accounting quality. Personally responsible for quality and accuracy of data-entry in SAGA throughout the mission: ensure encoding done every day by cashier/accountant, consistency with receipts/paper accounting, proper use of chart of accounts, respect of standard encoding guidelines for descriptions, etc Check in particular that monthly payroll is correctly imported from HOMERE and encoded in SAGA Keep and maintain the master file of electronic accounting in SAGA Update SAGA parameters in the master file, as per need & request from accountants/officers (in particular third parties), regularly check and update parameters (create / activate / deactivate). Monthly accounting closing: Prepare consolidated monthly closing in SAGA for the whole mission: integrate all balzacs from capital + fields in the master file match all possible transfers and advances, check validity of the remaining ones unmatched for every balzac, check (and correct if necessary) every single entry and allocation (account code, project, description, etc) send personalized feedback to each relevant staff (field, capital) listing mistakes and explaining corrections update exchange rates with rates sent by HQ integrate ECA, check and propose corrections update simulation Balzac (taking into account ECA + pending committed orders) print the journals and submit to Finance coordinator (or HOM by default) for final validation after validation, proceed to final monthly closing in SAGA 10.   send the electronic file with month closed to Accounting + finance controller at HQ before 15th of following month send back to each relevant accountant/administrator in capital and field the corrected final monthly accounting (parameters + relevant balzacs) Check and prepare all original closing documents, and send to HQ before 15th of following month (via express mail): 1.       Cash inventories Bank reconciliations and bank statements Original vouchers for 5821 and 5822 accounts, to charge the relevant missions Monthly bordereau Monthly check-list ECA corrections request Copy of latest updated specimen signatures Budget follow-up: Perform extracts of expenses from SAGA / provide relevant cost information / produce cost analysis upon request from any coordinator Help Finance coordinator (or HOM by default) prepare and check the draft initial and revised budgets for the mission Prepare monthly budget follow-up, fill & update relevant comments before submitting to Finance coordinator (or HOM by default). If no Finance coordinator, ensure distribution, and share comments & analysis with all relevant coordinators and the finance controller at HQ. Raise attention to significant budget variances and overspendings, recommend corrective measures for savings / improvements / reduction of fraud and financial risks. Management of technical Finance staff: Direct supervision of finance team in capital Provide support to (answer questions, feedback) and maintain control (spot-checks, reminders, advice) over finance staff under supervision, for any cash, accounting, allocation, any SAGA issue. Perform relevant technical training for finance staff in capital or on the field (in particular assistants, officers and cashiers) for skills improvement in the area of accounting. Perform regular performance evaluation of staff under direct supervision, identify relevant training needs & opportunities (together with finance coordinator) Reporting: Perform regular field visits, write field visit reports Perform required controls for quarterly “finance fundamentals”, ensure compliance by all relevant finance staff in capital + fields, and work continuously for improvement throughout the mission Immediately inform Finance coordinator and/or HOM and/or finance controller of any problem or issue arising in the course of the work.