Accounting consultant

Context: 

Mada's Platform is a space that offers flexible support for citizens’ initiatives to help them grow and reach their full potential. Active since 2005, it has supported many organizations or groups, such as artistic communities, municipalities, environmental associations, informal community-based initiatives, early-stage social businesses… Since the end of 2019, the Platform has grown in capacity which has enabled it to open up to new members and offer closer support.

Among other services, the Platform provides accounting support to the members that don’t have the financial means to internalize this expertise. In particular, there are two members that have expressed the need for close accounting support:

• Nation Station is a community-based initiative that was created after the explosion in August 2020. Based in Geitawi (Beirut), it serves as a hub for food, housing and medical support;
• Hikayatouna is an early stage enterprise of handmade Levantine crafts led by 2 women and based in Ain el Remmané.

The accounting consultant will mainly work with these two groups but he/she can be mobilized in support to other groups depending on the evolving needs of the Platform.

Work interfaces: 

The accounting consultant will be based in Mada’s office (Ain el Remmané) and work with the coordinator of Mada’s Platform.

He/She will visit regularly Nation Station (located in Geitawi) and Hikayatouna (located in Ain el Remmané).

Definition of the mission: 

Activity 1: Specific support to Nation Station

• Create from scratch the accounting system of Nation Station (create accounting files, organize the archiving of invoices, put in place a follow-up mechanism of the cash-flow…);
• Prepare budgets for each department to help Nation Station estimate its needs and to optimize the use of resources;
• Prepare financial proposals and financial reports for the institutional partners.

Activity 2: Specific support to Hikayatouna

• Monitor the existing accounting system of Hikayatouna and issue recommendations to gain in efficiency;
• Analyze the business model and issue recommendations: Calculate the production and running costs, as well as the benefice generated by Hikayatouna. The objective is to be able to issue recommendations in terms of pricing of the products and in terms of salary for the workers.

Activity 3: Transversal support to both groups

• Update the accounting of both groups on a regular basis (data entry, checking and archiving invoices, follow-up of the cash-flow).
• Throughout the whole process, build the accounting and administrative skills of the members of both groups.

Nation Station’s financial operations are more voluminous and diversified than the operations of Hikayatouna. According to Mada’s estimations, the consultant will work 2/3 of the time with Nation Station and 1/3 of the time with Hikayatouna. Other initiatives supported by the Platform could need ad-hoc support from the accounting consultant, in which case the working schedule will be adapted.

These activities will be implemented over a period of 5 months, between December 2020 and April 2021, with a possibility of extension. The consultant will work 3 days per week, which amounts to 63 working days in total.

The candidate will be expected to have : 

- A bachelor’s in administration/finance/accounting;

- Past experience as an accountant with Lebanese associations;

- Past experience in supporting small businesses in Lebanon; 

- Excellent command of Excel;

- To be Solution-oriented and flexible.