Junior Accountant (CPT)
Finance/Admin
Cape Town – Western Cape – South Africa
ENVIRONMENT:
AN energetic & self-driven Junior Accountant is wanted to join the Finance team of a reputable Financial Services provider. You will help maintain accurate financial records, assist with month-end and year-end processes, and ensure compliance with IFRS and insurance regulatory requirements. This role is critical in supporting the preparation of financial reports for a funeral insurance business, ensuring accuracy and timeliness. Applicants must have Grade 12/Matric, a BCom Accounting or equivalent qualification, 1-2 years’ post-articles experience in Financial Services with completed SAICA/SAIPA Articles (signed off). You also need a strong understanding of IFRS and basic insurance accounting principles and have proficiency in accounting software (e.g., Sage X3, Pastel) and MS Excel (pivot tables, lookups, basic dashboards).
DUTIES:
Core Accounting Duties –
- Post and maintain accurate journal entries in the General Ledger.
- Assist in reconciling bank accounts, policyholder accounts, and suspense accounts.
- Prepare supporting schedules for financial statements.
- Assist in the preparation of management accounts and statutory reports.
Regulatory & Compliance –
- Support the preparation of VAT, tax returns, and regulatory submissions (e.g., FSCA, SARS).
- Ensure compliance with IFRS and insurance-specific accounting standards.
Insurance-Specific Duties –
- Assist with premium income reconciliations and claims expense analysis.
- Assist with preparing working papers for IFRS 17 reporting.
Analytical Reporting –
- Prepare variance analysis reports comparing actual vs. budget and prior periods.
- Assist in producing profitability and claims ratio reports for management.
- Support the development of dashboards and trend analysis for decision-making.
- Provide insights on expense drivers and revenue performance for funeral insurance products.
Audit Support –
- Compile audit packs and respond to Auditor queries under supervision.
Premium Administration Duties:
Premium Allocation –
- Downloading of payments/rejections files from various platforms.
- Upload to ELIMS.
Cut-Off Dates –
- Ensure SASSA collections dates have been submitted in time to ensure successful collection percentage is reached and maintained as required.
Handle Queries –
- Amendment processes where system fails.
- E-mails/Calls received from various departments and branches and collection companies.
- Communicate with Stratcol, Qlink and other outsourced partners.
- Recon of transactions from Qlink and Stratcol and ensure they are on ELIMS premium file and rejections extracts.
Reports –
- Various result reports received from collection companies to be investigated.
REQUIREMENTS:
Qualifications –
- Grade 12 or similar qualification is essential.
- BCom Accounting or equivalent qualification.
Experience/Skills –
- 1-2 Years’ post-articles experience in Financial Services (Insurance experience advantageous).
- Knowledge of turnover VAT and specific calculations.
- Completed SAICA/SAIPA Articles (signed off).
- Exposure to IFRS16 & 17 preferable.
- Experience with MS Office, Excel, Word and Outlook are required.
- Strong understanding of IFRS and basic insurance accounting principles.
- Proficiency in accounting software (e.g., Sage X3, Pastel) and MS Excel (pivot tables, lookups, basic dashboards).
Advantageous –
- Exposure to Sage X3.
- Additional Language(s).
ATTRIBUTES:
- Analytical mindset with attention to detail.
- Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
- Can use own initiative and be proactive.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.