FINANCE SYSTEMS & CLIENT ACCOUNTING LEAD - R 50,000 - R 40,000 - STELLENBOSCH / HYBRID

This growing concern helps SMEs get their finance houses in order through better systems, processes and people. The CA(SA) owner leads the work and is hiring a 2IC to be his right hand – huge potential to gain commercial experience and be mentored by a top CA(SA) with international experience.

You’ll spend about 70% of your time with clients: guiding finance teams through cloud accounting implementations and change management, training people on tools like Xero Practice Manager, and solving messy workflow problems. The other 30% is hands-on accounting: bookkeeping to trial balance, management accounts, VAT and tax.

This is for you if you’re a CGMA or SAIPA Accountant from an accounting practice who enjoys talking to people as much as you enjoy clean ledgers. The culture is relaxed, unstructured and high-trust. They are growing fast and want a high-quality 2IC to increase capacity.

Job Specification

Purpose of the role

Act as 2IC to owner, increasing delivery capacity across two lanes:

1. Client-facing systems and change (±70%)
   
2. Technical accounting delivery (±30%)
   

Key outcomes (first 6 months)

• 4–6 client implementations live on agreed timelines with high adoption
  
• Documented finance workflows per client, with visible time/cost savings
  
• Monthly management packs delivered on time and error-free for assigned clients
  
• A simple internal playbook for onboarding, training and support
  

Responsibilities

1) Client-facing systems, process and people (±70%)

• Map current client workflows and identify bottlenecks
  
• Configure and implement cloud finance tools, especially Xero Practice Manager (or similar)
  
• Train client finance teams and owners, run Q&A and drive adoption
  
• Create SOPs, checklists and lightweight training materials
  
• Track success metrics: cycle times, data accuracy, month-end close time, rework rates
  
• Manage stakeholder expectations and secure buy-in
  

2) Technical accounting delivery (±30%)

• Bookkeeping to trial balance for selected clients
  
• Prepare management accounts, reconciliations and month-end schedules
  
• VAT calculations and submissions, assist with tax compliance tasks
  
• Maintain tidy audit trails and working papers
  
• Spot risks and propose control fixes early
  

Minimum requirements

• CGMA or SAIPA articles completed
  
• Degree / Diploma in Finance
  
• Practice background with client exposure; comfortable juggling multiple SMEs
  
• Proven experience implementing or supporting cloud accounting stacks
  

• Bonus: Xero Practice Manager, Xero, Dext, ApprovalMax, SimplePay, etc.
  

Nice to have

• CaseWare or similar working-paper tools
  
• Excel skills including lookups and basic Power Query
  
• Change management or facilitation experience
  

Working style and culture fit

• Builder mindset, practical and calm under pressure
  
• Likes autonomy, gives regular updates, asks early when blocked
  
• Respectful, patient trainer who can meet people where they are